I am a merchant mariner. I live in Washington state but worked for companies based in Massachusetts, Florida and Maryland. Do I need to file any state returns?

[MichaelDC · Accepted solution]

This is fairly common. Unless your employer reported earnings and withholding in any of those states, you probably don't need to check "I earned money in another state" or file returns.

Basically, out of state income would be income for services performed outside of Washington.  Your W-2, if it was work performed in WA, is not out-of-state income.  It does not matter that the company is based in MA or Maryland, but that the work was performed in WA. Florida doesn't have a state income tax so that's irrelevant.

Each state with an income tax has a filing threshold, a minimum amount of income required before you must file a return. Your employer's payroll department or preparer should know if you met that requirement and, if so, would report and withhold tax for any such state.

If you have additional questions or details regarding this, please feel free to post in the comments for further clarification.

Here's some more info on that:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/5733903

[sailor98]

So I should contact my employer to determine whether or not my earnings were reported/state taxes withheld? Or can I find that information on my W2? Looking at them for MD and MA, there is no information in the bottom half (state) section of either.

[MichaelDC]

Exactly, if it's not on the bottom of any of the W-2 copies, you should be OK. The IRS along with state governments receive copies if there's taxable income. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

[sailor98]

Great, thank you for the assistance!

[MichaelDC]

More than a pleasure. Good Luck!

[djlugl]

Is this still the case for 2018