Moved from Massachusetts to Kentucky Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
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 Massachusetts source can still pull a nonresident filing along 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 · MassachusettsForm 1-NR/PY
File a Massachusetts part-year return covering the months you lived in Massachusetts. A part-year resident of Massachusetts reports the income received while a Massachusetts resident, plus any Massachusetts-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-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.
The two states, side by side
| Massachusetts | Kentucky | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 7 (Form 42A809) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 1-NR/PY | Form 740-NP |
| Part-year return | Form 1-NR/PY | Form 740-NP |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule OJC | Schedule ITC |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Massachusetts Department of Revenue | Kentucky Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Kentucky and working in Massachusetts 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: Massachusetts → KentuckyBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Massachusetts → KentuckyHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Massachusetts → KentuckyHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Massachusetts pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Massachusetts to Kentucky 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 Massachusetts source can still pull a nonresident filing along with it.
How do I split my income between Massachusetts and Kentucky?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Massachusetts resident belongs on the Massachusetts return and income received afterwards on the Kentucky 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 Massachusetts and Kentucky rules on this page were last checked against Massachusetts Department of Revenue and Kentucky 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.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Kentucky Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07