Lived in NY State for first 5 months. moved to Florida for last 7 months of 2016. income from NY for 5 - income from Florida from 7 months - how do I file Federal - 1 ret

[ToddL]

Unless your move was temporary, i.e. you are planning to return to NY, you will file your federal return as a FL resident. You will select the option "Lived in another state in 2016".

The program will prompt you to prepare a NY tax return (Part-Year resident). Just to prepare you, the NY return will calculate your NY tax based on your entire 2016 income and then allocate that tax based on the time you were a NY resident.

Even if you were a resident of New York for 1 day, NY uses your entire AGI to calculate your tax on NY income. It isn't, however, as bad as it appears. They calculate what your New York tax would have been if you earned everything in NY, but then prorate that tax based on how much of your income was earned while a NY resident. 

For example, if the NY tax on your entire 2015 income was $10,000 but only 30% was earned as a NY resident, your NY tax would be 30% of $10,000 = 3,000.

Why do they do this? So they can tax your NY income at the highest possible tax rate, based on your entire AGI.

[singardia]

Hello,

 What if you still live in New York, but go to Florida for 2 months over the summer to work on a golf course?

Florida has no state income tax, so will New York tax the money you made in Florida at the full  NYS rate?

 Thank you,

 Steve

[SteamTrain]

@singardia 

That is correct...you report all your income on the NY tax return  (the software will transfer it all from the Federal section)…..and NY will calculate their tax assessment on all of it in your case....even the FL income.   So if you did not have enough excess NY withholding on any other income you earned during the year, you might end up owing a balance due to NY when you file.

If you had worked 2 months in PA...or CO, or any other income-taxing state, then that other state would have dibs on taxing that 2 months of income.   NY forms would still calculate a tax on all your yearly income, but in this case, NY would allow you a NY credit for the taxes you ended up paying the other state.   (Of course, in that situation, you would have to prepare the other state's non-resident tax forms  first...and pay for the software to file them to that other state, as well as the NY state forms)

If you continue to work in a non-income-taxing state during the summer, and if you have  taxes-owed  to pay NY every year at tax time, you should strongly consider making regular quarterly estimated tax payments to NY every year to approximate the taxes you will owe to NY on that extra income when you eventually file the tax forms....such that you owe them little, or get a small NY refund at tax time.