I work in NYC, and moved from NYC to NJ during the year. At some point during each state form, it asks me to complete the other state's return first. What do I do?

[worden12]

If I go through the NJ forms, there's a section about credit for taxes paid to another state, and it says I can do it right away if I've already completed my nonresident return, but that otherwise I should skip it and come back later. (Technically I don't have a nonresident NY return, I have a part-year resident return, so maybe that's part of the problem.) However, the NY return also has a section for credits for taxes paid to another state, and it says I should complete the other state's first and come back.

I have no idea which order to actually do them in, or how to handle the section for other state tax credits in the one I do first. I don't really know how NY and NJ's tax credits are supposed to work (i.e., I don't have a sense of how much money is supposed to go to each state, or how local NYC taxes factor into this), so I'm having trouble guessing about how it's supposed to work.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

[JosephF8]

You will need to fill out the NY part-year first. You will also need to know how much you made during the time that you lived in NJ. If you told your payroll department about the move when it happened you should have a NJ line in the state section of your W-2. At that point (unless you are a city employee) the NYC tax should have stopped. You would then get a credit on your NJ return for taxes paid to NY for income taxed by both states.

[worden12]

Thanks Joseph. I've now completed the NY return, but TurboTax doesn't pull in the relevant information to my NJ return. On my NJ return, it still asks me for the amount of double-taxed income and tax paid to NY, with this note: "Do not enter the income amount and taxes withheld from your W-2. We need the actual numbers from your other state's tax return." I can't find anywhere where I can get that information for my NY return even though I've completed the NY forms.

[JosephF8]

You will be able to use the NJ W-2 income for the income taxed by both. You will then divide that by the NY taxable income. Finally you will take that decimal amount and multiply by NY tax to get the tax paid on the NJ amount.

[worden12]

Thanks, but my issue isn't really with how to do the arithmetic, it's with where to get that original NY tax amount. (If it was asking for the NY taxes withheld as shown on my W-2 that'd be no problem, but it specifically says it's not asking for that, it's asking for the actual amount from the return.)

[JosephF8 · Accepted solution]

Go to the end of the NY return. You are looking for the page below.