Moved from Colorado to West Virginia Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Two returns, split at the move date. Colorado and West 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 · 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 · West VirginiaForm IT-140 with Schedule A
File a West Virginia part-year return covering the months you lived in West Virginia. A part-year resident of West Virginia reports the income received while a West Virginia resident, plus any West 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
| Colorado | West Virginia | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 5 (Form WV/IT-104) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN | Form IT-140 with Schedule A |
| Part-year return | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN | Form IT-140 with Schedule A |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form DR 0104CR | Schedule E (Form IT-140) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue department | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division | West Virginia Tax Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in West Virginia 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 → West VirginiaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Colorado → West VirginiaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Colorado → West VirginiaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Colorado pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Colorado to West Virginia mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Two returns, split at the move date. Colorado and West 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 Colorado and West Virginia?
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 West 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 Colorado and West Virginia rules on this page were last checked against Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division and West Virginia Tax Division 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
- West Virginia Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07