Live in NJ, work in NY, box 20 says NYC RES

[Brookerod]

I have lived in NJ and worked in NY for several years now. Every W2 in the past has boxes 19 & 20 empty. My W2 from this year has an amount in box 19, and lists NYC RES in Box 20. 

Is this an error on my W2? 

[DMarkM1]

That is a mistake on your W2 that can be corrected on your NY state return.  Non-residents of NYC are not liable for NYC taxes.  Here is a NY FAQ for reference.  Note the NYC residency question/answer.  

When you work your NY state return be sure to indicate you were not a NYC resident.  The amount withheld by NYC will be credited on your return.  

Note:  be sure you entered the NYC withholding from your W2 so that it shows as an overpayment.

[boonlai4]

Hi,

I had a similar situation regarding the non-resident return that I filed last year. I am an IL resident, but my employer is in WI so it issued W-2withheld WI tax. I filed WI return and got full refund. Then, I filed IL return to pay IL tax.  

Does the WI refund be considered my income on the Federal return this year?  Can you please advise?

Thank you

[Vanessa A]

No, unless you claimed the WI taxes paid as an itemized deduction, the WI refund would not be considered income.

If you did not itemize, you would not have claimed them. 

 If you did itemize and you used TurboTax, you should not have claimed them as TurboTax would have seen you were getting them refunded. If you used another method to file and included the WI taxes withheld and itemized your return instead of taking the standard deduction, this would be taxable income. 

[boonlai4]

I used Turbo Tax and it itemized (IL+WI tax) on line 5A (in Federal Return 2020) since I worked both in IL and WI. I e-filed all the returns (Fed, NR WI, and IL return).

So in this case, does WI refund be considered income. Sorry for repeating question, but I just wanted to make sure I understand the terminology. 

Thank you!

[LenaH]

Yes. If you itemized your deductions and took a deduction for state and local taxes for IL and WI, then the refunds would be considered taxable income. 

Please see Where do I enter a 1099-G for a state or local refund? for where to enter your 1099-G and for more information. 

@boonlai4