Moved from Alaska to California Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Nothing for Alaska, a part-year return for California. This move takes you into the state income tax system rather than out of it — set up California withholding promptly, because there is no prior-year California liability to base estimated payments on.
Last verified
Coming from a state with no income tax means arriving with no California withholding history and no prior-year liability to base estimates on. The first California return is where that catches up, so the withholding start date matters.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · CaliforniaForm 540NR (part-year resident)
File a California part-year return covering the months you lived in California. Alaska has no wage income tax, so there is nothing to file for the earlier part of the year.
The two states, side by side
| Alaska | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form 540NR |
| Part-year return | Not applicable | Form 540NR (part-year resident) |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Schedule S |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division | California Franchise Tax Board |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in California and working in Alaska gives:One part-year return — the state you left.
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: Alaska → CaliforniaWork state only
- Remote worker: Alaska → CaliforniaNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: Alaska → CaliforniaClient state only, if you work there
Other Alaska pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Alaska to California mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Nothing for Alaska, a part-year return for California. This move takes you into the state income tax system rather than out of it — set up California withholding promptly, because there is no prior-year California liability to base estimated payments on.
How do I split my income between Alaska and California?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Alaska resident belongs on the Alaska return and income received afterwards on the California return. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The Alaska and California rules on this page were last checked against Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division and California Franchise Tax Board 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.
- Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- California Franchise Tax Board — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07