Moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Two returns, split at the move date. Pennsylvania and Maryland both tax residents, so each takes the portion of the year you were one. This is a residency question rather than a sourcing question — reciprocity agreements and convenience rules have nothing to do 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 · 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.
- 2Part-year return · MarylandForm 502 (part-year resident)
File a Maryland part-year return covering the months you lived in Maryland. A part-year resident of Maryland reports the income received while a Maryland resident, plus any Maryland-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
| Pennsylvania | Maryland | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 6 (Form REV-419) | 4 (Form MW507) |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | No |
| Nonresident return | Form PA-40 (nonresident) | Form 505 with Form 505NR |
| Part-year return | Form PA-40 (part-year resident) | Form 502 (part-year resident) |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule G-L | Form 502CR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue department | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue | Comptroller of Maryland |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Maryland and working in Pennsylvania 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: Pennsylvania → MarylandReciprocal agreement — file the exemption form
- Remote worker: Pennsylvania → MarylandHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Pennsylvania → MarylandHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Pennsylvania pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Two returns, split at the move date. Pennsylvania and Maryland both tax residents, so each takes the portion of the year you were one. This is a residency question rather than a sourcing question — reciprocity agreements and convenience rules have nothing to do with it.
How do I split my income between Pennsylvania and Maryland?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Pennsylvania resident belongs on the Pennsylvania return and income received afterwards on the Maryland 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 Pennsylvania and Maryland rules on this page were last checked against Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and Comptroller of Maryland 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.
- 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
- Comptroller of Maryland — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Maryland — Form MW507accessed 2026-08-07