State Residency after graduation

[lraiff]

I am from, and my parents live, in Pennslyvania. From January-May of this year, I attended college and worked in Massachusetts. I graduated in May. After graduating, I got a job in Massachusetts, so I stayed here for work. For the entire year, I was leasing an off-campus apartment. My dad is claiming me as a dependent since he helped pay tuition and housing expenses when I was in school. Previously, when in school for a full year, I'd file as a PA resident and MA non-resident. Is it worth to file as a PA resident still? I didn't work or stay in PA for more than 2 weeks last year. But my voting registration and driver's license are still in PA.

[BillM223]

Domicile is something that does not change unless you do something to change it.

Your domicile was Pennsylvania growing up, and it stayed that way even when you went away to school.

To change your domicile, you need to do things like...

- tell people that your address is in the new location

- get a new landline in the new location (yes, I realize that this is going out of date)

- buy a house or sign a lease in the new location

- change your voters registration to the new location

- change your drivers license to the new location

- and so on.

Most people will have a mixed bag of answers for these items above, but you should be prepared to assert that the preponderance of data shows that you really, really moved to the new location.

So, in general, you need to continue filing in PA until you can show that you have changed your domicile.

[Carl]

Establishing residency in a state, or non-residency where you have/had residency before can be different for each state. Additionally, it depends on what you want to establish residency for. For example, residency requirements in a state for reduced tuition at a state collage may be totally different from residency requirements for voting in that state, which can be totally different from residency requirements for declaring the state your "tax home" for state tax purposes.
For example, in FL a northerner who owns/rents property here and only lives in FL for the winter months, can establish their residency by filling out a form and filing it with the local registrar in the county courthouse of the county they live in. Even then, that may not be sufficient to "cancel" their residency in whatever state they came from.

[Hal_Al]

You probably have a more important question than the one you asked; the answer to which will answer the question you did ask.

Q. Can your dad claim you as a dependent for 2023?

A. No.  

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related).  You can't be a qualifying relative because you have too much income. There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled. Graduating in May meets this requirement.
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation. This is  iffy, in your case. 
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year. When you graduated in May, and took a job in MA,  your temporary off campus college housing became your permanent residence and you ceased being considered as still living with your parent. You don't meet the more than half the year rule.  So, you can't be his dependent. 

Prior to May, an argument could be made that you were still a PA resident (you were still a student away at college) and you should file as a part year resident of both states.  

Q. Is it worth to file as a PA resident still? 

A. No. The only reason was to establish that you were living with your Dad so he could claim you as a dependent.  In you circumstances, the stronger argument is that you were a MA resident all year.