I worked and lived in 2 states. I'm having trouble with the state taxes. Can you help?

[elyse12a]

I lived and worked in NY for the first 4 months of 2021.  I then relocated to MA, where I worked for the remainder of 2021.  I've already entered the NY state tax information.  I'm currently working on the MA state form.  I'm on a page that's asking me "Pay Tax to Another State?   You may qualify for a Massachusetts credit if you paid income tax on income that was earned in, and taxed by, both Massachusetts and another state (in this case, NY)."  Do I enter "yes" or "no" here?  If yes, it then asks "Income taxed by another state."  Enter the total 5% income.....etc."  Am I supposed to fill this in with data from the job that I worked while living and working in NY?  Or, am I being asked something else? I'm confused........I've already entered the Ny job tax information.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

[ErnieS0]

No, you should not fill out data from the job you had while living and working in New York. You would only qualify for the other state tax credit on your Massachusetts income tax return if you continued to pay New York tax while working in MA and had double taxed income.

Generally part-year residents don't qualify for a credit paid another state because there is no overlapping income. Part-year residents usually pay tax only to their resident state.

New York requires employers to report total wages earned everywhere in Box 16 so if you stayed with the same employer, it may look like you had double taxed income, but you may not. If you only reported part-year income to New York and no NY income to MA then you had no double taxed income and would say No to "Income taxed by another state."

[elyse12a]

Thanks.....just so I understand, I worked in NY for company A from January to April.  I then moved to MA on 5/1 and lived and worked there at a DIFFERENT employer (company B)  for the remainder of the year.   So, for the page/question that states "Pay tax to another state," I should answer "No," correct?

[ErnieS0]

No is correct. You are filing two part-year returns – one for NY and one for MA. NY income goes on the NY return and MA income on the MA return. Since there is no overlapping income, there is no tax credit.