Moved from California to Michigan Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Both states want a return, but neither taxes the whole year. Moving from California to Michigan splits the tax year at the date your residency changed: a California part-year return covers everything before it, a Michigan part-year return everything after. Income is assigned by when it was received.
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 · CaliforniaForm 540NR (part-year resident)
File a California part-year return covering the months you lived in California. A part-year resident of California reports the income received while a California resident, plus any California-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-year return · MichiganForm MI-1040 with Schedule NR
File a Michigan part-year return covering the months you lived in Michigan. A part-year resident of Michigan reports the income received while a Michigan resident, plus any Michigan-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
| California | Michigan | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 6 (Form MI-W4) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 540NR | Form MI-1040 with Schedule NR |
| Part-year return | Form 540NR (part-year resident) | Form MI-1040 with Schedule NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule S | Form MI-1040 (credit for income tax imposed by another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | California Franchise Tax Board | Michigan Department of Treasury |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Michigan and working in California 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: California → MichiganBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: California → MichiganHome state only
- 1099 contractor: California → MichiganHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other California pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from California to Michigan mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Both states want a return, but neither taxes the whole year. Moving from California to Michigan splits the tax year at the date your residency changed: a California part-year return covers everything before it, a Michigan part-year return everything after. Income is assigned by when it was received.
How do I split my income between California and Michigan?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a California resident belongs on the California return and income received afterwards on the Michigan 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 California and Michigan rules on this page were last checked against California Franchise Tax Board and Michigan Department of Treasury 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.
- California Franchise Tax Board — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Michigan Department of Treasury — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07