state allocation

[shahsa1]

Hello,

We live in CT and my husband commutes to work in NY. We have always filed NY non-resident and allocated all wage income to NY. In 2020, due to Covid, he was told to work from home... part of the year.  Do we still allocate all wages to NY, or do we allocate partial income to NY and partial income to CT? 

Also, he had to buy some computer equipment in order to work from home. Is this deductible?

Thank you. 

Sapna 

[DMarkM1]

Yes,  under NY law if the reason for working from home was required (Covid for example) and not at the convenience of the NY employer then the workdays are NY days even if working at home in another state.

No, there are no deductions for employee job expenses.  Those deductions have been suspended for tax years 2018-2025.    

[shahsa1]

Hello,

thank you for the quick response. 
So I just remembered. The NY employer actually first sent my husband to another work location in CT. He even had his ID badge changed to let him into the CT office. He worked there for 2 months before working from home (also in CT.) 

So in this case, he was shifted from a NY office to CT office then (CT) home. 
Would we still allocate all wages to NY?

[LenaH]

No. If you are a nonresident whose primary office is in New York State, your days telecommuting during the pandemic are considered days worked in the state unless your employer has established a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location. 

Since your husband's employer had an office in Connecticut and was transferred to work out of that office, then the majority of his income for the tax year would not be taxable in NYS. The only income taxable to New York would be for the time before he was transferred to the Connecticut office. 

NYS Nonresident FAQs

@shahsa1