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Moved from Montana to West Virginia Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?

Two part-year returnsBoth states claim the income

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 Montana source can still pull a nonresident filing along with it.

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

  1. 1Part-year return · MontanaForm 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule

    File a Montana part-year return covering the months you lived in Montana. A part-year resident of Montana reports the income received while a Montana resident, plus any Montana-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.

  2. 2Part-year return · West VirginiaForm IT-140 with Schedule A

    File a West Virginia part-year return covering the months you lived in West Virginia. A part-year resident of West Virginia reports the income received while a West Virginia resident, plus any West Virginia-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

 MontanaWest Virginia
Taxes wagesYes — graduatedYes — graduated
Reciprocity partners1 (Form MW-4)5 (Form WV/IT-104)
Convenience ruleNoNo
Nonresident returnForm 2 with the nonresident/part-year scheduleForm IT-140 with Schedule A
Part-year returnForm 2 with the nonresident/part-year scheduleForm IT-140 with Schedule A
Credit for other-state taxForm 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state)Schedule E (Form IT-140)
Nonresident safe harbourNone publishedNone published
Local income taxNoYes
Revenue departmentMontana Department of RevenueWest Virginia Tax Division
Last verified

The other direction

Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in West Virginia and working in Montana gives:Two part-year returns.

West Virginia to Montana →

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.

Other Montana pairs

Questions people actually ask

I moved from Montana to West Virginia 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 Montana source can still pull a nonresident filing along with it.

How do I split my income between Montana and West Virginia?

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 West Virginia 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 Montana and West Virginia rules on this page were last checked against Montana Department of Revenue and West Virginia Tax Division 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.