How to file non resident taxes for a portion of a year due to corrected W2C

[tax1235]

I have worked in CA for a portion of the year and then moved to WA. But my new employer in WA had mistakenly set the work location as CA and paid taxes to CA. They have now sent a corrected W2C with the state now moved to WA. However, when I edit the W2 with the info from W2C, I don't see the taxes which was paid to CA getting returned back in the returns. How do I file a non resident tax for CA for the second job where I paid extra tax to CA and get this money returned?

I am filing it with my wife and turbotax is only letting me enter the amount of total combined salary earned in CA and returning returns based on it. The tax returns however did not change at all after correcting my W2 with W2C data. Thanks! 

[DianeW777]

It depends. Based on your information you provided your W-2 from your Washington (WA) employer has nothing for California (CA) on their W-2C.  

1. Original W-2 had CA  state listed with wages and withholding.
2. Corrected W-2C no longer has CA only WA - They only correct the part of the W-2 that was wrong.  All information from the first W-2 should be used.
   1. The original W-2 for CA tax withheld should still be included in the tax return without wages for this employer.

You would 'add another state' in the state section of the W-2 to include the correct WA wages.  You should already have the state wage line for CA where only the withholding should entered.  As a rule do not enter zero in boxes that have nothing.  

You will file a part year resident return for CA with the wages you earned from your residency period.  You should see the withholding from both of your employers on the CA return, but only the wages from the employer you had while you lived in CA.  The same should apply to your wife.

Please update here if you have more questions or confusion.

[tax1235]

Thanks for the reply. 

The state section already has WA listed in another state along with CA.

When you said "You should see the withholding from both of your employers on the CA return, but only the wages from the employer you had while you lived in CA. " - where do I see this?

In my CA return, the only question I see in Turbotax is how much of the total combined salary (me and my wife since we are filing together) earned is from CA. And there are some questions about the number of days I was in CA. Entering the information here is not bringing any change to the state tax return. I see the same number as before from previous W2 as with the corrected W2C

[tax1235]

One other thing I see which could be causing this - in the updated W2C, I have state wages and state income as 0 for WA where as the previous incorrect W2 had state wages and state income tax with CA. Is this expected in the new W2C? or should it have state wages as 0 but state income as previous reported value for CA so that we can get the refund for it? wondering how the w2c can contain both WA and CA though for the same time period. any thoughts? thanks!

[AmyC]

If the employer issued a corrected w2 showing no state tax withheld from your pay, they should have issued you a refund for the tax mistakenly withheld.

It would make sense if CA income matched what you earned for the wages in CA and the withholding should be the full amount that was withheld from your paychecks. You may need to keep your paystubs as proof of payment, in case the CA FTB asks, which they normally do.

It is common for the w2 to have the full income to the resident state and parts to the non-resident state. When people move, sometimes a few paychecks end up in both states- or more.

All you can do is enter the correct information in the program instead of what the w2 says. The states have the form, you need to get the correct tax by entering the correct numbers in the program.

[tax1235]

thanks for responding. I had reached out to my employer and they mentioned that the difference is adjusted in the federal income tax. they added the CA tax withheld into the federal tax withheld and was told I would get a refund from federal. let me know if this makes sense

[AmyC]

Yes, instead of getting a refund from CA for tax paid in, they want the federal government to give you credit. I hope that means they credited your federal account to match the w2. The IRS knows how much is credited to your account along with what is on the w2. They can't just make up numbers, well, they shouldn't. Best wishes and hoping this is the end of it. To be safe, keep a record of everything that happened for at least 5 years or preferably forever. Keep or make records of all the events leading up and the aftermath, efforts, solutions, all things.