Moved from New Jersey to West Virginia Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
New Jersey for the first part of the year, West Virginia 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
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 · 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 · 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
| New Jersey | West Virginia | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form NJ-165) | 5 (Form WV/IT-104) |
| Convenience rule | Only against convenience-rule states | No |
| Nonresident return | Form NJ-1040NR | Form IT-140 with Schedule A |
| Part-year return | Form NJ-1040 (part-year resident) | Form IT-140 with Schedule A |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule NJ-COJ | Schedule E (Form IT-140) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | New Jersey Division of Taxation | West Virginia Tax Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in West Virginia 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 → West VirginiaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: New Jersey → West VirginiaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: New Jersey → West VirginiaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other New Jersey pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from New Jersey to West Virginia mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
New Jersey for the first part of the year, West Virginia 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 West Virginia?
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 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 New Jersey and West Virginia rules on this page were last checked against New Jersey Division of Taxation 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.
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — Convenience of the Employer Ruleaccessed 2026-08-07
- West Virginia Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07