Thank you everyone for your advise.
To clarify things a bit:
My employer is in CA.
I lived in CA from Jan 01 - 30, 2005.
Lived in PA with my family from Jan 30 - May 2005.
Rented my own Apartment in NJ from May - Dec 2005.
All I need to do my job is a computer and broadband access
which made it easy for me to bounce from state to state.

Oh, and did I mention I also got married last summer?

Guess it's time to go out and get me a qualified CPA.

Thanks again.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<amarpar[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes.

- quote -

If you lived in PA or NJ in 2004 and paid state taxes there,
that state will ask you about 2005.

- quote -

No.

- quote -

Not with the IRS so much as the two states you're cheating
(and possibly even costing yourself money if their tax rates
are lower than CA's).

Seth

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<amarpar[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

It doesn't get you in trouble w/ the IRS but it could with
whichever state(s) you don't file in if they catch you.
Don't rely on the "if they catch you" part of that last
sentence to get out of filing, that's playing the audit
lottery which should never be advocated by any tax
professional as it appears the CPA you refer to above did.
If you worked in those states, you incur tax liability on
income earned there. If you earned a sufficient amount in
each of those states to meet their filing thresholds, you
should file there. You'll get tax credits between the
states so that you don't pay taxes more than once on the
same income. Even if you normally prepare your own taxes,
unless you're familiar with things like moving expense
deductions (which you may or may not be eligible to take),
filing in multiple states and claiming credits for taxes
paid to another state, you should enlist the services of a
competent CPA or other tax professional to prepare your
taxes this year.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

amarpar[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

Well, it won't make a bit of difference to the IRS. It
might upset PA and NJ, though.

Technically speaking, any income you earned while working
for your employer in PA or NJ (whether or not you were
actually ever a tax resident of either of those states) is
PA or NJ source income, and subject to tax there. However,
since your employer did not withhold taxes for those states,
and shows all of your income as from CA, it is not likely
that the other states would ever know you were there.

On the other hand, if you truly were a nonresident of CA for
part of the year (i.e., you moved to PA or NJ and stayed
there, and didn't come back to CA), you don't owe CA tax on
any income you earned outside the state while you were a
nonresident, and you're probably entitled to a refund of
excess withholding.

What your actual tax residence status was during the year is
impossible to tell from the information you've provided.
Each state defines residence by its own statutes.
California's definition is quite different from NJ's and
PA's, which are very similar to each other. You could have
been a resident of both CA and one of the other states at
the same time, depending on the facts.

Katie in San Diego

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

I lived in CA, PA and NJ last year, all the while working
from home for my employer in CA.

Do I need to file state tax return in all 3 states? A CPA I
spoke with said I can get away with ony filing CA taxes
because my W2 only shows CA info. Is that OK to do? Does it
have potential to get me in troube with the IRS?

I'm basically interested in making the tax process less
taxing.

Thanks

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >