Where to report residency for full-time student in Washington DC (District of Columbia)

[eli104]

My 20-year-old daughter is a full-time student in Washington DC. She rents an apartment and lives there through the school year. The past two years, with the pandemic, she was home at home more than in school, and we have always considered her "home" to be in Connecticut. (She is also dependent on our taxes since we pay for her education and living expenses).

In 2021, she also worked part-time in DC (no work in Connecticut), as she was living in DC for most of the school year (roughly 8 months in total). So... 

• Does she need to file taxes as a DC resident? (I know there's something about 183 days... but as a full-time student AND a Dependent on our own taxes, I am not certain how this works?).

[Hal_Al]

Q. Does she need to file taxes as a DC resident? 

A.  No.  As a student, temporarily in DC, and as a dependent of CT residents, she is considered a full year CT. Any income she has is filed on her CT resident return. 

She does not need to file a DC form, as DC is "reciprocal" with all other states. If DC tax was mistakenly withheld, Use Form D-40B, Non-Resident Request for Refund (available by visiting Tax Forms, Publications, and Resources).

[DianeW777 · Accepted solution]

She is a Connecticut (CT) resident.  Her time in DC as a college student is not considered her residency.

She is considered to be away from home temporarily while attending college.  Therefore, her home resident state would still be where she lived before attending college.  This would also be where she would file her taxes if she meets the filing threshold to file.

Do I need to file a return

The only time this could ever change is if she has the intent to make DC her permanent home.  Then she would be required to file a D.C. return.

She may also need to file a D.C. return if he had earnings in D.C. with D.C. withholdings.  She would file Form D-40B, Nonresident Request for Refund if she falls under this category.

Nonresident DC request for refund

[eli104]

<sigh> Thank you for the response, and now a quick follow-up question (or three).

Based on your response:

Q1: 

a) Should she file a CT tax return to report her DC income?  (She also has a minimal 1099-DIV from a UTMA brokerage account,  but combined these do not push her over $10,000 in earnings).

OR,

b) Is filing the D-40B non-resident form enough to get her withheld taxes back? (My belief is she has to file a tax return since she needs to report the 1099-DIV anyway).

Finally (sorry... it's a long row to hoe):

Last year in DC (where she made even less money), she had income from jobs in CT, DC, and MD (a trifecta)! The MD job didn't withhold, realizing she was a low-income student, but we filed in CT and DC to get that pittance of withholdings back.

Q2: So does she need to amend her 1040 returns for DC & CT from last year... or do we let it ride?  

Q3: Last year I reported her UTMA dividends on my own taxes (again, a small amount), and didn't even think that they would be reported on hers because of the small earnings. So do I need to amend my own return from last year as well? 

[Vanessa A]

Q1. Yes, because she is a CT resident, she will need to file a return that includes income from all states and sources even if it was not earned in CT. Filings the D-40B will get her the refund from DC.  She basically will need to file 2 returns. 

Q2: So does she need to amend her 1040 returns for DC & CT from last year... or do we let it ride?  Amend why? Was something not included on the return?  IF something was not included or incorrect on the return, then yes, you would need to amend.  If you did not include the MD income on the CT return, that needs to be included as well. 

Q3: Last year I reported her UTMA dividends on my own taxes (again, a small amount), and didn't even think that they would be reported on hers because of the small earnings. So do I need to amend my own return from last year as well? If she filed a return last year, then all of her earnings should have been included on her return and none of her earnings should have been included on your return.  So, yes, you would need to Amend Your Returns to put the income on the proper return.