Hi,

I'm an international student currently staying in upstate NY. Being an international student on visa, I'm considered a non-resident with both NYS and NJ and often need to obtain refunds after taxes are withheld from my pay.

I did an internship over the summer in NJ and now find myself having to file tax returns with both states to get tax refunds. This is my first time filing forms with more than one state and I'm really confused! According to the other posts, it seems people living in NY but working in NJ should file with both, and NY will give a tax credit for NJ tax paid.

My questions:

- The company I worked for ended up withholding mainly NY State taxes from my paycheck, since my residence is in NY, even though the company itself is based in NJ. At the same time, however, I also had NJ SDI and UI/HC/WD taxes withheld from my paycheck in addition to NYS taxes, together with some other NJ state taxes (apparently, all employees of that company must have these NJ taxes withheld). When I'm filing the state tax returns, which state should I treat as the 'source' state of my wages from the company - NY or NJ?

- Where on the NY State Tax return form (I filed 1040NR-EZ and 8843) should I list the NJ state taxes paid, in order to get a credit for them? Or, more generally, how should I get a refund for the NJ taxes withheld?

Any advice or help at all would be greatly appreciated! I think it's safe to say this is the most confused I have ever been!

Gratefully,
Joanna

If you are present in a state, then any income earned during this period, must be reported to the state.

To your resident state, you must report your worldwide income for the year. 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)

The form is titled "Resident Credit", though I do not know the form number off-hand.