I moved to Cali in Oct 08 for a contract job.

However my employer kept withholding Oregon state taxes till Feb 09. In addition they also deducted SUI/SDI for California when in fact I should have been paying CA state tax and Oregon state tax since I moved.

I talked to my employer and they say just pay the two state taxes. But in CA I have hardly paid any tax (only sui/sdi) for 3 months.

Please advice if I should file tax refunds for both the states or just Oregon. Thanks :confused:

Income earned while in CA must be reported to CA. Check for the CA filing requirements.

To your resident state, you must report your worldwide income for the year or for the residency period. If you paid taxes to another state, then you will claim credit for those taxes. Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Working or Living in Two or More states (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/06/working-in-two-or-more-states.html)

Thanks MukatA.

"Income earned while in CA must be reported to CA. Check for the CA filing requirements."

That would mean I have inform CA about what I earned from October till December 08. And since I have not paid any taxes to CA (except SUI/SDI) I will have to shell out some money. But I already paid tax to Oregon during this period ! - How can I claim that money back from Oregon.

Also shouldn't this been done by my employer? I think they did a mistake so does it mean I will end paying taxes in both states?

Yes, you probably will end up paying something to both states, because Oregon's tax rate is so high and because NO California taxes were withheld.

But if the returns are done correctly, it should be no more than if your employer made the proper withholdings to begin with.