2012 Tax Questions about Moving, plus Working in NY but Living in NJ (co-op)

[yoshapman]

So my situation is a little complicated, but hopefully you will all have some answers for me. I'm also going to use some (fake) numbers, so that hopefully it will be easier to explain.

Facts:
- Wife and I owned a co-op in NY
- We sold this co-op on Aug 23, and bought a house in NJ on Aug 24. This was 236 days into a 366 day year, or .644809%.
- Wife worked 3 jobs in NY between Jan 1 and Aug 23, earning a total of $40K.
- From Aug 24 till Dec 31, wife worked in NJ, earning a total of $20K.
- I work 1 job in NY (which I still currently work at), making $100K. My job changed my payroll address (and thus stopped charging me NYC income tax) for the Aug 31 payroll (thus encompassing Aug 15-23 when I still lived in NY).

How will this work as far as year end taxes? I am doing my taxes online on taxact, and it started asking me about prorating, how much income I made while living in NY vs NJ, etc. I need some help with the distinction between 1) working in NY vs NJ and 2) living in NY vs NJ.

Thank you.

[yoshapman]

bump

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by yoshapman

So my situation is a little complicated, but hopefully you will all have some answers for me. I'm also going to use some (fake) numbers, so that hopefully it will be easier to explain.

Facts:
- Wife and I owned a co-op in NY
- We sold this co-op on Aug 23, and bought a house in NJ on Aug 24. This was 236 days into a 366 day year, or .644809%.
- Wife worked 3 jobs in NY between Jan 1 and Aug 23, earning a total of $40K.
- From Aug 24 till Dec 31, wife worked in NJ, earning a total of $20K.
- I work 1 job in NY (which I still currently work at), making $100K. My job changed my payroll address (and thus stopped charging me NYC income tax) for the Aug 31 payroll (thus encompassing Aug 15-23 when I still lived in NY).

How will this work as far as year end taxes? I am doing my taxes online on taxact, and it started asking me about prorating, how much income I made while living in NY vs NJ, etc. I need some help with the distinction between 1) working in NY vs NJ and 2) living in NY vs NJ.

Thank you.

Basically you end up filing two state tax returns, one to NJ and one to NY based on where you resided. You owe NY for the time you lived in NY and you owe NJ for the time you lived in NJ. These are generally referred to as "part year resident returns" and in some states are a separate form, while others use the regular forms with different calculations. Using the software like you are, it should pick the right form to use and do the calculations based on what you tell it.

For your wife...

If I understand correctly she had three jobs in NY, which means she has three W-2's (or 1099's) from each of those employers. After moving to NJ, she started a new job in NJ as a NJ resident and has received a W-2 (or 1099) from that employer.

If that's the case then what you will do is file her three NY based W-2's (or 1099's) on your NY return and then file her one NJ based W-2 on your NJ return. Do not put her NY jobs on the NJ one and vice versa. So, your wife's is pretty simple. She made "$40k" in NY and "$20k" in NJ.

For you...

Since you kept the same job, you need to pro-rate your pay between the two states you lived in even though you only received one W-2. You already did the calculation. Take your "$100k" and divide it between the two states appropriately. Using your .6448% you would claim "$64,480" on your NY return and "$35,520" on your NJ return. You don't really need to be that precise and could round it to "$65k" and "$35k" respectively or "$64k" and "$36k" if that would be slightly more advantageous.

So, you will end up with the following...

A NY state return that shows you and your wife earned a combined "$105k" (her $40k + your $65k).

A NJ state return that shows you and your wife earned a combined "$55k" (her $20k + your $35k).

A Federal return that shows your total earnings of "$160k" (her $60k + your $100k).