Is it true that if you lived in two or more states in a year your taxes must be done professionally?

Question

I recently relocated to another state and i generally do my taxes myself. Can i continue to do so? (I was told that it may have something to do with one state having state taxes (KY) and one state not having state taxes (TN)

Answer 1

Not true. You can still do them yourself. Bear with me. You do your federal return as you always have. Texas has no income tax so you have no state return to file there. For Kentucky you will fill out what is called a part-year return that assesses taxes only on the income you earned while a resident of Kentucky. It is usually just like the normal state return you fill out but you work on that percentage of income earned while you lived in Kentucky. If you run into any snags or have questions about filling it out don't hesitate to email me your questions. I have worked on the VITA program filling out tax returns for 36 years (this is year 37) and have pretty much seen it all. Good luck.

Answer 2

You are never required to have your taxes done professionally. Living in two states will make things somewhat more complicated, but if you usually do them yourself, you should still be able to. For federal taxes, it won't matter, since everything gets filed together. If both states have a state income tax, you'll have to file two state returns, splitting your income into what was made during the time you lived in each state. Most state forms have a box to check for "part year resident". Sounds like you'd just have to do KY, with the income you made during the time you were a resident there, for state.

Answer 3

I moved from Indiana to Ohio and did my own taxes. It wasn't a big deal and the instructions told me what to do. If you are concerned, get a tax program like Turbo Tax (any of them will do). All the "professionals" do is use those programs anyway. Unless you actually hire an accountant, they don't know anymore about it that you or I.

Answer 4

No, you can still do them yourself. Might be a little more complicated, that's all. Just check to see if there is a separate "part-year resident" form for each of the state.

As long as one of the states isn't NY - they have the most complicated part-year resident tax form I've ever seen, lol.

Answer 5

You CAN do it by yourself, if you know how. But I would say you do get professional help, this is what my girlfriend did this year, since she got paid in FL, MO and NY. She also normally does her taxes herself.