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I work in New Jersey but live in Florida. I filled out NJ state income tax but don't see a refund. It's just showing NJ refund $0 but I paid $3,014 in NJ state taxes.

 
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5 Replies
rjs
Level 15
Level 15

I work in New Jersey but live in Florida. I filled out NJ state income tax but don't see a refund. It's just showing NJ refund $0 but I paid $3,014 in NJ state taxes.

Do you physically work in New Jersey, and commute from Florida, or do you mean that you work remotely (telecommuting) in Florida for a company that is located in New Jersey?


Are you an employee who gets a W-2?


How did you pay $3,014 in New Jersey tax? Do you mean that $3,014 was withheld from your pay and is shown in box 17 of your W-2?


Did you fill out a New Jersey resident tax return, Form NJ-1040, or a New Jersey nonresident tax return, Form NJ-1040NR?

 

Hal_Al
Level 15

I work in New Jersey but live in Florida. I filled out NJ state income tax but don't see a refund. It's just showing NJ refund $0 but I paid $3,014 in NJ state taxes.

As @rjs says, it depends on more information. 

 

NJ does not tax telecommuters.  If you never physically worked in NJ, you are not subject to NJ tax.  You do not, normally, even need to file am NJ return.  But, if NJ tax was withheld, you will need to file a non-resident return to get a refund. Ask your employer to stop withholding NJ tax (they may be unwilling to do do that, because they think they are required to).

 

To get a refund, you have to allocate your income as NJ source or not, in the TurboTax interview.   Allocate your W-2 income as not NJ.  If you did work a few days in NJ, you will have to prorate the W-2 income between NJ and not NJ. 

I work in New Jersey but live in Florida. I filled out NJ state income tax but don't see a refund. It's just showing NJ refund $0 but I paid $3,014 in NJ state taxes.

Hello,

 

I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear. I live in Florida and work remotely for a company in NJ. I receive a W-2 and had $3014 withheld in NJ. 

I’m filling out the NJ 1040NR form. I see $0 refund. I was expecting to see $3014. What did I do wrong?

Hal_Al
Level 15

I work in New Jersey but live in Florida. I filled out NJ state income tax but don't see a refund. It's just showing NJ refund $0 but I paid $3,014 in NJ state taxes.

Q. I was expecting to see $3014. What did I do wrong?

A. On the screen where you allocate income, you, most likely, allocated the W-2 income to NJ.

 

I'm not specifically familiar with NJ software.  For some states, TurboTax (TT) uses the W-2 to allocate wage income.   If you're not being asked to allocate the W-2 income at the income allocation screens, in the NJ program (or if you're not getting an income allocation screen), you will probably have to use a work around to get TT to prepare the return to get you your refund. 

 

At the w-2 screen, in the federal section, of the program, split the boxes 15-20 W-2 info into 2 lines. On the 1st line leave NJ in box 15 but make box 16 blank or 0; leave the NJ withholding ($3014) in box 17. On the 2nd line put FL in box 15 and the state wages amount in box 16; leave box 17 blank or 0.

 

 

rjs
Level 15
Level 15

I work in New Jersey but live in Florida. I filled out NJ state income tax but don't see a refund. It's just showing NJ refund $0 but I paid $3,014 in NJ state taxes.


@laurenbaird2 wrote:

What did I do wrong?


@laurenbaird2 

 

The first thing you did wrong was a long time ago. As soon as you got your first paycheck with New Jersey tax withheld you should have told your employer that they should not report your pay as New Jersey wages or withhold New Jersey tax because you do not work in New Jersey (and New Jersey does not tax telecommuters). They should have refunded to you the New Jersey tax that was erroneously withheld, stopped recording your pay as New Jersey wages, and stopped withholding New Jersey tax. Your W-2 would then not even have a line of state information. I assume that the employer knew all along that you were telecommuting and not working in New Jersey. They might be confused about the New Jersey tax law, or they might have gotten bad advice.


Unfortunately the error was not corrected for 2024, and probably still has not been corrected for 2025, so you are going to have the same problem when you file your 2025 tax return, unless you get it corrected now.


Ideally the employer would refund to you the $3,014 that they erroneously withheld and issue a corrected W-2 with zero in boxes 16 and 17 for NJ. Then you would not have to file a New Jersey tax return at all. They might not want to do that. (They might tell you they can't do it, but I don't think that's true.)


If the employer won't correct the error, you could try doing what Hal_Al suggested and file a New Jersey nonresident tax return showing no New Jersey income. I have the TurboTax software for New Jersey, so I did a quick test of your situation. Here's how you can prepare the New Jersey tax return.


In the federal section of TurboTax, enter your W-2 as it is, with one state line for NJ and $3,014 in box 17. Do not split the wages or enter a line for FL. Enter everything as it appears on the W-2.


Near the beginning of the New Jersey nonresident interview it asks whether you earned all of your wages in New Jersey. If you select No it asks how much you earned in New Jersey. Enter zero and proceed through the rest of the New Jersey interview. This will give you a New Jersey tax return with zero New Jersey income, zero New Jersey tax, and a refund of $3,014.


In the final Smart Check it will tell you that you have to file your New Jersey tax return by mail because the New Jersey tax withheld is more than your New Jersey wages.


I am assuming that you worked 100% remotely and did not work in New Jersey at all. If that's not true, then you will have to allocate part of your income to New Jersey, based on the number of days you worked there, and you might have to pay some New Jersey tax.


The problem with this approach is that your W-2 shows that all of your income was earned in New Jersey. You will probably get a letter from the New Jersey Division of Taxation saying that your tax return is wrong and you have to pay New Jersey tax on the New Jersey income shown on your W-2. You will then have to try to convince them that the W-2 is wrong, the New Jersey withholding was erroneous, and you did not actually work in New Jersey. It would probably help a great deal to convince them if you can get a letter from your employer saying that the W-2 is wrong, you did not work in New Jersey, and the New Jersey tax was withheld in error. Or at a minimum the employer should give you a letter saying that you did not work in New Jersey. Since you have to file the tax return by mail, you could try enclosing a copy of the employer's letter with the return, but there's no guarantee that enclosing the letter will head off further correspondence. (Never send the original letter. Only send copies.) Ultimately you might need a tax professional to help you deal with the Division of Taxation.

 

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