Employer Paid Wrong State Taxes

[jacyj77]

I live in Colorado and work full-time in a remote position for a company that is headquartered in Utah.  I just noticed on my W2 that they have been paying my state income tax to Utah instead of Colorado.  

Can I still file taxes or do I need to wait for an amended W2 from my employer? How do I get my tax funds back from Utah so I can file in Colorado? 

Thanks!

[DianeW777]

No, do not wait or request a corrected W-2 from your employer. It's quite likely they were required to withhold Utah (UT) taxes since they are situated in that state. Your resident state will give you credit for income you must pay tax on in a different state. See the rules below to receive this credit.

1. File your resident state return including all worldwide income.
2. File your nonresident state of UT paying tax on the wages you earned there (prepare this return first). TurboTax will handle the credit for taxes paid to another state on your Colorado (CO) if this return is filed first.

UT Filing Requirements for Nonresidents:

You do not need to file a return if you (and your spouse, if filing jointly):

• are not a Utah resident,
• worked in Utah for 20 days or less,
• have no other source of Utah income, and
• are a resident of a state that either does not have an income tax or does not tax the wages of nonresidents.

CO Filing Requirements for Nonresidents:

Based on the CO filing rules for nonresidents, they would be taxed if they had income from a CO source which means and employer based in CO. For this reason you do not meet the non-filing rules for UT.

State Returns - Your resident state requires you to include all worldwide income. Assume both states require income tax returns to be filed: 

1. Report the income on each state return that is from the nonresident state
2. Report it on your resident state and receive credit for taxes paid to another state.

Credit for taxes paid to another state is allowed by a resident state when the same income is being taxed to another state.  Your resident state does not want you to pay tax twice on the same income. The credit that is allowed will be the lesser of:

1. the tax liability actually charged by the nonresident state, OR
2. the tax liability that would have been charged by your resident state

In most cases complete your nonresident state first.