My employer paid income tax to a state I did not live in. How do I report full refund from no-resident state to resident state?

If you didn't live in the state and you didn't work in the state, you normally wouldn't have to file a tax return,but in your case if there was withholding to that state, you would file a nonresident state return, and report that none of your income came from working in that state. You'll receive a refund, but it won't be sent to your resident state. 

You would have to file a resident state return and pay tax on your income. If you respond with the specific states, I can possibly give you more information.

In 2014 I lived in California. I moved to West Virginia in January of 2015.  I did not change my tax withholding on my military reserve pay.  All of my 2015 state income tax went to California instead of West Virginia.  Should I file state taxes in both states?

@mddybootz

First, assuming that you did NOT return to CA for your reserve duty (unlikely, but there are a few people who do a long distance Reserve duty commute for certain specialty units)....

Then Yes, you would need to file a CA Non-resident tax return and claim ZERO CA income for that W-2.  You might have to file CA by mail, and CA may take issue with your claim. So keep some records of your move to WV, and your assignment orders to the WV unit in case CA challenges your claim.

Sure hope you've stopped that CA withholding.

Hi I work in NY and i live in NJ when I filed my taxes I think I put NJ state Taxes how can i fix that? 

My husband and I moved to Florida in December 2018. His cooperate office is in Ohio, but he works from home or travels. His company neglected to update the residency, so state taxes were sent to our former state of Pennsylvania. How do we get a refund from Pennsylvania ?

@246810z --  In order to obtain a refund of the incorrectly withheld PA taxes, you must file a non-resident PA return, showing zero PA income.  It's usually wise to submit such a return on paper, because an e-filed return may be automatically rejected if the return doesn't match the taxpayer's W-2.

Hint: it's better to pose new questions in a new thread, rather than tacking them on to a months-old thread.

You have to file a non-resident return to get a refund.  Attaching a letter of explanation may be helpful, given your circumstances.

If you  travel to states with an income tax, technically you are required to pay tax in those states,  but "nobody" does. See http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/28/pf/taxes/business-traveler-tax-threat/  If you live in a state without an income tax (e.g. FL ), it’s more likely you should file in the work states. You can't use the "it all comes out even" rationale for not filing.  In particular, if he traveled to PA, he should definitely plan on paying tax on the salary for those days. PA will be looking close at his return, because of the PA withholding.

Alabama 

I'm in the Military (Active Duty)  but stationed in South Carolina with my home of record being Virginia and I'm also a part-time employee at Dominos. Do I have to file taxes in both states or can I submit a document to my employer to have my taxes sent to Virginia?

According to the South Carolina (SC) instructions you must file a return for income earned from sources other than the military.

• If you are not a South Carolina resident but are stationed in this state by military orders, your military income is not subject to South Carolina tax. If you have other earned income subject to South Carolina tax, file the SC1040 with the Schedule NR. Your spouse may be exempt from South Carolina Income Tax on income from services performed in South Carolina under the Federal Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. See Schedule NR instructions at dor.sc.gov/forms.
• SC Individual Income Tax Instructions

This income will also be subject to your resident state (VA), however they will give you a credit for tax paid to another state. This credit will be the actual tax liability in SC or the amount that VA would have charged on the same income, whichever is less.

My employer mistakenly withheld taxes for Georgia in the first part of 2020 -- I did not live there nor was employed there.

How do I navigate the Turbo Tax GA form? There is not option for "non-resident AND not employed"?

@tlowings --

Complete the non-resident GA tax return and allocate zero income to it.  That will result in GA refunding the incorrectly withheld tax to you.

If your employer made a mistake and withheld taxes in the wrong state, you'll definitely want to file a nonresident return so you can get back the withholding.  To get the the GA return, go to the State section in TurboTax and search for Georgia.  Here are some helpful tips as you go along:

Filing a Nonresident State Tax Return

Make sure you prepare all nonresident returns before your resident state return, to ensure proper calculations. Also, make sure you select the state long form(s) even if TurboTax selects the short form(s) for you.

Tip: If you are preparing a nonresident state return solely to recover tax that was withheld in error, enter 0 on the screen that asks for the income earned in that state. This will eliminate your tax liability for that state, resulting in a full refund.

If you live and work in a Reciprocal State, you may only need to complete Step 3.

1. Prepare your federal tax return first, then as you begin each state return;
   • Your federal return data transfers into your state return, and
   • TurboTax learns that you need to file each state return.

1. Prepare a return for the nonresident state(s). Only report the income and withholdings from that state.
2. Prepare a return for your resident state. You will report all of your income, including income from any nonresident (or part-year) states.
3. Take a credit for taxes paid to the nonresident state on your resident state return so that you won't get double-taxed on the same income.

TurboTax calculates the credit for you, but you must select the state's long form to get the option, even if TurboTax chooses the short form for you.

@tlowings

I work from home as a W2 employee, in Florida.  Always have.  My employer in IL has taken out IL State tax of almost $4,000.  When I do my TurboTax, it only shows i get $153 back???????

Depending on your income, it's possible to not get all your tax paid to Illinois refunded to you as a Non-Resident. Wages earned in Illinois are taxed by Illinois regardless of your residency. 

If you had the same situation last year, compare your returns. Also check your W-2 entry.  You may have entered the wrong amount of income/tax paid.

Click this link for detailed info on How to File a Non-Resident State Return. 

@Patty13 --  If you never lived in or physically worked in Illinois, your work income is not subject to Illinois taxation.  Submit a non-resident Illinois tax return, allocating zero income to Illinois, in order to receive a refund of the incorrectly withheld Illinois taxes.

A few states tax non-resident remote workers, but Illinois is not one of them.  Advise your employer to cease withholding Illinois taxes.

2017 and 2018 I lived in NJ but worked in NYC. My wife and I filed both Federal and NJ taxes, but completely over looked the non-resident form for NY. The only income earned in NY was for me. My wife worked in NJ. We unfortunately received a bill from NY for 2017. It looks like they completed a substitute form. I purchased 2017 and 2018 turbo tax software, completed the IT-203 Non-Resident forms for both years and sent them to NY. They now show them on file.

Is there anything else I need to do? I believe it will take 6+ weeks to review.

@ecannan11

It sounds like you’ve done all you need to do. 

If there are any issues with you returns, the taxing authority will contact you.

Thank you. I amended the Federal and State because I thought I may have needed to. I hope it doesn't affect anything. Those were accepted and completed.

@ecannan11 If you paid tax on your wages to a state you didn't live in, click this link for instructions on How to File a Non-Resident State Return.

In your Resident State (where you report all your income), you should get credit for the taxes you paid to the other state.

One other question. I received an assessment bill from NY for 2017 for a crazy amount including interest and penalties. I believe they completed a substitute form because I never filed NY. Now that I have sent in the IT-203 for each year will this amount be revised? Typically I receive a refund from NY. Not expecting anything because I am late filing, but also don't believe I should owing anything excessive.

It depends. There will be a penalty for filing late since you did not have a valid extension of time to file.

The penalty charge is:

• 5% of the tax due for each month (or part of a month) the return is late, up to a maximum of 25%
• If your return is more than 60 days late, your minimum penalty is the lesser of $100 or the total amount due on the return

If you do not pay your tax when due, NYS will charge you a penalty in addition to interest. The penalty may be waived if you can show reasonable cause for paying late.

The penalty charge is:

• 0.5% of the unpaid amount for each month (or part of a month) it is not paid, up to a maximum of 25%

It is recommended to go to the NYS Penalty and Interest Calculator to calculate the approximate amount you may be liable for. 

Interest and Penalties

@ecannan11

There would have been no tax owed when due. If I would have filed the non-resident on time I would have received a refund. So how do they penalize money not owed?

@ecannan11 There is a minimum penalty for late filing of a return in New York of the lesser of $100 or the tax due on the return, so if you don't have any tax, you should not receive a penalty.