Part-year returns
The state you moved from taxes income earned while you lived there. The state you moved to taxes income earned after you established residency. Both states may tax income earned during the transition month; we apportion. Employers frequently keep withholding for the old state after the move, which turns into refund claims and extra schedules; fixing payroll the week you move avoids the mess.
Residency documentation
Driver's license, voter registration, primary care physician, bank accounts, homestead filing, and physical presence over 183 days all establish residency. Losing residency in the old state is as important as gaining it in the new. Domicile is a facts-and-circumstances test: where your spouse and kids live, where the pets go to the vet, which house holds the things you'd save in a fire. States audit the whole picture, not the paperwork alone.
The high-tax-state exit audit
New York, California, New Jersey, and Illinois in particular scrutinize departures of high earners, and the burden of proof sits on the taxpayer. Day counts matter, and cell phone location records, credit card statements, and travel logs are the actual evidence. Keeping the old house as a second home is legal and common; it just raises the documentation bar for proving the center of your life moved. The year of the move deserves a contemporaneous calendar, not a reconstruction three years later under audit.
Income that follows you anyway
Moving doesn't re-source everything. Wages for work physically performed in the old state, rental income from property there, and equity compensation earned there but vesting later all generally stay taxable to the old state. A handful of states apply convenience-of-the-employer rules that keep taxing remote workers whose employer sits in-state. Federal law does protect retirement income: qualified plan and IRA distributions are taxed by your residence state only, one of the cleanest wins of a Florida move.
Making the Florida side official
Florida has no income tax return to file, so establishing residency here is about the record: a declaration of domicile recorded with the county, the homestead exemption on your new primary residence, Florida driver's license and vehicle registration, and voter registration, all promptly after arrival. The homestead filing does double duty, cutting property tax and serving as strong domicile evidence against the old state's claims.
Common questions
- When am I a Florida resident for tax purposes?
- Florida has no income tax, so the question is really about losing residency in your prior state. Most states look at 183-day presence and domicile factors.
- How does my W-2 get split between two states?
- By where the work was performed, which usually tracks the earnings periods before and after the move. If the employer's state boxes don't reflect the move, get payroll corrected or apportion on the returns with documentation.
- I work remotely for a company in my old state. Am I done with that state?
- Usually yes once you're not physically working there, but a few states (New York most prominently) apply a convenience-of-the-employer rule that can keep taxing the wages. The employer's location and policy language matter; worth reviewing before assuming.
- Do my IRA withdrawals get taxed by my old state?
- No. Federal law assigns retirement distributions to your state of residence when received. Retire to Florida, and those distributions escape state tax entirely.
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Personal Income Tax Preparation
Federal and state 1040 preparation with year-round planning. We handle W-2, 1099, K-1, rental, and crypto income for individuals in Florida and all 50 states.
Tax Planning
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