Working remotely after moving states where employer doesn’t have payroll established

[cohort2004]

Please bear with me; I’m considering a move from California to Connecticut to live with family and work remotely for the duration of the pandemic and was told by my employer (who doesn’t have a presence in CT) that I would need to use an address in a state where the company has payroll taxes already established (NY or MA). I have family in all three states (CT/NY/MA) and could therefore use an address in NY or MA if necessary. However, I would actually be living in CT. Is my employer correct in me needing to use a NY/MA address and would “using” an address for payroll purposes in a state I don’t reside in create a conflict when filing state taxes for 2020? It’s a bit awkward since by working from home, I’d clearly not be performing work in NY or MA. Thanks in advance!

[taxes_are_confusing]

I don’t know enough to completely answer your question but I do want to point out that you should be careful with NY’s telework tax situation. If you as a resident of CA and non resident of NY do any work on NY payroll and you put your address of residency as CA you could end up in a position where you’re double taxed paying NY state tax and CA state tax with no credit available for CA given that CA doesn’t have a similar telework state tax.

It would be best to consult with a tax advisor in the north east to get a complete answer.