Moved from Rhode Island to Montana Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Two returns, split at the move date. Rhode Island and Montana 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 · 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.
- 2Part-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.
The two states, side by side
| Rhode Island | Montana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 1 (Form MW-4) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form RI-1040NR | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule |
| Part-year return | Form RI-1040NR | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form RI-1040NR Schedule II | Form 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Rhode Island Division of Taxation | Montana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Montana and working in Rhode Island 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: Rhode Island → MontanaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Rhode Island → MontanaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Rhode Island → MontanaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
Other Rhode Island pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Rhode Island to Montana mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Two returns, split at the move date. Rhode Island and Montana 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 Rhode Island and Montana?
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 Montana 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 Montana rules on this page were last checked against Rhode Island Division of Taxation and Montana 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.
- Rhode Island Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Montana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07