Moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
New Jersey for the first part of the year, Pennsylvania 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 · New JerseyForm NJ-1040 (part-year resident)
File a New Jersey part-year return covering the months you lived in New Jersey. A part-year resident of New Jersey reports the income received while a New Jersey resident, plus any New Jersey-source income received during the rest of the year, and prorates the deductions and credits to the residency period.
- 2Part-year return · PennsylvaniaForm PA-40 (part-year resident)
File a Pennsylvania part-year return covering the months you lived in Pennsylvania. A part-year resident of Pennsylvania reports the income received while a Pennsylvania resident, plus any Pennsylvania-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
| New Jersey | Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form NJ-165) | 6 (Form REV-419) |
| Convenience rule | Only against convenience-rule states | Yes — general rule |
| Nonresident return | Form NJ-1040NR | Form PA-40 (nonresident) |
| Part-year return | Form NJ-1040 (part-year resident) | Form PA-40 (part-year resident) |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule NJ-COJ | Schedule G-L |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | New Jersey Division of Taxation | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Pennsylvania and working in New Jersey 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: New Jersey → PennsylvaniaReciprocal agreement — file the exemption form
- Remote worker: New Jersey → PennsylvaniaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: New Jersey → PennsylvaniaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other New Jersey pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
New Jersey for the first part of the year, Pennsylvania 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 New Jersey and Pennsylvania?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a New Jersey resident belongs on the New Jersey return and income received afterwards on the Pennsylvania 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 New Jersey and Pennsylvania rules on this page were last checked against New Jersey Division of Taxation and Pennsylvania 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.
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — Convenience of the Employer Ruleaccessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania — Form REV-419accessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Guide — Income Subject to Tax Withholdingaccessed 2026-08-07