Who gets my money and how much are they going to take?

February 3, 2009 1:37 PM

ILiveEverywhereAndNowhereFilter: In 2008, I attended school in New York, worked a three month summer internship in Washington state, and maintained permanent residency in California. Given this, where do I file my state taxes?

The vast majority of my income for the year was from the internship. Washington has no state income tax, so ideally I'd like to avoid owing California tax on this income. Very little income was earned in New York, and I have not filed a New York return in the past.

I spent maybe two months total in California through the course of the year. However, I believe I probably maintained California residency, as I hold a CA license, served jury duty in CA (evicted a crazy lady, oh joy), and voted absentee in CA elections. I lived in temporary housing in WA for three months, and spent the rest of the year at school in NY.

With these factors in place, where do I file my taxes? Can I legitimately say I was a part-time Washington resident and thus not pay California taxes on my Washington income? Thanks for helping to sort this out.

posted by zachlipton to work & money (11 comments total)

IANAL or an accountant but it sounds like you're a California resident and should pay California taxes.
posted by downing street memo at 1:45 PM on February 3

If I truly owe California tax on my Washington income, I'll certainly pay up. The state is broke enough as it is, not that my meager share makes much of a difference.
posted by zachlipton at 1:48 PM on February 3

You need a tax adviser, or use TurboTax to sort it out. Don't rely on answers here. Generally, each state has different formulas for taking its slice of your earning in multi-state situations. And generally, that formula differs from the rules about where you can vote and hold a license.
posted by beagle at 1:48 PM on February 3

You'll have to look at each state's rules -- some states are pretty strict while others are pretty loose. Google tax and each state and you'll find what you need.
posted by lockestockbarrel at 1:51 PM on February 3

"Yes. California taxes all income you received while a California resident..."
posted by gyusan at 1:52 PM on February 3

If California is like NY -

You need to file in Washington State for the Income you earned there, and you'll need to file in California as well. You will pay to California the difference between what you paid the state of Washington and what you would have paid to California had the money been earned there.

Basically you pay like it was CA taxes, but some of the money goes to Washington.
posted by JPD at 2:49 PM on February 3

JPD: If California is like NY ...

I'm pretty sure that's how IL works also. I had a friend who lived in the southern tip and he worked in KY. He paid the KY income tax and got a credit for that amount on his IL tax.
posted by sbutler at 3:25 PM on February 3

Call the California Franchise Tax Board and ask. I just did this yesterday, and although my situation was a bit different, and for a past year and not this year, they were very helpful. Even while telling me I didn't owe them any money, that the tax lien they issued for me was an error, and sorry for that. They aren't just going to mislead you to get their money, is what I mean.

I lived in ID and WA but maintained my home of record in CA. They just took my word over the phone for what happened, it wasn't a nightmare of having to fax proof, etc.

You'll be on hold a while, though.
posted by ctmf at 3:30 PM on February 3

I worked 5 months in NJ and 2 months in NY, all while maintaining a CA residency. I received W-2s from all three states. I filed returns in all three, got money back from NJ and CA, and owed NY 5$.

CA wanted to know how much $ I made elsewhere and how many days I was employed. I'm not sure you can 'get around' that.
posted by Lizc at 3:58 PM on February 3

I was able to figure this sort of thing out myself the year it happened to me (lived in 4 states, worked in 2, went to school in 2, earned scholarship money in 1) just via the state tax websites and their forms. They usually give you options for "partial-year resident" and reporting state-specific income. And if you have questions, the website FAQs or help hotlines will help.

Or you could just go to a really smart accountant.
posted by pril at 8:38 PM on February 3

A friend of mine has the same situation. She has CA residency but interned in Massachusetts.
Any idea?
posted by bbyboi at 2:54 AM on February 4