Moved from Montana to Tennessee Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Only the state you left wants a return. Montana taxes the part of the year you lived there and prorates your deductions to that period. Tennessee has no income tax, so the income you receive after the move faces no state tax at all.
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. Montana taxes everything you received while you still lived there.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · MontanaForm 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule
File a Montana part-year return covering the months you lived in Montana. Tennessee has no wage income tax, so the move ends your state filing obligation.
The two states, side by side
| Montana | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form MW-4) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule | Not applicable |
| Part-year return | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state) | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Montana Department of Revenue | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Montana 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: Montana → TennesseeHome state only
- Remote worker: Montana → TennesseeHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Montana → TennesseeHome state only — estimated payments
Other Montana pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Montana to Tennessee mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Only the state you left wants a return. Montana taxes the part of the year you lived there and prorates your deductions to that period. Tennessee has no income tax, so the income you receive after the move faces no state tax at all.
How do I split my income between Montana and Tennessee?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Montana resident belongs on the Montana return and income received afterwards on the Tennessee return. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The Montana and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Montana Department of Revenue and Tennessee 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.
- Montana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07