Moved from Texas to Iowa Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
One return, filed in Iowa. Texas levies no personal income tax, so nothing is due for the part of the year you lived there. A Iowa part-year return covers the income you received after the move, with deductions and credits prorated to that period.
Last verified
Coming from a state with no income tax means arriving with no Iowa withholding history and no prior-year liability to base estimates on. The first Iowa return is where that catches up, so the withholding start date matters.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · IowaForm IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126
File a Iowa part-year return covering the months you lived in Iowa. Texas has no wage income tax, so there is nothing to file for the earlier part of the year.
The two states, side by side
| Texas | Iowa | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 1 (Form 44-016) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126 |
| Part-year return | Not applicable | Form IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126 |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form IA 130 |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | Iowa Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Iowa and working in Texas gives:One part-year return — the state you left.
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: Texas → IowaWork state only
- Remote worker: Texas → IowaNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: Texas → IowaClient state only, if you work there
Other Texas pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Texas to Iowa mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
One return, filed in Iowa. Texas levies no personal income tax, so nothing is due for the part of the year you lived there. A Iowa part-year return covers the income you received after the move, with deductions and credits prorated to that period.
How do I split my income between Texas and Iowa?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Texas resident belongs on the Texas return and income received afterwards on the Iowa return. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The Texas and Iowa rules on this page were last checked against Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Iowa 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.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Iowa Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07