Moved from Washington to Colorado Mid-Year: Which State Tax Returns Do You File?
Answer
Colorado taxes the second half of the year. Washington has no personal income tax, so the pre-move income is untouched at state level; the Colorado part-year return picks up from the date you became a Colorado resident and prorates your deductions to that stretch.
Last verified
Coming from a state with no income tax means arriving with no Colorado withholding history and no prior-year liability to base estimates on. The first Colorado return is where that catches up, so the withholding start date matters.
What you file
- 1Part-year return · ColoradoForm DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN
File a Colorado part-year return covering the months you lived in Colorado. Washington has no wage income tax, so there is nothing to file for the earlier part of the year.
The two states, side by side
| Washington | Colorado | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN |
| Part-year return | Not applicable | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form DR 0104CR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Washington State Department of Revenue | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Colorado and working in Washington 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: Washington → ColoradoWork state only
- Remote worker: Washington → ColoradoNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: Washington → ColoradoClient state only, if you work there
Other Washington pairs
Questions people actually ask
I moved from Washington to Colorado mid-year. Do I have to file in both states?
Colorado taxes the second half of the year. Washington has no personal income tax, so the pre-move income is untouched at state level; the Colorado part-year return picks up from the date you became a Colorado resident and prorates your deductions to that stretch.
How do I split my income between Washington and Colorado?
By when you received it, measured against the date your domicile actually changed. Income received while you were a Washington resident belongs on the Washington return and income received afterwards on the Colorado return. Keep evidence of the move date — a lease, a closing statement, a licence issue date.
How current is this?
The Washington and Colorado rules on this page were last checked against Washington State Department of Revenue and Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division 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.
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07