Moved NY-FL, additional taxes due?

[lsabler84]

Hello - I work remotely for a national company (NOT BASED IN NY) and currently under official status on W2: Remote-FL. I moved to Florida in September 2024. I lived in New York until end of August. Now that I'm doing my tax return, I'm wondering if the system thinks that I was receiving New York City compensation while living in Florida (Sept-Dec) because they're asking for several thousand $ of additional taxes to pay back? I paid plenty NYS tax on the 243 days that I lived in New York and my employer is not in New York so where are they pulling this underpayment from?? I usually get a tax refund so I'm confused on what this is all about, or if my hunch is actually correct. Thanks for any insight!

[BillM223]

New York State taxes telecommuters, so if you work for a NYS company while living in Florida, you are taxed by New York UNLESS you are working in Florida at the "employer's convenience".

That is, if your NYS employer told you to move to FL  because he/she/it wanted you to do business in Florida, then you don't owe NYS taxes for the time you lived in Florida. But if you, like most taxpayers, moved to Florida because you wanted to, then you owe tax to NYS all year. See NYS info on non-residents.

NYC says "Your New York City domicile does not change until you can demonstrate with clear and convincing evidence that you have abandoned your city domicile and established a new domicile outside New York City. Even if you live in a location outside of the city for a period of time, if it’s not the place you attach yourself to and intend to return to, it’s not your domicile. Your domicile will still be New York City and you will still be considered a New York City resident."

So if you plan to live permanently in Florida, then you need to establish that your domicile is in Florida. How? By buying property in Florida, by changing your mailing address to Florida, by changing your voter's registration to Florida, and so on. 

In short, there is no one test, but a preponderance of evidence that you intended to change your domicile. You may have already done this; just be prepared to answer questions about it if it ever comes to that.

[lsabler84]

I should have clarified, I do not work for New York State based company. I work for a national company whose headquarters are in California. The only reason I was paying New York taxes is because I lived in New York. I am no longer living in New York, so I don’t understand why I need to pay extra money to New York when I have permanently changed my address to Florida with IRS from 9/1. What other additional taxes are they equating? Are they under the impression that my company is in New York, because it’s not. 

[BillM223]

No, you don't owe tax to NYS. On your W-2 in box 16, what is the amount of income for NYS when box 15 says NY? Is it your total annual income, or just a prorated portion for while you lived there.

I want to find out why TurboTax thinks that your income was taxable in NY. One obvious place is on your W-2. Otherwise, it may be in your New York interview. Since you presumably indicated that you moved to Florida in your personal info, I don't know where TurboTax is getting this.

[lsabler84]

Thank you for this! For some reason, the entire annual amount of earnings is in box 16(!) with box 15-NY. I just contacted my employer to confirm that it wasn’t a mistake? Considering this, should there be a second line item for the Florida state income? They do have my Florida address on the W2, and I have been under Florida tax law since I moved. Suspecting it’s their error, and not Turbo Tax..

[KeshaH]

Since Florida doesn't have a state income tax, there won't be a line on the W-2 showing Florida income. However, NY requires employers to report all of your income on the NY line on the W-2 because of the way tax is calculated.

The way NY taxes part year residents is a little different than many of the other states. New York calculates tax based on your full year income. Then there's an income percentage that's applied to that tax liability. That income percentage prorates your tax liability based on how much income you actually earned in New York.

When you get to the New York Income Allocation screen, you will need to choose No and then on the next few screens you'll indicate how much of your income you earned while a NY resident. This will calculate your income percentage that's applied to your tax liability based on your full income.

[lsabler84]

So the interesting part if I use my Florida address as my filing address, it’s telling me I owe more tax even on the partial NY income. If I put it in my New York address as my address, it’s telling me I’m due $400 back. Logically, it seems like the system is thinking I am earning New York based money while not living in New York. Think I may need to recruit some tax professional assistance this year in filing!

[KeshaH]

If you'd like, we can look at your return and see exactly what you see to  help come to a resolution. The return will be scrubbed and won't include any of your personal details.

If you're using TurboTax Online:

Once you're logged in to your account,

- on the left hand panel, click on Tax Tools and then choose Tools

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If you're using TurboTax Desktop:

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Please reply to this message with your token so that we can further assist you. Let us know all the states, if any, that are included on the return.