Telecommuting from PA to MA part-year: can MA tax my PA part-year income?

[Anonymous]

In 2021, I telecommuted from PA for the first half of the year. I was hired as a remote worker by an MA-headquartered company in 2020, and my remote status is not due to covid-19 (I would continue to be a remote employee regardless of the pandemic). My employer took out PA taxes during the period I was in PA. 

However, I am confused when filing MA taxes because, to my understanding, MA should not tax my wages earned in PA because although my employer is MA-based, my business activities were not carried out in MA. But when I file as a part-year resident, turbo tax asks if any income earned when I was not an MA resident is from an MA source. Should I say no? Or should I say yes because my employer is in MA? 

When I say yes, it seems like turbo-tax is considering my PA income taxable by MA, but it never provides an option to clarify if it was earned while telecommuting. So do I just not consider it an MA source? or does MA always tax telecommuters?

Help is much appreciated. 

[RaifH]

No, the income you earned while living in PA should not be MA-sourced, even if it was for an MA company. 

MA did have a rule in place until September 13, 2021 that stated if you were telecommuting from out-of-state due to a pandemic-related circumstance then that income is taxable by Massachusetts. However, you have already stated that you were not telecommuting because of the pandemic. Therefore, your employer was correct in withholding PA taxes and those are the only taxes you should pay while you were telecommuting.