Moved from Alabama to Virginia Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Two returns, split at the move date. Alabama and Virginia both tax residents, so each takes the portion of the year you were one. This is a residency question rather than a sourcing question — reciprocity agreements and convenience rules have nothing to do with it.
Last verified
A mid-year move splits the tax year in two, and each state taxes its own half. That is a residency question, so the machinery that governs commuters — reciprocity agreements, convenience rules, nonresident withholding — is beside the point here.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · AlabamaForm 40 (part-year resident)
File a Alabama part-year return covering the months you lived in Alabama. A part-year resident of Alabama reports the income received while a Alabama resident, plus any Alabama-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-year return · VirginiaForm 760PY
File a Virginia part-year return covering the months you lived in Virginia. A part-year resident of Virginia reports the income received while a Virginia resident, plus any Virginia-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
The two states, side by side
| Alabama | Virginia | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 5 (Form VA-4) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 40NR | Form 763 |
| Part-year return | Form 40 (part-year resident) | Form 760PY |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule CR | Schedule OSC |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Alabama Department of Revenue | Virginia Department of Taxation |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Virginia and working in Alabama gives:Two part-year returns.
Same two states, different situation
The withholding answer turns on how you are paid and where the work happens, not only on which two states are involved.
- W-2 commuter: Alabama → VirginiaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Alabama → VirginiaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Alabama → VirginiaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Alabama pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Alabama to Virginia mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Two returns, split at the move date. Alabama and Virginia both tax residents, so each takes the portion of the year you were one. This is a residency question rather than a sourcing question — reciprocity agreements and convenience rules have nothing to do with it.
How do I split my income between Alabama and Virginia?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Alabama resident belongs on the Alabama return and income received afterwards on the Virginia return, with each state prorating your deductions, exemptions and credits to its own part of the year. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The Alabama and Virginia rules on this page were last checked against Alabama Department of Revenue and Virginia Department of Taxation on 2026-08-07. We re-check the full grid every December after state legislative sessions close, and re-check the convenience-of-the-employer states quarterly because that is where the rules move fastest.
Sources
Every fact above comes from the revenue department that publishes the rule. We do not cite secondary summaries, and we do not restate a figure we could not find at source.
- Alabama Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia — Form VA-4accessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia Tax — Reciprocityaccessed 2026-08-07