NY W2 Box 16 same as Box 1 but I only spent 50% of the time in NY

Report your W-2 exactly as it was prepared for you.

Yes, what you are seeing is accurate, but NYS (or NYC) is not taxing the income you made before you became a resident.

Your total 2016 pay appears in the NY forms, summaries and interviews because NY uses your entire AGI to calculate your tax on NY income.  They do this  even if you were a resident of New York for 1 day

It isn't, however, as bad as it appears. They calculate what your New York tax would have been if you earned everything in NY, but then prorate that tax based on how much of your income was earned while a NY resident. 

For example, if the NY tax on your entire 2016 income was $10,000 but only 30% was earned as a NY resident, your NY tax would be 30% of $10,000 = 3,000.

Why do they do this? So they can tax your NY income at the highest possible tax rate, based on your entire AGI.

 

I have the same situation. I tried to enter the same values as my W2, and it ended up showig that I owe New York a lot since it’s calculating state tax for the whole year. I haven’t been working and living in New York for over half the year. What am I missing?

Did you sort it out? I'm in the same situation. I moved out of NY in March but the NYS tax due is for the full year :(

Hi, yes I sorted it out. Just report what's on W2. As stated in the answer, the NYS wanted the extract the maximum possible tax so it applied the highest tax bracket applicable to your full-year Fed income. In the TurboTax interview, there's a question where it asks how much of the income was actually earned in NYS - that's where you split the %.

Good thread. Had same question and this helped. But specifically where in TurboTax does it let you actually split the % or amounts between both states?

I worked in NY 1 day while on tour. I now have a W2 from NY that states that I earned the total amount of my gross income in NY ($32,000, box 16), but that I paid taxes in NY according to the actual amount I made ($2.68, box 17). Other states that I worked, such as PA, show exactly what I actually made in that state ($229, box 16).

 

In NY, will I be charged taxes on the full amount I earned Federally even though I only actually earned $229 in the state?

 

Thanks,

 

Your New York tax is calculated on your total gross income from all sources, but then the tax itself is pro-rated to reflect the proportion of that income that was actually earned in the state.  For example, it may calculate that your tax on $32,000 is $1,000.  Then it will determine your percentage of income earned in New York.  I'll say 1% here which would make the tax $10.  (These round numbers are just for illustration, I do not expect your tax to be $10.) 

 

 

 

@Connor M

Thanks Susan!

 

One last question: If I only made $230 dollars total in NY state, but $32,000 federally, does NY require me to file regardless of my low state income? 

 

I mean to say, can I decide to not file with NY at all? (p.s. my employer already withheld the tax due)

 

Thanks again,

Here are the NY filing requirements.

 

https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/do_i_need_to_file.htm

Hi, Susan,

 

have a related question.  My employer is based in NY and I'm a NJ resident.  My W-2 withheld NY taxes and I have always filed a non-resident return for NY and the NY tax withheld is credited to my NJ tax.  My question is: in 2020 due to Covid, I spent most of the year working from home.  Does that change how I file the state returns?  Specifically, do I still answer "Yes" to the question "Were all of your wages earned in NYS"?  

If you are a nonresident whose primary office is in New York State, your days telecommuting during the pandemic are considered days worked in the state unless your employer has established a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location.

 

There are a number of factors that determine whether your employer has established a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location. In general, unless your employer specifically acted to establish a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location, you will continue to owe New York State income tax on income earned while telecommuting.

 

Frequently Asked Questions about Filing Requirements, Residency, and Telecommuting for New York State Personal Income Tax

 

@1597980

@Connor M Did you get this sorted out? are you required to file for NY? thanks 

If you have NY sourced income and your federal Adjusted Gross Income exceeds the New York standard deduction amount for your filing status, then you are required to file a NY state return. 

 

@az148

 

 

Another related question with a different wrinkle.

 

Fact Pattern:

• PA resident all year.
• Remote employee all year.
• Same employer all year.
• Employer reassigned my "office" from New Jersey to NYC mid-year and began withholding NY Taxes in lieu of NJ taxes (actually PA taxes via reciprocal agreement with NJ.) For simplicity sake lets say this took place on July 1st and is roughly 50% of the year for each state.
• I happened to go out on Parental leave + Vacation for ~75% of the NY period of the year.

 

Reading the NY State non-resident allocation guide there's an exercise to determine NY share of wages via working days in state vs working days out out of state.

Question:

Do I...

1. Go by the payroll/calendar year split and assign 50% wages to NJ vs 50% wages to NY?
2. Do I use that NY State non-resident allocation "days worked" guide  to determine NY State wages, which because of the parental leave and vacation days ends up more like a 75% NJ sourced wages, 25% NY wages.
3. Is it even weirder where NJ tax law says go with calendar days of 50% and NY tax law says go with 25% "days worked in state"?

 

Feels like a weird one and I can't quite figure out which one hits law as written.

I'm guessing #1 is at play but its not fully reconciling with what I'm reading.

 

Theoretically your W-2 should split this out for you (and TurboTax).  You should have two lines in the State section; Box 15 - NJ, Box 16- Wages earned in NJ, Box 17-Tax paid to NJ.  Second line, Box 15 - NY, Box 16 - Wages earned in NY, Box 17 - Tax paid to NY.

 

If 75% of the wages reported on your W-2 were earned in the NJ period, and 25% during the NY period (plus income from parental leave, which replaces wages), that sounds like an accurate allocation of income between the two states. 

 

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

 

 

Thanks @MarilynG1!

 

My W2 does attempt to split it out by state for me in the informational/summary section (i.e. outside of the boxes)

 

Within the boxes itself....

Box 16 of NJ reflects a fraction of taxable wages in line with the summary.

Box 16 of NY reflects whole year federal taxable wages (which I'm to understand is how New York requires it and is in-line with other posts in this chain).

 

But...From further reading:

Would I not be expected to use form NY IT-203-B Schedule A to do the allocation (as per NY Instructions for nonresidents) regardless of what my employer put on the informational summary section of the W2?

Basically NY IT-203-B Schedule A summarizes out to :

X "

Work

days

" working from home assigned to NJ office

Y "

Workdays

" working from home assigned to NY office

Y/(X+Y) =  NY's % Allocation of taxable wages.

 

Further reading appears to suggest any year end discretionary pay (bonus) for 2020 but paid in 2021 should use a 2020 NY IT-203-B Schedule A allocation and not 2021's allocation (my W2 appears to agree in practice.)

 

For sanity sake:Tried to back into my employers numbers it appears they use a straight-line calculation via WEEKdays instead of WORKdays... which makes sense as they can't predict exactly when an employee will distribute future nonworking days in real-time and it's probably the best they can do.

X = "

Weekdays

" assigned to NJ office

Y = "

Weekdays

" assigned to NY office

Y/(X+Y) =  NY Allocation

 

Every year I read way more about something personal tax related than I ever intended to :(

Yes, you need the 203-B schedule A and the program handles that for you using the days method. It will be in your list of forms.

A bonus for 2020 paid in 2021, should have been during your NJ assignment and not related to NY at all. Your NY time was zero for 2020 and NY has no claim to that income.

 

@Aoiree

Where on my W2 does it show the amount I earned just in New York? How does my tax preparer know the percentage to prorate my taxes for the state for that year?

Your NYS wages would be shown in box 16 of your Form W-2.

 

If you are using TurboTax enter your Form W-2 as it is shown, and it will correctly flow to your NYS tax return.  Your tax professional should have no issue figuring what your apportionment would be for multiple states.

 

In general, if you lived in multiple states, you will likely be filing two state tax returns.  And you will likely get a tax credit on your residential state tax return for taxes paid in your nonresidential state.  You should enter your nonresidential state tax return into TurboTax first so the credit will properly flow to your residential tax return. It also depends on if your states have tax reciprocity or not.

 

Filing taxes for the two different states will depend on several factors, including: 

• Which state is considered the source of the income
• Specific states involved
• If you changed jobs or kept the same one
• If there’s a reciprocity agreement between the states involved

You’ll likely file a part-year resident return in both states. Usually, you’ll have to file a state return in any states that you:

• Have earned income from wages or self-employment
• Have property that produces income

Regardless of whether you're a part-year resident or a nonresident in the state where you are working, an apportionment schedule will be completed if you have income in more than one state. This form can usually be found in the state's part-year or nonresident income tax return. You use the schedule to "apportion" how much of your income is taxable in each state.

• Part-year residents not only pay tax on income earned from work performed in the state, but also pay tax on all other income received while residing in the state.
• Nonresidents generally only pay tax on income they earned from work performed in the state, and on income received from other sources within the state.

After you use the apportionment schedule to allocate the appropriate amount of your income and deductions to the new state, you need to calculate what percentage of your total income is state income. We'll call this the "apportionment percentage," and it is used in the rest of the calculations.

Click here for more information regarding figuring your taxes when multiple states are involved.

 

Click here for a list of states that have tax reciprocity.

I'm in the same circumstances, except that I have NEVER  been a resident of NY.  I only worked there for a couple weeks.  How do I handle this as a non-resident?

You will file a NY nonresident return. Your resident wages will tax all of your income and give you a credit for the NY tax paid. 

Your w2 screen in the program should show the NY income and your resident state should show - total minus NY wages.

@Antic5