How do I file my taxes if I moved from Mass to Rhode Island?

Q: My wife and I moved from Mass to Rhode Island in July of last year. How do I classify our taxes for this year RI resident / ma non-resident? And fill out taxes for both states? Won’t this kill my refund? Any help would be great. —Mike, Cumberland

The following answer was provided by Mark Misselbeck, CPA, Levine Katz Nannis & Solomon PC, Needham.

A: You will need to file in each state as a Part Year Resident of each state. If income is earned in a state it is taxable to that state. Thus, if you were working in RI before you moved, that income will be taxable in RI, even before you moved there, but the tax related to that income, which is taxable in MA during the period you were a resident of MA will generate an offsetting credit in MA during the residency period.

If, for example, you owned rental property (a house) physically located in MA, then MA is entitled to tax the income from that property, even after you become a resident of RI. With respect to such income, you will continue to file in MA as a Non-Resident (for future years), pay MA a tax on any profit, and claim a credit in RI for the tax paid to MA on the income that MA taxed and that RI is also seeking to tax.