Lived half the year in NJ and other half in CT, while working in CT the entire year. Why do I owe money to NJ and get a refund in CT?

[TaxHelpNJCT]

I lived in NJ for the first half of 2017, and moved to CT for the second half. My company is in CT and I was working there while still living in NJ. After filling out the information for each state return, I owe NJ over $600, but I am receiving a refund of $80 from CT.

(In 2016 I worked the full year in CT, while living in NJ the entire time. I owed $0 to NJ and only owed less than $100 to CT. My income barely changed over that time.)

My W-2 shows the following (approximate numbers):

• $66,000 for CT state wages (box 16)
• $38,000 for NJ state wages (box 16)
• $3,200 for CT state income tax (box 17)
• $0 for NJ state income tax (box 17)

My total income for the year is $66,000. Originally, in my NJ state filing, it was adding both wages together to total over $104,000 and saying I owe NJ over $1,700. While following along with customer support, I removed my NJ income as a duplicate and input the $38,000 as how much of the $66,000 was made while living in NJ. This lowered the $1,700 owed down to $600.

Why do I owe NJ so much money this year? 

[Karen1209 · Accepted solution]

From the information provided, your employer failed to withhold NJ taxes on the $38,000 that was earned while a NJ resident.

Having $0 withheld resulted in an amount due.

Your CT refund is a result of $80 too much being withheld on the wages earned while a resident.