Which States to File: Foreign Resident with US Income Reported to Parents' State

[jinjer]

Hello!

In 2020 I was living and working in Germany, but I came back to the US to work as a staff member for a 4-day event in Massachusetts (this was early in the year before covid took over). The US company handling the paperwork had a system that couldn't take foreign addresses for employees, so I had to enter my parents' address in Minnesota.

The total amount of income from this event was less than $300, and my W-2 shows the following:

- Box 15: both Minnesota and Massachusetts are listed

- Box 16: the total income amount from the event is listed twice - once for each state

- Box 17: the amount of tax withheld for Massachusetts

Since $300 falls below the income required for filing for both Minnesota and Massachusetts, I'm not sure if I should go ahead and file tax reports for either/both. I'm assuming Box 16 means my income was reported to both Minnesota and Massachusetts, and perhaps I have to file to clear up ambiguity about my non-residency.

I tried filing out all the paperwork just to see, and it shows that I owe a few dollars to Massachusetts (not enough was withheld) but $0 to Minnesota. I'm leaning towards just filing as a non-resident for both states to make sure I don't get into any trouble, but I'm not even sure if that is the correct procedure.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you in advance for any help!

EDIT: Wow, I totally forgot to mention that I'm a US citizen

[MarilynG1 · Accepted solution]

You can file a Non-Resident State Return to Massachusetts, since that is where you earned the income and paid the tax.

You don't need to file in Minnesota (even though there's a Minnesota address on your W-2), as you earned no income there and you are a Non-Resident. 

Click this link for more info on How to File a Non-Resident State Return. 

[jinjer]

Great, thank you for the clear answer!