Moved from South Carolina to Washington Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
South Carolina once, and then nothing. Because Washington does not tax personal income, this move takes you out of the state income tax system entirely. File the South Carolina part-year return for the pre-move income and make sure South Carolina withholding actually stopped when you left.
Last verified
The clean part of this move is that only one return follows it. The part that catches people is the withholding: South Carolina tax should stop when your residency does, and it often does not without a prompt.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · South CarolinaForm SC1040 with Schedule NR
File a South Carolina part-year return covering the months you lived in South Carolina. Washington has no wage income tax, so the move ends your state filing obligation.
The two states, side by side
| South Carolina | Washington | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form SC1040 with Schedule NR | Not applicable |
| Part-year return | Form SC1040 with Schedule NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form SC1040TC | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | South Carolina Department of Revenue | Washington State Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Washington and working in South Carolina gives:One part-year return — the state you moved to.
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: South Carolina → WashingtonHome state only
- Remote worker: South Carolina → WashingtonHome state only
- 1099 contractor: South Carolina → WashingtonHome state only — estimated payments
Other South Carolina pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from South Carolina to Washington mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
South Carolina once, and then nothing. Because Washington does not tax personal income, this move takes you out of the state income tax system entirely. File the South Carolina part-year return for the pre-move income and make sure South Carolina withholding actually stopped when you left.
How do I split my income between South Carolina and Washington?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a South Carolina resident belongs on the South Carolina return and income received afterwards on the Washington return. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The South Carolina and Washington rules on this page were last checked against South Carolina Department of Revenue and Washington State 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.
- South Carolina Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07