I have worked for the same company and in two different states last year. I lived in NY from Jan to July 2006 and then transferred to PA in August. I am a current resident in PA.

I received two W2 forms in the mail for working in each state. The figure in Line 1 in both W2s are the same

I am confused regarding the figures that are reported in Line 16 (state wages) for the two W2s.

For my PA state W2, Line 16 equals 2/5 the amount of my total wages in Line 1. This makes sense to me since I earned income in PA from August 2006 onwards.. roughly 5 months.

However, for my New York state W2, state wages in Line 16 equals the figure in Line 1. This does not make sense to me since I lived in NY from Jan to July. How can the two figures be equal if I only worked a portion of the year (7 months) in NY. I would expect the figure in Line 16 to be 3/5 the amount of Line 1... and essentially, that the two Line 16 figures add up to Line 1.

Does this make any sense? I am concerned that there is any error on my NY W2 form and that I may run into issues in doing my states taxes for the respectives states.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

The income on Line 1 for the NY W-2 has to be ALLOCATED to each state. This si something new for NY resident this year (as if the NY state tax return was not complicated enough). NY state provid a separate form to perform the allocation calculations.

If you want to give it a shot, go ahead, but I recommend you get professional tax help, as the allocation process CAN be somewhat tricky.