Why did I not get a refund from PA or DE last year and instead owed money to both states?

[re2boys]

We can't see your return from last year so you need to ask a more specific question.  What state are you a resident of?  What state do you work in? Do you have a copy of last years return?

[mkg821]

If I live in DE and work in PA  shouldn't I still get a return from either PA or DE? Last year I ended up owing both states money and received only a federal refund.

[re2boys]

deleted

[mkg821]

Thanks for your help

[re2boys · Accepted solution]

If you work in PA but live in DE, here is what should happen:

You file a PA non-resident income tax return only reporting your PA income.  If all you PA income is W2 wages, your employer should have withheld the exact amount for PA taxes such that you get zero refund/zero balance due. You shouldn't owe money to PA unless your employer under-withheld (should be exactly 3.07% of wages)(unusual) or reported additional income items, possibly in error.

Then you file a resident state DE return claiming all your income, including that earned in PA.  Be sure that your return contains a credit for taxes paid to another state, the taxes paid to PA.  There should be a number on line 10 of your DE 200-01 form.

In TurboTax, you must doe the PA return first, then the DE return in order for the credit to be picked up, though you should be able to manually enter 

Wether you get a refund from DE is a matter of your filing status, exemptions etc etc etc.