I live and work in Maine. I have a side job with a company in NJ and receive a W-2 with 'NJ' and wage amount in boxes 15 and 16. I have no NJ state tax withheld. I do not physically travel to NJ to do any work. Do I need to file a NJ non-resident return?
In recent years, I've played it safe and filed a non-resident return and took the credit on Maine return. Do I stick with the conservative approach or just scrap the NJ NR return altogether?
Thank you.
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I'm sorry, I didn't notice that there was no withholding for NJ. I guess when I read that you "took the credit on the Maine return" I thought the tax paid to NJ came from your W-2 withholding.
I'd say don't file a NJ return, but then you'd have to be prepared to respond to the state if they contact you looking for one, because it says NJ wages on your W-2. I say that you should file a return, and indicate that none of the income was earned in NJ, and you wouldn't owe any tax.
But get your employer to stop putting NJ Wages on your W-2.
If you work for your NJ Employer as a remote employee (work from home as a telecommuter) then New Jersey will tax you as a nonresident. It's one of the few states that do. If you worked at some other location in Maine for this company, then you shouldn't have NJ taxes withheld from your pay at all, and you should straighten that out with your employer. As it stands, your W-2 for 2018 is showing NJ income and a NJ return is required based on that income. You can file a NJ return showing zero income from NJ to get all of your withholding back. You'll see this screen:
I'm saying this year, you can file a New Jersey Nonresident return and report zero income from NJ, and get your withholding back for 2018. For 2019, tell your employer to stop withholding for NJ. Then you don't have to file a NJ return at all, because you'll have no withholding, and no income reported to NJ, and you'll be done with NJ tax for good. Does that make sense?
I'm sorry, I didn't notice that there was no withholding for NJ. I guess when I read that you "took the credit on the Maine return" I thought the tax paid to NJ came from your W-2 withholding.
I'd say don't file a NJ return, but then you'd have to be prepared to respond to the state if they contact you looking for one, because it says NJ wages on your W-2. I say that you should file a return, and indicate that none of the income was earned in NJ, and you wouldn't owe any tax.
But get your employer to stop putting NJ Wages on your W-2.
Glad I could help! Thank you!
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