Taxes in multiple states

[okrandy]

My daughter recently moved from AR to DC where she works for a federal agency (the Social Security Administration). I know that I have to do an AR state return. 

1. Do I need to do a DC return?

2. Even though she works for the SSA, the employer address on her W2 is Denver, CO. Do I need to do a CO state return?

3. She has minimal interest income in Oklahoma where she maintains a small savings account.  Oklahoma is her home state. Do I need to do an OK state return. 

[JotikaT2]

It depends.

1.  You would need to file a part-year DC return if she resided and made DC her domiciled home during 2019 and intends to stay there.  She would need to file a part-year resident return in DC.

2.  The employer address has no bearing on the state return she files.  You do not need to file a CO return unless withholdings were made for CO on her W-2 under Boxes 15-17.

3.  It does not sounds like Oklahoma is her home state from what you have described.  If she moved from Arkansas to DC, it appears she may be filing part-year resident returns from these two states instead. 

Please comment if you need further clarification.

[okrandy]

Thanks for the help.  So the address on her SSA W2 is not significant.  That helps.

I noticed in the state section on her W2 that DC and MD (actual SSA HQ) are listed.  Also, no state taxes are shown for MD but they are for DC. So I would need to do state returns in DC and AR? 

Oklahoma is where she grew up and has some savings accounts here; thus the interest. Technically, it seems that I would need to pay OK taxes on that interest. 

[AnnetteB6 · Accepted solution]

Based on the information you shared, she would need to file part-year resident returns for AR and DC.

A return for OK is not necessary for only bank interest earned from a bank in the state.  Interest income is taxed in the state where the person lives instead of the state where the bank is located.  The interest would be divided between AR and DC based on the time lived in each of those locations.  

@okrandy