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Help with MA tax return Form 1-NR/PY?
I lived in NJ in 2007 and never lived in MA. My employer is MA based. For 2007, he issued me a W2 with wages $45K in box 1.
For state the box 15 has MA and NJ. Box 16 has MA income of 25K and NJ income of 20K. On MA income of 25K, my employer did withhold MA state income tax. On NJ income of 20K, my employer withheld NJ tax. Employer has Tax ID for both the states MA and NJ.
I know I should get all the MA tax withheld back from MA state as I was never a resident or part year resident of MA, and I need to report total 45K income on my NJ return. I am using a software to do my return. On MA Form 1-NR/PY, I have line 3 --- 45K; line 5 -- 25K; line 14e -- non MA source income 20K.
How do I correct my MA form? Do I file some other from to report total MA income as 0?
Please help.
GrahamCracker: Thanks. I never worked in MA.
You said that in that case I put 0 in line 5. But my W2 box 16 does show MA income. Line 16 has three entries:
Salary wages ... from Box 16 of W2....
Apportiment income from non-MA sources....
Adjustment to state wages....
Do I put 25k for salary wages... form box 16 of W2
For Apportiment 0
For adjustment to state wages (25k)?
Is this correct? Do I attach some statement?
3 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
You tell us where you live. But you say nothing about where you worked. That is an essential bit of information.
If you worked in MA, then you owe MA taxes on the wages you earned while working in MA. It makes no difference whether you were a resident or not. The rule is that a state may tax any income sourced from within its borders and that a state where you are a resident may tax any income you earn anywhere in the world. This means if you were a resident of one state and worked in another state, BOTH states will tax the income from your work. Some pairs of states have what are known as reciprocal tax agreements that exempt residents of one state from paying taxes in the other. In the case where two states tax the same income, usually one state allows a credit for taxes paid to the other.
NJ and MA have no reciprocal tax agreement.
On line 5, you would list all the wages earned on any day you worked on MA. If you never worked in MA, you would list 0.
On line 14e, you would list all of your other income.
You will report ALL of your income from any source anywhere in the world (including MA) on your NJ-1040. If you owed any taxes in MA on income that is also taxed in NJ, attach NJ Schedule A to your NJ-1040 to claim a credit against your NJ taxes for the taxes paid to MA.
A caution: If you participated in a non-Roth 401k , 403b, or similar retirement plan, you cannot just add the MA and NJ income together to arrive at your NJ income. NJ does not allow a deduction for retirement plan contributions. If you had before-tax contributions, your NJ income will be higher than your federal income. The NJ income on your W-2 has already been adjusted to take this into account, your MA income has not. Your NJ income will generally be your federal income in box 1 PLUS any deferred retirement plan contributions.
If you did not work or live in MA, your employer should not have reported any MA income on your W-2 or withheld any MA taxes. If you put down 0 on line 5, MA is going to be suspicious. It would help you head off trouble if you attach a letter from your employer explaining that they withheld MA taxes in error and you did not work in MA.
If you are using a tax software package, it is putting the value on line 5 based on the data from your W-2. If the data is in error, you will have to either manually override that field on your form or tell it what you think the correct value should be when you input the data from your W-2.
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Answer to additional details.
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If you are saying you never worked in MA and never lived in MA, then the amount shown on your W-2 is in error. Do not put the erroneous information on line 5. Put 0 (zero).
Then on line 14e, put the full amount of your income from all sources (45k according to your information).
You do not fill out the apportionment worksheet. You are claiming you had no MA wages, hence there is nothing for you to apportion.
Yes, attach an explanation of why the number differs from your W-2. Explain that you did not live in MA anytime during the year and that you did not work in MA at anytime during the year.
Try to get a letter from your employer on their letterhead saying that you did not work in MA and MA taxes were withheld in error. If you can't, then just go ahead and file with only your explanation.
Additional edit:
By the way, don't panic if you get a letter from the MA DOR.
They don't always read attachments sent in with tax returns. Just reply to the letter with the same attachments I described above (a letter stating you never were a resident and never worked in MA and a letter from your employer stating that you never worked in MA).
