Hi all, my son works in NY but lives in NJ, in what order does he have to file, Fed/ NY/NJ or Fed/NJ/NY? He also earned income from NJ before working in NY. Thanks

He should complete his Federal return first, then the NY State return. He will figure taxes he owes for the year to NY due to his NY-based income (i.e his NY wages). After that he figures his NJ tax, on which he first calculates NJ taxes based on all income for the year but then takes a credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions (i.e. NY State) - this is why he has to complete NY before NJ. Most people in this situation who don't have much other income end up paying little to nothing to NJ, but because he has some NJ-based income he may have some taxes owed to NJ.

Why thank you for your answer and quick reply. Going to hop on it now. Thanks again.

You are most welcome! Just to add one other bit of information: he will fill out the NY State non-resident return (IT-203), and although it requires he report his total income for the year, when it's complete it really only taxes his NY-based income (the reason he has to report all income to NY is to determine the correct tax bracket).