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Moved from Iowa to District of Columbia Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?

Two part-year returnsBoth states claim the income

Answer

Expect a part-year filing on each side. The point of a part-year return is that neither state taxes the whole year, so you are not double-taxed by default — but income received close to the move date has to be assigned carefully, and a lingering Iowa source can still pull a nonresident filing along with it.

Last verified

Part-year returns are designed so that neither state taxes the whole year. The risk is not double taxation by default; it is misassigning income received near the move date, and losing the proration on deductions and credits.

What you file

  1. 1Part-year return · IowaForm IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126

    File a Iowa part-year return covering the months you lived in Iowa. A part-year resident of Iowa reports the income received while a Iowa resident, plus any Iowa-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.

  2. 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

 IowaDistrict of Columbia
Taxes wagesYes — flatYes — graduated
Reciprocity partners1 (Form 44-016)2 (Form D-4A)
Convenience ruleNoNo
Nonresident returnForm IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126None — nonresidents exempt
Part-year returnForm IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126Form D-40 (part-year resident)
Credit for other-state taxForm IA 130Schedule U (Form D-40)
Nonresident safe harbourNone publishedNot applicable
Local income taxYesNo
Revenue departmentIowa Department of RevenueDistrict 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 Iowa gives:Two part-year returns.

District of Columbia to Iowa →

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.

Other Iowa pairs

Questions people actually ask

I moved from Iowa to District of Columbia mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?

Expect a part-year filing on each side. The point of a part-year return is that neither state taxes the whole year, so you are not double-taxed by default — but income received close to the move date has to be assigned carefully, and a lingering Iowa source can still pull a nonresident filing along with it.

How do I split my income between Iowa and District of Columbia?

By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Iowa resident belongs on the Iowa 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 Iowa and District of Columbia rules on this page were last checked against Iowa Department of Revenue 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.