I have a W2 from a job in IL, with an income of $620(estimated refund of $2). Im filing federal and CA(W2 income 40k+), do i need to file in IL? Always a CA resident.

[bradvw1]

Went to school in Illinois and had a part-time job there in early 2018. My total income was only $620 as mentioned before. I was always considered a CA resident and am now back working in CA.

Because my income is so small and I don't owe the state money, do I still need to file?

Reason for question is I need to deluxe version to TurboTax due to some forms I needed to file. If possible I would like to avoid paying the fee for a state I barely made any money in and will only get a refund of $2.

Thanks

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

It depends.  The "technical" answer from Illinois is that you might have to file.  Here is a direct quote on Illinois' Dept. of Revenue website:

a nonresident, you must file Form IL-1040 and Schedule NR if

• you earned enough taxable income from Illinois sources to have a tax liability ( i.e., your Illinois base income from Schedule NR, Step 5, Line 46, is greater than your Illinois exemption allowance on Schedule NR, Step 5, Line 50), or
• you want a refund of any Illinois Income Tax withheld in error. You must attach a letter of explanation from your employer.

(Italics added in first bullet)

Although you are due a tiny refund, if you are not getting a full refund of Illinois tax withheld, Illinois says you are required to file.  However, you do not need to use TurboTax to do so (you may download the forms from the state website, for instance, to do so).  Given the small amount of income involved, it is likely that Illinois does not come after you for this.  But you may still have a filing "requirement" with Illinois even though the income earned there is very low.

(You can see by preparing the return in TurboTax.  If you are getting a full refund of all Illinois taxes, then you can delete the state return with confidence.  If you are not, you have a filing requirement with Illinois, and you can decide whether to complete the state return in TurboTax or delete it and file it outside of TurboTax).