Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog

Filing taxes in two states

By: Jess | February 05, 2009 | Category: Money

taxes Moving from Pennsylvania to Maryland a few months ago was a little bit stressful because of the distance and the date my previous lease ended and my new one started. I had thought that after I finished sleeping on a friend’s sofa and was in my own place, my moving stresses were over.

But I hadn’t thought about taxes and how the move would affect that.

Like many other people who moved this year, I have to file tax returns in two different states. I’ve never filed a single tax return before, so I’m a little bit nervous and had lots of questions.

Though my parents offered to help me with the Pennsylvania taxes, I was responsible for finding all the necessary forms.

It was a lot easier than I thought to find what I needed. The Federal Tax Administrators have a map linking to each state's tax information. The only form that was a little tricky was the municipality tax form for Manchester Township in York, Pa., but a lady at the tax office gave me the exact number of the form that I could print right from the Web site.

Maryland’s tax forms were even simpler because the county tax is included right on the state tax form, which meant I only needed to track down one.

Now it’s just a matter of filling the forms out, sending them in and figuring out what to do with my return check.

I’m thinking a mini-vacation may be in order.