I work in DC and live in VA, which state takes my state income tax?

Possibly both. When I was a college student in NY, and had my permanent residence in MA, I had to file both states’ tax forms. But the MA tax forms allowed me to claim the money I paid to NY as a credit, so I really only paid once.

You need to look at the tax forms for both DC and VA and see what they say. If you can’t figure it out from them, you need to talk to an accountant or tax professional.

I would recommend going to H&R Block, at least for one year. DC and VA may have a reciprocal agreement for taxes, which I think would mean you’d pay everything through VA, but I don’t remember and my books from 5 years ago when I was doing taxes (in CO, so didn’t run across this except in class) are buried. Once you see how they do it, you’ll know. But tax laws change every year, too, so you’ll need to keep up with it.

It looks like you don’t have to file DC, actually: http://otr.cfo.dc.gov/otr/cwp/view,A,1330,Q,593736.asp

===============================
Do I have to file a DC income tax return?

You must file a DC tax return if:

* You were a resident of the District of Columbia and you were required to file a federal tax return.
* Your permanent residence was in the District of Columbia for either part of or the full taxable year.
* You lived in the District of Columbia for 183 days or more during the taxable year, even if your permanent residence was outside the District of Columbia.
* You were a member of the armed forces and your home of record was the District of Columbia for either part of or the full taxable year.
* You are the spouse of an exempt military person or of any other exempt person such as a nonresident presidential appointee or an elected official.

VA

It depends on where the Internal Revenue Service designates as your living base. you just might have to divide your taxes 50–50. i would call the free IRS number and talk to a live person and ask your question, to be absoulutely sure. john

When did DC become a state?

@missingbite I though about writing the same thing, but I let it go. The question is understood even with the mistake. :)

@JLeslie I know, just a pet peeve!

@missingbite My inlaws were taught there are 52 states in the US in their ESL classes when they first came to the US. When I was in college, Michigan State Univesity, one of my profs on the first day gave out an anonymous quesionaire. One question was how many states in the US? There were about 35 students in my class, two of us had the correct answer. I don’t get it? How can Americans not know?

@JLeslie I wish I could answer that. My best guess is that we don’t teach civics anymore. That is another reason I did point it out. It is scary how many people get this wrong. I’m not sure if the original poster did not know or just worded the question poorly.

@missingbite I don’t believe it. I think children are still taught there are 50 states, and that the stars on the flag represents the states. I think we hear the lower 48 + Alaska and Hawaii and the contiguous 48 enough in common language use. Not to mention I am 40, and MSU is a decent University and even my peers didn’t know. I find that ridiculous.

@JLeslie You are probably right. Like I said, I don’t know, it was just a guess. People get this wrong all the time.

Va. It’s your place of residence that matters. Where you live is where you pay.

@Beauing747 Not necessarily. California thinks they have the right to tax income of state residents no matter where it is earned, but not all states have that law.

@YARNLADY and other states think they have the right to tax you if you earn income there, regardless of whether or not you live there.

@MrItty Yes, in fact, if I am remembering correctly, California does it both ways, if you earn money here, you pay state taxes no matter where you live, as well a the reverse.

@YARNLADY yup. I have a friend who used to live in NY, now lives in CA, but his job is a telecommuting position and his company is based in NY. Since both CA and NY have that rule – “you owe tax if you live here or work here”, tax time is pretty much hell for him.