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I have a classic question that a lot of my peers in my university have and there's no good answer anywhere.

I am an international student at New York University(NYU) currently on my F-1 visa in the United States pursuing a Masters program. I am in my final semester thus I am in the states since last two years. I live in New Jersey and commute to New York for my classes and my part time job which is an on-campus job at NYU itself. I had this job during the year 2016 and thus have received form W-2 from NYU. I have already filed my federal taxes and I am confused about the state for which I should file the state tax. Should it be NJ since I live in NJ or NY since I work in NY or both?

Any thoughts would be extremely appreciated by a very huge community of students like me.

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    This seems off-topic since it's not a problem which only an expat would face. An American living in NJ & working in NY would have exactly the same question. Would probably be more appropriate on the Personal Finance SE.
    – brhans
    Mar 30, 2017 at 18:22
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    @brhans It is pretty straightforward for an American in this case since he/she would file a non resident tax for NY and a resident tax for NJ. But on my university website, it is mentioned that: International students, professors and scholars are considered non-residents for NJ state tax purposes unless they had a “permanent home” in NJ. So in my case, should I be filing non resident tax for both states or just one?
    – qrius
    Mar 30, 2017 at 18:39
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    mmmkay - still think the financial boffins might be better able to answer though.
    – brhans
    Mar 30, 2017 at 19:05

1 Answer 1

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When you live in one state and work in another, you file both a resident return (New Jersey) and a nonresident return for the state where you work (New York), and you may have to pay taxes to both.

For resident returns, the state can tax all of your income, even if you earned it in another state. Generally, nonresidents are taxed only what you earned in that state.

I am not a tax accountant or attorney, nor do I work for the IRS. When in doubt (especially about Federal regulations), or when it's complicated, obtain guidance from an appropriate professional.

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