Do I have to pay taxes in every state I work in?

FlyYakker · Nov 7, 2008, 05:20 PM

I am not a tax expert.

However, I pretty darn sure you can relax.

You only file in the state in which you have official residence. While I believe one can have more than one official residence state, that does not sound like what you have. You appear to be a hotel hopper.

I used to live in Virginia but worked full time in Maryland. I only paid taxes in Virginia EXCEPT when I changed states and then had to pay part of the state tax in Virginia and part in Maryland, where I had moved to. The amount paid was proportional to the the time I was a residence in the state that year

Fr_Chuck · Nov 7, 2008, 06:58 PM

Do you get paid in each of those states, do you get separate W2 or 1099 in each of those states

Jaykid007 · Nov 7, 2008, 07:46 PM

You pay taxes in each that you have earned income unless they don't have a state income tax

dboneb · Nov 9, 2008, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dboneb

OK I live in louisiana, I work for a contracting company. I work in louisiana, virginia, alabama, mississippi, florida, north carolina, south carolina, arkansas, georgia, and texas. I no I have to file in the state I live in but do I have to file for every other state? Some of these states I only make 200-600 dollars.... Some states like virginia I make like 3000-5000 dollars.. CAN NE ONE ANSWER THIS QUESTION?

Lm

dboneb · Nov 9, 2008, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Do you get paid in each of those states, do you get separate W2 or 1099 in each of those states

I get separete w2's with taxes withheld out of my checks....

MukatA · Nov 9, 2008, 11:25 AM

Income earned in a state must be reported on the state's tax return.
That means you will file tax return for all the states for which your income exceeds the filing requirement. For most states the filing requirement is around $10,000.

Then you will also report your total worldwide income (includes income from all the states) on the resident state. You will claim credit for taxes paid to the other states.

AtlantaTaxExpert · Nov 13, 2008, 08:45 AM

The $10,000 minimum that MukatA quotes is a bit high; I believe the figures is closer to $7,500.

You (or the tax pro you would hire) will have to examine each state's filing requirements to see where you meet the filing threshold.

For sure, any amount under $1,000 would require NO tax return, and the amount withheld in state taxes, though recoverable if a tax return is filed, probably would NOT JUSTIFY the cost of preparing the state tax return.

The cost preparation is not an issue if you prepare the returns yourself manually (commercial state tax software is NOT free), but you also have to factor in the time it would take you to prepare each state return yourself.

MY ADVICE:

1) For each state income under $1,000, you can legally forego filing those returns.

2) For each state income over $1,000, you need to verify the filing requirements.

YOU have to decide if filing is worth the time and effort to recover a small refund.

Do I have to pay taxes in every state I work in?

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