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Moved from Rhode Island to Michigan Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?

Two part-year returnsBoth states claim the income

Answer

Both states want a return, but neither taxes the whole year. Moving from Rhode Island to Michigan splits the tax year at the date your residency changed: a Rhode Island part-year return covers everything before it, a Michigan part-year return everything after. Income is assigned by when it was received.

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

  1. 1Part-year return · Rhode IslandForm RI-1040NR

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

  2. 2Part-year return · MichiganForm MI-1040 with Schedule NR

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

 Rhode IslandMichigan
Taxes wagesYes — graduatedYes — flat
Reciprocity partnersNone6 (Form MI-W4)
Convenience ruleNoNo
Nonresident returnForm RI-1040NRForm MI-1040 with Schedule NR
Part-year returnForm RI-1040NRForm MI-1040 with Schedule NR
Credit for other-state taxForm RI-1040NR Schedule IIForm MI-1040 (credit for income tax imposed by another state)
Nonresident safe harbourNone publishedNone published
Local income taxNoYes
Revenue departmentRhode Island Division of TaxationMichigan Department of Treasury
Last verified

The other direction

Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Michigan and working in Rhode Island gives:Two part-year returns.

Michigan to Rhode Island →

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 Rhode Island pairs

Questions people actually ask

I moved from Rhode Island to Michigan mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?

Both states want a return, but neither taxes the whole year. Moving from Rhode Island to Michigan splits the tax year at the date your residency changed: a Rhode Island part-year return covers everything before it, a Michigan part-year return everything after. Income is assigned by when it was received.

How do I split my income between Rhode Island and Michigan?

By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Rhode Island resident belongs on the Rhode Island return and income received afterwards on the Michigan 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 Rhode Island and Michigan rules on this page were last checked against Rhode Island Division of Taxation and Michigan Department of Treasury 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.