[kirsti91]

My parents live in Canada and I'm a dual citizen. In 2008 (spring and fall) I attended a college in Massachusetts (lived in a dorm) and worked there part time both semesters (income: $3000, some state tax withheld, some freelance income for which no state tax has been withheld). I have $3000 free-lance income from Canada (worked for my parents, no tax withheld). During the summer 2008, I did a 3-month internship in Washington state, income $29,5000, federal tax withheld, no state tax in Washington. That summer, I was offered a permanent position at the Washington company and joined them in February 2009 after completing my final semester in Mass. So right now, I'm a resident of Washington state. (Since I knew I would be coming back to Washington, I stored some of my stuff at my relatives' house in Washington = I have an address for the latter part of the year in the state if this would be significant.)
In May 2008, I got Mass driver's licence.

For state tax purposes, which state was I resident of in 2008? Understandably, I am not keen on paying Massachusetts state tax on my Washington income if I can help it.


Could I be a part time resident of Mass and Washington.

My "permanent" address before Washington state was in Canada at my parents' home and both January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008, I was in Canada.

A can of worms?

Kirsti

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Kirsti:

Due to your international student status, you are, by law, a non-resident of Massachusetts. However, you STILL have to pay Massachusetts stae income taxes on income earned while within the Massachuseets state borders.

Same logic applies to Washington (internships are considered to be extensions of student work).

So the answer is that you are a resident of Canada and NOT of ANY state in the United States. The fact that you got a Massachusetts driver's license is not relevent to your residency status, again due to your international student status.

BOTTOM LINE: File as a non-resident of Massachusetts and claim residency in the province of Canada where your parents currently live. If you report JUST the Massachusetts income on the Massachusetts W-2, the state of Massachusetts will be none the wiser and thus not attempt to tax your Washington income.

However, if you did attach a copy of that Washington W-2 to the Masschusetts return, expect a letter from the state of Massachusetts, because I know from experience that they WILL try to tax that income.