New York Income despite not working in New York

[elodieme]

Hello,

I received my W2, and it shows almost the same income for both Colorado (where I've lived for all of 2020) and New York (where I received unemployment from, since I lived there in 2019, but I did not work there in 2020). I work at Starbucks, which is based in Seattle. I did not make nearly as much on 2 months of NY unemployment as I did for almost a full year of work in Colorado. Why is NY on my Starbucks W2 and is costing me $247 in NY taxes?

[ToddL99]

The only reason NY income would have been reported on your 2020 W-2 from Starbucks is that you worked for Starbucks in NY in 2019 and their payroll department still had your NY information on file for part of 2020.

If that was not the case, you should contact Starbucks' payroll department and request an explanation and/or corrected W-2.

If Starbucks withheld $247 in NY tax for 2020, you will have to file a 2020 Non-resident NY state return to get a refund of that tax.

[elodieme]

I'm currently on hold with the payroll department of the company. My W-2 is showing that I made $23270.05 in 2020; box 16 on the CO W-2 says $23072.03 and on the NY one it shows 23270.05. I'm not really sure how this could have happened in the first place, since Starbucks knew of my address chance on 01/03/2020. I did not work in NY at all in 2020, only received unemployment during the summer and this wouldn't show on the W-2, would it? And even then, I did not make $23270.05 in unemployment in 2 months

[LenaH]

No, your unemployment is shown on a 1099-G Form and is not included on your W-2. 

You will have to file a non-resident New York State return to get a refund of income tax paid to that state. 

The first thing you want to do is make sure you've filled out the Personal Info section correctly:

1. With your return open, select My Info in the left-hand menu.
2. Then, on the Personal info summary screen, scroll down to Other State Income, and select Edit.
3. At the Did you make money in any other states? question, answer Yes and make sure your nonresident state(s) are selected from the drop-down.
4. Select Continue to return to your Personal info summary.

After you finish your federal return, you'll automatically move to the State tab, where you'll see your nonresident state(s) listed in addition to your resident state.

To ensure accurate calculations, always complete the non-resident return first if filing in multiple states because your resident state might give you a credit for any taxes paid in that situation.

@elodieme