Do I need to pay taxes for different residing states, though my employer is in one state?

Question

My employer is in New Jersey and I worked for his client in Arkansas (4-5 months) and rest (7-8 months) I was back to New Jersey. Now, what state taxes should I have to file? Only NJ or both NJ & AR?

Thanks for your help and I really appreciate, if you could point me to any source to shed some light on your comments.

forgot to say. I had only one W2 from my employer with NJ state taxes details in it.

Answer 1

You absolutely have to file in both NJ and AR. You should receive either one W-2 with your full taxable wages listed and a letter stating the amount earned while working in AR; or 2 separate W-2's, one for each state.

I'm not sure of an url for a website that you can access without a login & password (I use the BNA's website and they make you pay), but I was a Payroll Specialist IV for Computer Science Corporation, and it was my job to analyze work location reports to determine when to change a consultant's work state and calculate any tax equalization to minimize the impact to their net pay. Federal law states that if you work the majority of the time in another tax jurisdiction for 30 days then you have to change your work location to that jurisdiction. And you stay in that jurisdiction until you go another 30 days without returning to that jurisdiction at all. The only state or local laws that affect this are if there's a reciprocity agreement between your home jurisdiction and the one to which you travel (like between VA & MD, or DC and any other state unless you live in DC). The rules can get quite complicated at that point, lol.

Suffice it to say that if your work state was changed to AR then you were taxed in AR and likely have to file there as well, unless you don't meet AR's filing requirements. 4-5 months of being taxed there doesn't sound like you didn't make that much, though.

Here's a link to AR's DFA (Department of Finance & Administration, Arkansas' version of NJ's Department of the Treasury).
http://www.arkansas.gov/dfa/dfa_taxes.html

Sorry :(

If you only had NJ taxes withheld, just file in NJ. Either you didn't work in AR for more than half the week for 4 consecutive weeks at any time (the general policy regarding working outside your normal work state for most companies) or your employer is in violation, but either way you can only go by what you have. And all you have is NJ wages and NJ taxes withheld.

Answer 2

That really depends on Arkansas tax law. Visit their web site or call. Most states claim to tax any work performed in that state. Some are more agressive than others (for example, New York taxes baseball players for the money they earned while plahying games in the state).
In any case, New Jersey will allow you a credit for whatever you do pay to Arkansas.

Answer 3

Check with your employer to see if any state withholdings (and allocated wages) were taken for AK. If so, then you'll need to file a Non-resident AK return to claim those taxes.

Or rather, just check your last paystub for 2006 and see if any amounts were allocated to another state.

For NJ, you would include the AK income (if any) on the NJ return but you're allowed a tax credit for taxes paid to other states.

You should either get software to help you when filing your taxes or go to a local tax professional in your area to assist you with multi-state returns.

Answer 4

only your state of residence, that is where your paycheck came from right? I work in the merchant marines, a couple states have taken out some here and there, but you only file for your state.

Answer 5

w2 is a statement agree upon by you and your emplyer, so what ever you and your boss says then that's what happen. if you boss said you work in NJ and you agreed to that then that is that. if your don't agree then tell your boss to amend your w2

how many states you work depend on how many w2 you get from your boss.