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New Member
posted Jun 6, 2019 12:01:30 AM

I went to school in nj the company i worked for is from pa but I did the work in nj do i have to file taxes for pa?

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Expert Alumni
Jun 6, 2019 12:01:31 AM

It depends.  The question is in which state are you a resident.  If you are a New Jersey resident, the answer to the question is no.  Since you are physically working and living in NJ, only NJ can tax you.  PA does have a law that would allow them to tax someone from another state who telecommutes, but this will also not affect you, because, as a NJ resident, there is a reciprocal agreement between NJ and PA that states you will only be taxed in your resident state.  In this scenario, you would only file a PA return to have any PA state taxes refunded to you if any were mistakenly withheld, by filing a PA nonresident return with a zero income.

If you are a PA resident, then, yes, you do file a PA return.  But you would only file a NJ nonresident return with zero income if you had NJ income tax withheld for the same reason.  The reciprocal arrangement means you only pay state tax to the state you live in.

The fact that the company is based in PA does not matter in this case.

1 Replies
Expert Alumni
Jun 6, 2019 12:01:31 AM

It depends.  The question is in which state are you a resident.  If you are a New Jersey resident, the answer to the question is no.  Since you are physically working and living in NJ, only NJ can tax you.  PA does have a law that would allow them to tax someone from another state who telecommutes, but this will also not affect you, because, as a NJ resident, there is a reciprocal agreement between NJ and PA that states you will only be taxed in your resident state.  In this scenario, you would only file a PA return to have any PA state taxes refunded to you if any were mistakenly withheld, by filing a PA nonresident return with a zero income.

If you are a PA resident, then, yes, you do file a PA return.  But you would only file a NJ nonresident return with zero income if you had NJ income tax withheld for the same reason.  The reciprocal arrangement means you only pay state tax to the state you live in.

The fact that the company is based in PA does not matter in this case.