Local PA taxes

[Dee1122]

My husband and I live in Pennsylvania. He works in a different city(in state) than where we live. Would he file his local taxes in the city where we live or where he works?

[Vanessa A]

He will need to file local taxes where you live, but the need to file where he works depends on the jurisdiction he works in.  For example, in Lycoming County, there is a non resident tax rate for multiple townships, while other jurisdictions within Lycoming county do not tax non residents.  

Since TurboTax does not handle local taxes in PA, you will need to contact the city taxing authority where he works to find out if he needs to file a return in that city or not. 

[Dee1122]

So between the locations where he lives and works, he wouldn’t have to pay taxes just at the location where the highest tax rate is?

[Vanessa A]

It depends.  He could have to file and pay in both locations.  Most places he will at least have to pay the Local Services Tax (which the employer usually withholds) in the place he works.  The rest is totally up to the city/township. 

[Dee1122]

Okay, thank you for that information. I had one other question. We filed jointly for the federal/state return. When I file our local tax returns pertaining to our cities of employment, would I file jointly for that as well? Or would I only include the income that that would pertain to, since we both worked in different cities?

[ErnieS0]

It depends. If the municipality where you live has an earned income tax, then you would file a joint return for your resident municipality.

On the joint return, you will list the amounts paid to your work municipalities and/or home municipality.

If tax was only withheld on your work municipalities and the rate was lower than your home municipality, then you would owe tax on your resident EIT return.

As Tax Expert @Vanessa A says, you may have to file EIT returns for your work municipalities as well. Those would be individual filings if you and your husband work in different municipalities and only include income earned in those locations.