Moved from Delaware to Colorado Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Two returns, split at the move date. Delaware and Colorado 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 · DelawareForm PIT-NON (part-year resident)
File a Delaware part-year return covering the months you lived in Delaware. A part-year resident of Delaware reports the income received while a Delaware resident, plus any Delaware-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-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.
The two states, side by side
| Delaware | Colorado | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | No |
| Nonresident return | Form PIT-NON | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN |
| Part-year return | Form PIT-NON (part-year resident) | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule I (Form PIT-RES) | Form DR 0104CR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue department | Delaware Division of Revenue | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Colorado and working in Delaware 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: Delaware → ColoradoBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Delaware → ColoradoHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Delaware → ColoradoHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Delaware pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Delaware to Colorado mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Two returns, split at the move date. Delaware and Colorado 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 Delaware and Colorado?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Delaware resident belongs on the Delaware return and income received afterwards on the Colorado 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 Delaware and Colorado rules on this page were last checked against Delaware Division of Revenue and Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation 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.
- Delaware Division of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07