The paycheck had partial withholdings to NY and to my resident state. I know that whenever I work a single day in NY, NY wants a portion of my taxes equivalent to number of days spent in NY for work. I was in NY for a few days in 2018 while I was performing work for which I got paid in 2019, but didn't work there in 2019. Do I owe any tax to New York for 2019?
If your company is in New York and you are a telecommuter, it is possible you may have to pay New York nonresident tax. However, (most likely) your company did not change the withholding until into 2019 so you would have to file a nonresident New York state return with zero allocated New York income to get the refund.
If your company is in New York and you are a telecommuter, it is possible you may have to pay New York nonresident tax. However, (most likely) your company did not change the withholding until into 2019 so you would have to file a nonresident New York state return with zero allocated New York income to get the refund.
Thank you for taking the time to reply! Yes, they did not change the withholding in 2019 and used my 2018 allocations. I was still confused by the fact that I was paid for work actually done in NY in 2018, just next year. I believe that for tax purposes, only the paycheck date matters, and since I was never actually physically present in NY in 2019, I don't owe any tax to that state for this paycheck and W2.
I'm going over state return questionnaire for this company and getting the following results: I wasn't employed by the company in all of 2019, and there are no questions in the tax forms about years other than 2019. Considering this I assume that since I was employed by the company for a total of 0 days in 2019, I multiply my income by 0.
That is correct, you would only need to file a New York nonresident income tax return with zero income if you want a refund of the taxes withheld. If it is not a large amount, you can just skip it.
Oh @MaryK4 thanks so much for mentioning that skipping it completely is an option! Yes indeed - I'd have to pay more to just file it than I'd get refunded.
You are welcome- sometimes it costs more to get the refund and since it is not required to file, you can consider it a "donation" to the state of New York.