Do I have to file my taxes in two states?

Question

I worked in St. Louis for six months (temporary job) from July to December after working in Illinois the previous 6 months. I am now back in IL working. On taxslayer.com, it askes if I want to file part time residency in each IL and MO. Do I have to do that even though it was only a temporary job in MO. Thanks!

Answer 1

You must file a regular return in your state of legal residence, listing all income from all states. You file a non-resident return in the other state for the income earned there. Your state of legal residence will give you a credit for taxes paid to the other state.

Unless you actually moved to MO for the period of time you were working there (a bit of a stretch, given that it's on the IL state line) your legal residence didn't change when you were working there so you are not a part-year resident of either state. You're a resident of IL and a non-resident of MO and should file your returns as such.

Answer 2

If you weren't an Illinois resident - you file MO as a resident, and IL as a non-resident. The IL return would have ONLY your IL income on it. The MO return would have all of it - but there will be a way to show a credit for tax paid to another state.

Answer 3

If you temporarily lived in both states then yes you need to file part-year tax forms for each state. To double check this, both states at the bottoms of your W-2's should show state taxes being taken out of your checks.

Answer 4

You will most likely want to, since you have State taxes withheld in each State. This situation is not uncommon. You may get a larger refund as a result.

Since you physically worked in both States, you do have a requirement to submit a tax return to both States, unless you do not have sufficient income from each State to meet that State's income filing requirement.

Answer 5

Check the state tax laws on-line. I know in PA you do.