Moved from Kentucky to Wisconsin Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Kentucky for the first part of the year, Wisconsin 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
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
- 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 · WisconsinForm 1NPR
File a Wisconsin part-year return covering the months you lived in Wisconsin. A part-year resident of Wisconsin reports the income received while a Wisconsin resident, plus any Wisconsin-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 | Wisconsin | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 7 (Form 42A809) | 4 (Form W-220) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 740-NP | Form 1NPR |
| Part-year return | Form 740-NP | Form 1NPR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule ITC | Schedule OS |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Dollar floor published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Kentucky Department of Revenue | Wisconsin Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Wisconsin 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 → WisconsinReciprocal agreement — file the exemption form
- Remote worker: Kentucky → WisconsinHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Kentucky → WisconsinHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Kentucky pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Kentucky to Wisconsin mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Kentucky for the first part of the year, Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?
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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin rules on this page were last checked against Kentucky Department of Revenue and Wisconsin Department of 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.
- Kentucky Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Wisconsin Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07