I live in Rhode island but work in Massachusetts do I owe taxes in Rhode island

[KarenJ]

You will need to file a resident RI return including all your income for the year (including your MA wages) as that is the state where you live.  You will need to file a nonresident Massachusetts return to claim the wages and any other income you earned in Massachusetts.

You will get a state tax credit in RI for the MA state taxes you paid on your nonresident MA state tax return.

In TurboTax, complete your nonresident MA return first so the software can calculate  the tax credit you receive on your RI return.

You will find additional information with this link 

How to file a Nonresident Return

[vrozen]

Yes, but i did not work in Mass now!  Why should I file a non resident tax return if i owe 0 in taxes to Massachusetts?

[DaveF1006]

if you worked in Mass in 2019 then you will need to file a Mass non-resident return for 2019.  If not, then you do not have a filing requirement for Mass.

[Blg016]

Hi, 

I'm about to file my returns, as I'm in a similar situation as the original poster.  However, TurboTax is not pulling in the MA info properly into the RI return in order to account for the credit, as per your explanation. 

"You will get a state tax credit in RI for the MA state taxes you paid on your nonresident MA state tax return."

[RaifH]

Yes, after completing your federal return, you will want to prepare the nonresident MA return. Once you have completed that, apportioning only your income that was earned from a Massachusetts source, you can begin work on your resident RI return. 

After Rhode Island additions and subtractions to income and a few other screens, you will get to a screen for Other Rhode Island Tax Situations. Click on Taxes Paid to Other States. Your credit for MA income should be in there already. Note that the credit may not match the amount of the actual taxes you paid to MA because the credit does not exceed the amount that RI would have taxed on the same income. 

If there is no credit for MA there, you may want to delete your RI state return and start fresh. Sometimes the credit will not transfer over if the resident return is started before the nonresident return. 

[jfherr65]

I'm so confused. I live in RI but work in MA. I processed the MA non-resident form, deleted my RI form I had already started, and then re-started RI. The income did not flood over so I entered it. But it says I owe no money to RI. This can't be right? So I must have done something wrong. It did say I was not getting any credit for taxes paid to MA even though I entered I paid taxes of 1317 to MA. And yet, no taxes owed to RI. Any idea what I did wrong? 

[AmyC]

Please delete your RI. Your resident state taxes all income but gives a credit for income taxed by another state.  Please carefully follow these directions to prepare the states in a special order. You may need to delete both states and begin again.

1. First, prepare your non-resident MA return. This creates your tax liability for the non-resident state. How do I file a nonresident state return? You may have a refund or balance due depending on employer withholding.
2. Then prepare your resident state RI return and it will generate a credit for your income already being taxed in the non-resident state.
3. The credit will be the lower of the state tax liabilities on the same income. You may owe your resident state, if they have a higher tax rate.

It isn't possible for the program to create a credit before it knows the liability. Your returns may be wrong if you do not prepare the states in this order.

[jfherr65]

Well, I deleted both MA and RI, and started over with MA. Then I did RI. I realized there the question I'm confused about was "Did you pay income tax in RI and MA on the same income". Well, all my money taken out of my pay was in MA and went to MA. So I did not pay anything out of my paycheck to RI. But since I live here, won't I owe something to RI? This is why I'm so confused. Do I answer this yes or no? That seems so odd to me that RI would say you have no taxes owed, and I have to pay all to MA. Wouldn't RI want that money since I live here? Shouldn't I get MA refunded so I can pay it to RI? I thought you paid income tax to the State you live in, not the one you work in? 

[FangxiaL]

The answer is Yes to the question:

You paid tax to MA because the income is sourced to MA. You pay tax to RI because you are a resident in RI. Since you already paid tax on the same income, taxes paid to MA will be credited to your RI tax liability. Hopefully, you won't have to pay more to RI on the same income. 

@jfherr65

[lmoney]

If you live in RI and only worked in MA and earned $1000 in MA should the W2 show $1000 in wages for both RI and MA?  Seems it should only show the MA wages and tax even though I know I will have to also file and pay in RI.

[MarilynG1]

Yes, you are correct that the W-2 should only show wages for Massachusetts, since you earned your income there.  You will report all your income to Rhode Island, and receive a credit for any tax you paid to MA.  It could be that your employer meant to show that you earned income in MA, but will report it to your resident state of RI. 

When you enter it in TurboTax you should enter the MA income and tax withheld line item only.   If you enter both lines, your income will be incorrectly doubled. You could contact your employer to obtain a corrected W-2 for your records, but you can file with the W-2 you have.

Click this link for more info on How to File a Non-Resident State Return.