Doing Taxes for Multiple States

How Do I File Taxes for More Than One State?

No matter what your situation is, 1040.com makes reporting income from different states easy—and filing your state taxes for multiple states starts with whether you have an employer or are self-employed.

If I file with a Form W-2, how do I file multiple state returns?

For those who are employed, look at your Form W-2 from your employer. Starting with box 15, you may see a listing of your state, state wages, state withholding and local income tax (if any). This means that you have state tax that needs to be calculated.

Note: Your employer must have a state ID number for this section of the W-2; if you don’t include it when you file, your return will be rejected by the IRS. If your W-2 copy is missing the state ID number, you can call your employer to get it (and if you’re told you don’t need one, call the IRS at 800-829-1040).

When you get to the state and local tax part of 1040.com’s walkthrough, simply transfer the entries from your W-2 to the online version, box by box. Once your W-2s are entered, we’ll automatically calculate your state income and income tax.

Be sure to enter your personal information exactly as it appears on your W-2 copy. Don’t worry if your employer got your address wrong, or even misspelled your name—the IRS is checking against their copy of the form to see if it matches, so don’t worry about mistakes that aren’t in the numbers.

How do I file for multiple states if I’m self-employed?

Our walkthrough will guide you to the self-employed section of your tax return, and you can enter where your business is physically located for income tax purposes. If, as a part of that business, you did work in other states, you would report that out-of-state income using the respective state’s forms.

Can I double check to make sure all my state returns are ready before I file?

Absolutely: When you’re ready to file your returns, our e-file checkout page will list all the returns you’re preparing, and whether they’re ready to file. If they are, you can just proceed. If not, we provide instructions on what you need to do to get the return ready to file.

Let’s get your multiple state taxes done on 1040.com

Even with more than one state return, the filing process is smart and simple with 1040.com—and you won’t be charged more for the extra returns! Our flat $25 is for everyone, even those who work in multiple states. Be sure to sign up or sign in and file your taxes today!