Moved from Maine to Washington Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
A single part-year filing in Maine. The move date closes your Maine residency and, because Washington levies no income tax, opens nothing on the other side. Watch for a lingering Maine source of income after the move — that would require a Maine nonresident filing as well.
Last verified
Moving to a state with no income tax ends your state filing obligation on the day your residency changes — but not a day earlier. Maine taxes everything you received while you still lived there.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · MaineForm 1040ME with Schedule NRH
File a Maine part-year return covering the months you lived in Maine. Washington has no wage income tax, so the move ends your state filing obligation.
The two states, side by side
| Maine | Washington | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 1040ME with Schedule NR | Not applicable |
| Part-year return | Form 1040ME with Schedule NRH | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 1040ME Schedule A | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | 12 days or a dollar floor | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Maine Revenue Services | Washington State Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Washington and working in Maine gives:One part-year return — the state you moved to.
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: Maine → WashingtonHome state only
- Remote worker: Maine → WashingtonHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Maine → WashingtonHome state only — estimated payments
Other Maine pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Maine to Washington mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
A single part-year filing in Maine. The move date closes your Maine residency and, because Washington levies no income tax, opens nothing on the other side. Watch for a lingering Maine source of income after the move — that would require a Maine nonresident filing as well.
How do I split my income between Maine and Washington?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Maine resident belongs on the Maine return and income received afterwards on the Washington return. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The Maine and Washington rules on this page were last checked against Maine Revenue Services and Washington State 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.
- Maine Revenue Services — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07