NYC state tax on sign on

wiseguyAlright.. So I get the signon bonus last year & the bank sends me the W2 - already deducted the fed, SS, MC & NY state tax

Now I lived in TX all 365 days of the prior year.. - do I still need to pay the NY state tax on my sign on bonus?

thanks =Manu

All income derived from the state of New York is taxable by the state. The good news is that if you didn't make a lot of money in TX last year, New York State has a $7.5K standard deduction, and more modest taxes on income below $20K. You'll probably get a significant refund, even as a nonresident.

Notes about your New York State tax return:

-If you don't claim a standard deduction on your federal return, you can deduct tuition from your New York state taxes (assuming your parents are nice or don't get any tax benefit from claiming a tuition credit/deduction). This should probably be enough to wipe out most of a college student's taxable income. If you can take the Lifetime Learning credit on your federal return, you'll probably get everything but Medicare and Social Security back from your check.

If you've already taken the standard deduction with the feds, you still get a $7.5K standard deduction from New York State that gets divided between your New York income and your other income. Assuming your federal taxes say you made $20K and $10k was from your signing bonus, you'll pay less than $300 in New York state taxes.