Wife Worked in an Income Tax State for Two Weeks

[jewood3]

My wife and I live and work in a no income tax state. For two weeks last year, she stayed with family in North Carolina and worked remotely from there. (Her work didn't care where she was working from because of the pandemic.) She never received any documentation about working while in North Carolina, but we think she still has to file North Carolina non-resident income taxes. We're trying to do that, but it's saying we owe more in North Carolina state income tax than she even made the whole two weeks while she was there. What are we doing wrong?

[ErnieS0]

You do not have to file a North Carolina income tax return. You wife was a nonresident who was not performing services for an occupation carried on in NC. The situation would be different if, for example, she worked out of a local company office or visited a client site, which she did not.

NC nonresident taxpayers are only taxed on income from NC sources that was (1) attributable to the ownership of any interest in real or tangible personal property in North Carolina, (2) derived from a business, trade, profession, or occupation carried on in North Carolina, or (3) derived from gambling activities in North Carolina, and your total gross income from all sources both inside and outside of North Carolina equals or exceeds the amount in the Filing Requirements Chart for your filing status, you must file a 2020 North Carolina individual income tax return, Form D-400.

See Nonresidents and Part-Year Residents.

[jewood3]

Wouldn't ", (2) derived from a business, trade, profession, or occupation carried on in North Carolina" apply though because she was carrying on here business (working remotely) while in North Carolina?