Moved from Colorado to District of Columbia Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
You file two part-year returns. Colorado taxes the income you received while you lived there, District of Columbia taxes the income you received after the move, and each state prorates your deductions and credits to its own slice of the year. The date you changed domicile is the dividing line.
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 · ColoradoForm DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN
File a Colorado part-year return covering the months you lived in Colorado. A part-year resident of Colorado reports the income received while a Colorado resident, plus any Colorado-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-year return · District of ColumbiaForm D-40 (part-year resident)
File a District of Columbia part-year return covering the months you lived in District of Columbia. A part-year resident of District of Columbia reports the income received while a District of Columbia resident, plus any District of Columbia-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
| Colorado | District of Columbia | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 2 (Form D-4A) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN | None — nonresidents exempt |
| Part-year return | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN | Form D-40 (part-year resident) |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form DR 0104CR | Schedule U (Form D-40) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division | District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in District of Columbia and working in Colorado 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: Colorado → District of ColumbiaNonresidents are exempt by statute
- Remote worker: Colorado → District of ColumbiaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Colorado → District of ColumbiaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Colorado pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Colorado to District of Columbia mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
You file two part-year returns. Colorado taxes the income you received while you lived there, District of Columbia taxes the income you received after the move, and each state prorates your deductions and credits to its own slice of the year. The date you changed domicile is the dividing line.
How do I split my income between Colorado and District of Columbia?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Colorado resident belongs on the Colorado return and income received afterwards on the District of Columbia 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 Colorado and District of Columbia rules on this page were last checked against Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division and District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue 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.
- Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07