State Tax Residency When You Move: The Basics in Plain English

Three words that decide who taxes you

Domicile is your true, permanent home: the place you intend to return to when you're away. You can only have one at a time. The New York Department of Taxation and Finance says your domicile doesn't change until you can show you've abandoned the old one and established a new one. Paperwork alone isn't enough. Your life has to move too.

Residency is often broader than domicile. Most states tax residents on all their income, wherever it's earned. Many states also treat you as a resident if you spend a lot of time there and keep a home there, even if your domicile is elsewhere.

Nonresidents and part-year residents are generally taxed only on income from sources in that state, such as wages for work done there, rent from property there, or business income earned there.

How two states define a resident

States without an income tax

According to the Tax Foundation, eight states have no individual income tax in 2026: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. New Hampshire's tax on interest and dividends was repealed starting January 1, 2025. Washington doesn't tax wages, but it does tax long-term capital gains: 7% up to $1 million and 9.9% above that, per the Washington Department of Revenue. The department also lists a new 9.9% income tax on income above $1 million, starting January 1, 2028.

Moving to one of these states can save a lot, but only if the move is real and well documented.

A worked example

A software consultant lives in New York and moves to Florida on July 1, 2026, selling the New York apartment the same month.

• January 1 – June 30: New York resident. New York taxes all income earned in this period.
• July 1 – December 31: Florida resident. Florida has no income tax.
• Filing: a part-year resident New York return (Form IT-203) for 2026. No Florida income tax return.
• Watch-out 1: if the consultant kept the New York apartment and spent 184 or more days in New York during 2026, they could be treated as a New York statutory resident for the whole year.
• Watch-out 2: income received after the move but earned in New York, such as a bonus for work done before July, may still be New York-source income.
• Watch-out 3: stock options or RSUs earned partly while working in New York can be allocated partly to New York, even if they vest after the move.

Steps that support a real move

1. Get a new driver's license and register your car in the new state.
2. Register to vote in the new state and cancel the old registration.
3. Change your address with banks, brokers, employers, the IRS (Form 8822) and Social Security.
4. Move the things that matter to you, like family keepsakes, pets and important papers, and update your doctors.
5. Keep a day count, with a calendar, travel records or phone location history.
6. Sell or lease out the old home, or be ready to explain why you kept it.
7. File a final part-year return in the old state, reporting only what's taxable there.

Two states taxing the same income

If you're taxed as a resident by one state on income that another state also taxes because it was earned there, your home state usually gives a credit for taxes paid to the other state. The credit generally can't exceed the home state's own tax on that income. Being treated as a resident of two states at once (for example, a domicile in one and statutory residency in another) is possible and can be expensive. That's another reason to keep a careful day count.

Common mistakes

1. Changing your driver's license but nothing else. States look at the whole picture.
2. Keeping the old home and visiting often without counting days.
3. Forgetting that any part of a day counts in states like New York.
4. Assuming remote work is taxed where you live. Some states tax nonresidents who work remotely for an employer located there, under "convenience of the employer" rules.
5. Not filing the part-year return in the year you leave.
6. Selling a big asset right before the move. Gains are generally taxed by the state where you're resident when you sell.

Frequently asked questions

Related tools

• Plan B Residency & Passport Tax
• Capital Gains Tax Calculator
• Self-Employment Tax Calculator (choose your new state)

Sources

• New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Income tax definitions: tax.ny.gov/pit/file/pit_definitions.htm
• New York State, Permanent Place of Abode: tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/pit/permanent_place_of_abode.htm
• New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, 20 NYCRR 105.20: law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-york/20-NYCRR-105.20
• California Franchise Tax Board, Publication 1031, Guidelines for Determining Resident Status: ftb.ca.gov/forms/2025/2025-1031-publication.pdf
• Tax Foundation, 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets: taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates-2026/
• Washington Department of Revenue, Income tax: dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/income-tax
• Washington Department of Revenue, New tiered rates for the capital gains tax: dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/special-notices/new-tiered-rates-washingtons-capital-gains-tax
• IRS, Form 8822, Change of Address: irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8822

These tools give estimates, not tax or legal advice.