Need help for 2007 taxes:

I have F-1 status and i filed in federal taxes as non-resident alien.

I lived in a student dorm for 11 months in 2007 in NYCity;
worked in New Jersey for 2 months. no income in NYCity.

1.) like for federal taxes (5years F1), i consider myself also non-resident for both NYC and NewJersey; AM I CORRECT? (ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO NYC)? i've read all the definitions, but need an expert opinion.

2.) i paid state taxes in NJ and also some city tax in NYC based on my box 17 and box 19 in the W-2 report.

BUT my local wages (box18) only reports one number - is this my new jersey wage?
What "local wages" should I report in my non-resident tax form for NYCity tax report?

All of my work was done in NewJersey, so what is it with the NYCity tax anyway?
Can i claim it back in full?

thanks in advance

The definition of resident and nonresident is different for federal than for state.

If you lived in NY for whole year you are resident of NY. If you did not live in NY at all you are nonresident. If you live in NY for a few months you are part year resident.

If you lived in NY and worked in NJ you will file returns for both the states. It appears that your income is below the filing requirement, and you may file to get refund. Check the state websites.

Thanks for your reply

OK. now i'm filing a non-resident form for NJ state and
a regular resident tax form (i201) for NY state & city.

BUT I only have "single" items in my W2:

NJ state reference copy:
box 15: NJ
box 16: state wages 18 kUSD
box 17: state tax 800 usd
box 18: local wages 15 k USD
box 19: local tax 500 usd

City / Local filing copy:
box 15 to 17 are blank
box 18: local wages 15 k USD
box 19: local tax 500 usd
box 20: NYC res

At first my understanding was that the whole 800 usd are NJ state taxes withheld
and the whole 500 usd are NYCity taxes witheld.

But now...

As I am doing the NewYorkState file, i'm questioning this.
Could my state tax number in box 17 include both NJ & NY state witheld taxes?

How do i know how much was actually paid to whom?
Assuming my company only paid to NJ, that probably means I still owe to NY state?
How come both NY and NJ can charge me for the taxes for the same work - what I mean is - how can I deduct the local NY paid taxes in my NJ state tax file?

Because based on my current calculation, I would get a refund from NewJersey and would need to pay extra to NewYork and this does not appear logical to me; I mean, it should net-out somehow.

The same goes for the local CITY tax; I assumed all my local tax meant NYC tax, but now I'm sceptical whether this "local" tax withheld in box19 could also include some local NewJersey tax...?


As probably clear from the above, I'm faced with the US tax system for the first time,
so I would appreciate any comment, 'cos at this point anything would help.