I worked for several companies in multiple states last year, so I have 3 W-2's to file (travel healthcare is complicated). My question is about just one of them - company B.
Working for company B, I completed contracts in both West Virginia and Louisiana. My "home state" is Alabama, where I haven't earned any money. All of these are states that charge state income tax. My W-2 from Company B shows a total wage in box 1 of about $1100. In Boxes 15 and 16, I'm showing state wages of the same $1100 for Alabama and $9000 for West Virginia. Again, I didn't work in Alabama. I did earn money in Louisiana (though not much - I was only there for 2 weeks covering another employee's vacation - in case that's relevant) but that's not reflected on my W-2. There's only withholding reported for West Virginia.
My question is whether this could possibly be correct? I understand that I am responsible for reporting all of my income to my state of residence (and paying applicable taxes minus credits for other states), but shouldn't my W-2 show only states where I actually earned income? My other W-2s from Companies A and C show only taxable wages for the states I worked in, not my home state.
You are correct. The way to address Company B's W-2:
Option 1: File Louisiana-you will owe tax; West Virginia (as expected), and Alabama--you will likely be refunded for the amount that should have gone to Louisiana.
Option 2: Request a Corrected W-2 from Company B and wait to file.