I moved this year. W2 shows "TOTAL STATE" in box 15. How do I know which portion of that amount is for NY and which is for AZ?

[vinnied711]

Previous year's W2's all show "NY" in box 15, with my Employer's State ID # in the untitled box next to it. On this year's W2 box 15 is empty and the untitled box to the right says "TOTAL STATE". When I try to submit this entry in TurboTax I get an error. How do I know which portion of the amount listed is for which state?

[TeresaM · Accepted solution]

If you do not have a state abbreviation in box 15 , or any entries in box 16 or 17, you may leave the "total state" portion of box 15 empty, as well.  Generally, box 15 will have the state abbreviation and state ID for the employer, so the amounts in box 16 and 17 can be accounted for properly on the state return.

[vinnied711]

Thanks Teresa. There actually is an amount in box 17, and previous years' W2's had "NY" in box 15 (I lived in NY and my employer is in CA), so just wanted to make sure I understood this all before filing my taxes. Thanks again for your help.

[kharris4375]

I have a similar situation. I've received 2 W-2s for the same tax year (from the same employer). Thus, I too am wondering how to handle the 2nd W-2 because it does not have a state abbreviation in box 15. I'm assuming the 2nd W-2 is representative of the state I moved to.

[manishamukherji]

how did you solve this?

[christopherj-mos]

My 17 has state income tax however my 15 says "TOTAL STATE".. what do I enter on turbo tax?

[james-t-wendt]

I had the same issue. When I ended up looking lower down on the W2, I found a section that repeats Boxes 15-17 but listed the specific state and wages. Hopefully you have that too somewhere.

[dakesh]

Her answer is useless, and I have learned that TT is terrible for filing between two states and will not use it again.

[mbreddy4u]

turbo tax is indeed useless if you live in one state and work in neighboring state like NJ/NY

[Thanh Ly]

Vinnied711,

To fix this entry, you need to open your current TurboTax in the form format (click on the forms in upper right corner of window).  Once the form is opening, have all your W-2 forms from each state in front of you.  Do one state at a time.  For first state, click on the first line under Box 15 and enter like CA for California, to the right of Box 15, there is another Box 15, delete TOTAL STATE and enter Employer’s state ID number of first state (usually long number), enter state wages for Box 16, and enter State income tax for Box 17.  Repeat Box 15, Box 15, Box 16, and Box 17 for all the states you have on each new line below the first line under electronic W-2 Form here of TurboTax.  Do NOT change other information on this electronic W-2 Form.  Close the form format window (click on close form at the bottom of window) when you are done with your entries.  MAKE SURE the amounts of State income tax for all states add up to the amount State income tax of TOTAL STATE. 

NOTE:  If you do NOT fix this entry as described above here, your refund or due for different states will be incorrect, and this is NOT good.  TurboTax Software is not smart enough to use the information that you entered correctly for each state to fix this problem here even though it shown there is no error for each state you entered in TurboTax.   

Best regards,

Thanh Ly

[eeeeeee222]

just split it down the middle and call it even

[danakolker]

I just figured it out!! The "Total State" box shows the TOTAL state income, between both states. The following portions on your W2 should show it broken down by state. This took me way too long to figure out!