Working remote - are state taxes due in nonresident state?

[JoJo]

I officially live and work in a state without income taxes but spending time in other states with income tax, is tax due?  Not staying long enough to become a resident.

[StarBright]

Totally state dependent. I owe state income taxes to both the state where my office is located and the state where I live.

My understanding is that NY an NJ might come for your money if they know you are living there. But if your folks aren't in NY or NJ then you don't have to worry about that.

I would assume as long as you aren't changing your mailing address, and you are less than 183 days, then there is no way of knowing that you are residing with your folks and you won't have to concern yourself.

[JoJo]

Not NY or NJ.

[EricEng]

Legally: Varies by the state, but mostly depends on where your physical self is doing the work.  Which is weird if you are remoting into a computer in another state imo.  However, lot of states have rules about out of state workers that kick in well before residency, normally 90-120 days at which point they want their tax money.

Practically:  No one is going to notice, so mostly honor system here like much of tax system.  I think a lot of states are going to be weird in that regard atm. 

Ethically: You've been using that states amenities (roads, parks, etc) while earning your living.  So the right thing would to contribute.

[JoJo]

haha... that's a good joke about using the roads and parks, as COVID has me pretty shut in.

 I probably won't stay that much longer, definitely not enough to get residency. 

[MissPeach]

It's state specific but CA is another one with harsh residency rules.

[haflander]

I'm wondering about this as well. I live in a state without income tax, and am considering accepting a remote position for a company based in NYC. Googling has yielded mixed answers and HR hasn't given me an answer yet, maybe the MMM community can do better? Is NY going to come after me for taxes because the company is in NY, even though I will be physically working 100% in a different state?

[MDM]

Is NY going to come after me for taxes because the company is in NY, even though I will be physically working 100% in a different state?

Does the company already have a Tax Nexus in your state?

[PDXTabs]

What EricEng said.

It's state specific but CA is another one with harsh residency rules.

OR too, because you owe them tax for every day/week/month that you work/live there.

[haflander]

@MDM I'm not sure about a tax nexus. I looked that up and still don't know.

Most of what I found does reflect what @EricEng said. However, I did find some other sources that said NY will still try to get state income tax from remote workers living/working in other states. I also read that you can likely get 100% of it back at tax time if you file a nonresident return and say that you earned $0 in NY, which I guess is accurate. Of course, I'd rather it never be withheld in the first place.

I'm on a deadline for responding about the job offer. The raise I'm getting is around twice of the NY tax hit for my bracket, so it doesn't change the needle for me. Plus, money is only the third or fourth most important deciding factor for me. I'm thinking I'm just going to accept and then be extra careful with the onboarding paperwork so HR knows I'm in a different state, and hopefully they won't set me up with taking out NY state income taxes. There are other employees working remotely in the company, but it's the exception, not the rule, I believe.

[MrsSpendyPants]

State dependent but most states do make you pay where the work is done, has nothing to do with residency.  That's why national sports players have such complex tax returns - they often have to pay taxes in a state where they might have only had a few games for example.  So if you worked in your parent's state then yes you would owe taxes there.  Most states have a particular exemption amount and some have reciprocity with other states.  If you provided your parents' state we could help more.