Hi,

I'm a resident of NJ since oct, 2005 and I work at NY since then. This is the first time I am filing my tax returns in the US. Now that I'm married and my spouse doesn't work anywhere, I learnt that I have to file the return jointly and for the same I applied for ITIN and filed by federal tax. Now that I have received my spouse ITIN, how do I go about filing the state tax?
Do u need to file tax for both states - NJ and NY, because my W2 form shows state tax deducted only for NY.
If not, which state tax should I file?
If I had to pay for both states, how do I calculate the tax for NJ state?
What are all the forms that I need to fill?

I'm completely puzzled...

Thanks,
N

You will have to file taxes for both states. But NJ state gives you credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions. Since NY taxes are higher, you will most likely not have to pay anything to jersey and get a small refund back.
Go to http://www.njwebfile.com/ to prepare and file your NJ taxes for free. Finish your federal and NY state taxes first.
And instead of worrying about which forms to fill - why don't you get a software that doe smost of this for you. www.taxact.com has free prep and filing for federal. Buy NY state from them for like $15.

Hope this helps.

Prathiba,

Thanks for the reply. Since I was in NJ only from Oct, 2005 I had to file the form NJ-1040NR. Form NJ-1040 for residents is applicable for those who were here for more than 183 days and hence I was not able to do a webfile for NJ state tax return. And I had to file the non resident form for NY state also(Form - IT203). Anyway thanks a lot for the prompt reply.

Narayan.

Guidance is good; nothing to add.