Which state should I claim credit for paying tax to another state?

[jen12]

I moved from PA to CA in 2017 and have PA source income after moving to CA. This part of income was taxed by both states. It looks like I could claim credit from PA or CA for the tax I paid to the other state. Which state should I choose to claim the credit? Could I claim in both states?

[TerryA · Accepted solution]

Because you went from PA to CA then your part-year Calif return should compute that credit for the PA income that both states are taxing. You were a Calif resident when Calif started taxing the PA income so that's the state that takes the credit.

[jen12]

Thank you for answering my question! I have another related question. We paid income tax to local city in PA, in addition to the state tax. Can we claim credit in CA for the local income tax paid? I found how to do this for state tax but don't know how to deal with the local income tax.

[TerryA]

Sorry, only another "state's" income taxes can be taken as a credit by the resident state. Local taxes are excluded.