W2 Has 2 States

[mvmchugh]

I live in NYC and I was laid off from my job this past year. During offboarding, I told my former employer to send all exit information to an address in PA where my parents live as I wanted to spend some time with them. I just got my W2 and it:

• Has my parents address in PA instead of mine
• Shows the amount of severance pay I received under PA in Box 16 with no State Income Tax in 17 and ~$160 in local wages
• The total amount of state wages & tips for NYC is my total wages & tips (inclusive of the severance pay)

As I never established residency in PA, do I need to file a state tax return for that state and, if yes, how do I go about doing so?

I also collected unemployment in NY and started my new job which has my correct W2 information.

Thanks!

[KrisD15]

No.

If you maintained a permanent home in NYC and were simply visiting your parents, you would not have a PA tax liability unless you also earned income from Pennsylvania sources. You say you "never established residency in PA" so you would need to show where you did have residency during that time. 

The fact that your tax documents were sent to a PA address has no bearing on your tax liability. It does not matter that your parents address is on your W-2.

HOWEVER the fact that the W-2 shows PA income in box 16 could be a problem. 

Pennsylvania will get a copy of that W-2 and be looking for a state tax return from you. 

The best remedy is to have the employer file a corrected W-2 (W-2c) showing only NY income. 

If that is possible, have the employer issue a W-2c, that would remedy the situation.

If that is not possible, and if PA tax was incorrectly withheld, you could file a PA state return to get the tax refunded, but you indicate that no PA tax was withheld, therefore the program won't let you file a zero PA state return with no tax liability and no refund due. 

• Therefore, if a W-2c is not possible, you can do nothing and when you get a letter from the state of Pennsylvania send proof that you resided in NY.
• You could also mail in a paper PA state return with a copy of the W-2 and an explanation that the income was erroneously reported as PA income and that you only had your mail sent to your parents home as a convenience.  
• Lastly, if you did not have a place in NY while you visited your parents, you WOULD be a part-year resident for both PA and NY in which case you would need to file that way. Do the state you were in on Dec 31 first, then the other.

Make sure all the income is accounted for since it sounds like the severance pay had no withholding for either state. 

I don't understand the entry for local wages, is it a negative number? Which locality? 

If you continue the thread, please clarify if you maintained residency in NY the entire year. 

[mvmchugh]

Wow! Thank you so much for the quick and detailed answer, I really appreciate it!

Since I always lived in the same, owned apartment in NYC, it shouldn't be hard to say that I was permanently a resident there. 

Unfortunately, my former employer refuses to reissue the corrected W2 (I asked them twice already), so I'll need to go the other route you suggested. 

The interesting thing is that my PA wages are shown, 0 state income tax withheld and the "Local Wages & Tips" (Box 18) for PA is $160. The locality name is 140202-14 Centr. 

The NY wages being reported in Box 16 are my total income for the year, including the severance, which had tax withheld for NY. It looks like my former employer double reported the severance (it is in the total income for NY, but just the severance amount in the PA line item).

Not sure if any of the above makes any sense, but I really appreciate your help here.