WV charges tax on WV land sales by nonresidents. If the nonresident lives in a tax state, he already pays tax in that state on the gains. Is he taxed twice?

[leojbourne]

WV charges tax on nonresidents who sell WV land.  If a nonresident lives in a tax state, he already pays tax on the land sale to that latter state, derived from the federal Form 1040 Schedule D, which augments his income with the capital gain.  Does this mean that he's taxed twice (by two different states) on the same capital gain, or is there some way to get a credit from one of the two states for the taxes paid to the other?  In my case the two states are WV and VA, which may have some kind of tax reciprocity (although perhaps only for earnings), but the question applies in general. 

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

A state can charge a capital gains tax to a non-resident who sells property located within that state's borders.

A taxpayer's resident state can also tax him on the same capital gain.  Your resident state can tax you on ALL your income, regardless of where earned.

But normally the taxpayer may take a credit on his home state's tax return for the taxes paid to the non-resident state, thus avoiding double taxation.

Tax reciprocity applies only to wages subject to withholding (W-2 wages).