Income tax withheld in wrong state

[None2]

My spouse's employer withheld income tax in Virginia by mistake. We didn't pay attention and catch this. We do not live, work, own property, etc in Virginia. We live in a state with no state income tax. Based on searching, this is my understanding of how we recover the income.
1. Get the employer to stop.
2. File a Virginia non-resident return. Ensure that we clearly state that no income is associated with Virginia. Claim full amount as refund.

My questions:
1. Is this correct?
2. Some posts say that this should be filed in by mail with some supporting documents (Passport, Social Security). Is this better?

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

Yes, this is correct.  For Virginia, this is the way you can get the taxes back.  You will need to send in a copy of the W-2, and then some statement that shows where your work location and your residence is so that they see that it is not Virginia income.  For this, you can use VA Form 763-S, which you can find on this link:  http://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/individual-income-tax/2016/763-s-2016.pdf. You will get the taxes back.

Mailing your return in will probably be the best option since if Virginia doesn't see the proof they will probably ask for it.

[nikittran]

What is the equivalent form for CA. I work remotely from WA but my company is in CA. I was paying CA taxes from my paycheck but I do all my work in WA.

How can i request my tax withholding be returned to me?

[DianeC958]

You will need to file a non-resident California tax return showing that you have no income that is taxable to California.  

If you want to efile your return put that you have $1 of taxable income and then you can efile if you put $0 as your income for California you will need to print, sign, date and mail the forms to California.

@nikittran

[Alangella]

Please help with New Jersey.

I transferred from NJ to NYC in 2018.  I am a NYC resident but my employer continued to withhold  taxes for new jersey in 2019

[MaryK4]

Make sure that you had them change your tax withholding for 2020 or you will have the same issue next year.  For 2019, you will have to file a New Jersey nonresident return and report no NJ income to get the withholding refunded.  Then you most likely will have tax due to New York resident tax.

@Alangella

[Dan]

I work construction for a company that sends me to work in multiple states.  In 2019 I worked in Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota.  My W2 incorrectly assigned my Iowa Income to Kansas.  I called them and they said they would send me a corrected W2.  That was many weeks ago and still have not received the corrected W2.  I want to file now because I am getting money back.  What are my options?

[ThomasM125]

You can file the return using the W-2 you have and then file an amended return to correct it when you get the corrected W-2 form.

[JasonTryharder]

Can you help with Michigan tax withholdings, I work in Michigan, but my address is in Ohio, I have 9 months of withholding in MI, and asked my employer to change to ohio after I found out. 

Since MI and OH are reciprocal state, one who lives in one state and work in another can only pay to one state. 

and I am full year resident to OH, so I think of my action would be : 

1 file for full refund for MI withholdings 

2 pay for OH tax 

Can you tell how should I do it ? 

Many thanks 

[TomD8]

@JasonTryharder  :

1) file a non-resident MI tax return, showing zero MI income, in order to obtain a refund of the incorrectly withheld MI taxes.

2) file your resident OH return.  ALL your income is taxable by OH.

[dval29]

Hello - 

This is similar to my situation, but is there any way to get the mistakenly withheld money back sooner? 

My situation: 

- I live and work from Florida 

- My employer mistakenly had CT marked on my first paycheck of 2021 (Jan 15, 2021), so $500 was withheld by the state of CT 

- I caught it immediately and my employer has fixed it for all future paychecks 

- It is now Feb of 2021, how do I get the $500 back from last month? Do I have to wait 1+ years to file a 2021 return with CT? That seems unfair. They have my money. I would like it back. 

Thank you! 

[JotikaT2]

You cannot do this on your end yet. 

Your employer would need to make the correction on their end.  Typically employers have a quarterly filing requirement for payroll.  Therefore, their first CR-941 Payroll report would not be due until the end of the first quarter of 2021.

I recommend contacting your employer to ask that they make the correction on their end as they have not filed any returns yet.  They may be able to reconcile it now so you do not have to wait until the next tax filing year to refund your withholdings.

CT withholding taxes by employers

[dval29]

Hi @JotikaT2 Thank you for the response. 

My employer is telling me that they cannot return the money to me. This is what they said:

"For the size employer we are, we are on bi-weekly CT withholding remittance for withholdings, unemployment insurance is quarterly. We can do a payroll journal correction but that doesn't get you your money back that just changes whats on paper for us."

So does this mean I must wait until 2022 to get my money back, even though I caught it within weeks? Thanks 

[JotikaT2]

Yes, you will need to wait until you receive your W-2 form for the 2021 income tax year and file a nonresident tax return for CT.  You will see the CT withholdings in the state section of your W-2 form.

[cdail]

I had a similar issue. I started a new job in Texas and moved from Arkansas. My employer had my Arkansas address on file for my first 3 paychecks so I had state income taxes taken out when I was living in Texas. What form would I fill out to get that amount back? I searched online for "nonresident claim for individual income tax withheld" and nothing showed.