Moved from Kentucky to Rhode Island Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Kentucky for the first part of the year, Rhode Island for the rest. Each state's part-year return reports the income received during that state's residency period and prorates the standard deduction, exemptions and credits accordingly. Keep evidence of the date you actually changed domicile.
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 · KentuckyForm 740-NP
File a Kentucky part-year return covering the months you lived in Kentucky. A part-year resident of Kentucky reports the income received while a Kentucky resident, plus any Kentucky-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-year return · Rhode IslandForm RI-1040NR
File a Rhode Island part-year return covering the months you lived in Rhode Island. A part-year resident of Rhode Island reports the income received while a Rhode Island resident, plus any Rhode Island-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
| Kentucky | Rhode Island | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 7 (Form 42A809) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 740-NP | Form RI-1040NR |
| Part-year return | Form 740-NP | Form RI-1040NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule ITC | Form RI-1040NR Schedule II |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Kentucky Department of Revenue | Rhode Island Division of Taxation |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Rhode Island and working in Kentucky 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: Kentucky → Rhode IslandBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Kentucky → Rhode IslandHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Kentucky → Rhode IslandHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Kentucky pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Kentucky to Rhode Island mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Kentucky for the first part of the year, Rhode Island for the rest. Each state's part-year return reports the income received during that state's residency period and prorates the standard deduction, exemptions and credits accordingly. Keep evidence of the date you actually changed domicile.
How do I split my income between Kentucky and Rhode Island?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Kentucky resident belongs on the Kentucky return and income received afterwards on the Rhode Island 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 Kentucky and Rhode Island rules on this page were last checked against Kentucky Department of Revenue and Rhode Island Division of Taxation 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.
- Kentucky Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Rhode Island Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07