USA NY Taxes Taken Out For NJ Resident And Worker - What To Do?

[Michele Chandler]

My husband is a resident of NJ, and works in NJ. He never realized on his paystubs (not sure how) that NY taxes were being taken out. He received 2 W-2's - a NJ copy and an NY copy. None of his coworkers have this issue and only have NJ taxes withheld as would be expected. My husband contacted payroll and they told him they don't know why NY taxes were withheld. We went back to prior W-2's and the same situation exists for 2013 and 2012, but not for 2011 and prior.

On the NJ tax return there is a credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions so I am assuming we can claim the NY taxes paid here. Is that correct? Do we also have to file a NY non-resident return if we get the credit on the NJ return? Will his income be taxed twice incorrectly if we have to file a NY non-resident return?

Also, how do we recover the prior years' overpayments to NY?

 

[Samir]

I remember this being a common issue with people that lived in NJ and worked in NY. I'd do some online research and see what the general consensus is in these cases. I can't remember what my research turned up from back then.