New York Preparers - IT-203 & IT-203B

[Yardley CPA]

New Jersey full year resident employed by New York City company for the entire year.  Performs the majority of his job working from home in New Jersey and visiting clients in New Jersey.  I completed IT-203B and allocated his  Income. 

• Line 1n percentage is .5551
• Line 1o is the total amount of Federal Wages flowing from his W2
• Line 1p applies the percentage allocation from Line 1n.  This figure flows to the IT-203 line 45.  I also use this figure to calculate taxes paid to other jurisdictions in NJ.

Is this correct?  It does not pull the New York wages for the calculation....but the Federal? 

[Lion EA]

Does he work from home for his own convenience or for the convenience of the employer? Is it a requirement of his job/in his offer letter or contract that he work from home? NY is a bulldog on this issue and has won court cases.

[Yardley CPA]

19 minutes ago, Lion EA said:

Does he work from home for his own convenience or for the convenience of the employer? Is it a requirement of his job/in his offer letter or contract that he work from home? NY is a bulldog on this issue and has won court cases.

Lion...spoke with the employee.  The employer requires this as part of his job.  He travels the majority of his year to clients throughout New Jersey.  The employer requires him to do this. 

Also...just found out he was on Paternity leave for 3 months.  I assume that will factor in to his time working outside of NY as well?

[Lion EA]

Haven't had one on paternity leave! Let us all know what you find out, please.

[joanmcq]

New York wages = federal wages on the W2.  NY requires that the state wages are the same as federal regardless of how much time was actually spent in NY.  It's a PITA.

[Yardley CPA]

1 hour ago, joanmcq said:

New York wages = federal wages on the W2.  NY requires that the state wages are the same as federal regardless of how much time was actually spent in NY.  It's a PITA.

Agreed...it is a PITA.  But if you['re a non-resident you can allocate your wages, on form IT-203b, based on the number of days you work "Outside" of New York. 

[Lion EA]

...work outside of New York for the convenience of the employER.

Working from home for the taxpayER's convenience does NOT count as "outside" NY.

And, NONworking days are NOT working days outside NY. NONworking days end up on other lines, such as weekends, Holidays, Sick leave, Vacation, and Other nonworking days. Go through IT-203-B line by line. I just haven't had a paternity leave to account for on the form yet. I guess Other, unless it's part of the employer's Sick & family leave policy; really won't change your ratio, no matter which line.

And, yes, NY starts with Federal wages.

Your issue, if your client is working from NJ for a NY employER's convenience, will be getting your client's calendar of work days vs. NONworking days, especially during his paternity leave.

[Yardley CPA]

17 minutes ago, Lion EA said:

...work outside of New York for the convenience of the employER.

Working from home for the taxpayER's convenience does NOT count as "outside" NY.

And, NONworking days are NOT working days outside NY. NONworking days end up on other lines, such as weekends, Holidays, Sick leave, Vacation, and Other nonworking days. Go through IT-203-B line by line. I just haven't had a paternity leave to account for on the form yet. I guess Other, unless it's part of the employer's Sick & family leave policy; really won't change your ratio, no matter which line. 

And, yes, NY starts with Federal wages.

Your issue, if your client is working from NJ for a NY employER's convenience, will be getting your client's calendar of work days vs. NONworking days, especially during his paternity leave.

I'm thinking "other" as well for the paternity leave.  I imagine it may raise their eyebrow.  I plan on including an attachment explaining the "other" which amounts to 88 days.  We'll see how that goes over. 

[Lion EA]

...employEE's convenience does NOT count as "outside" NY...

[Lion EA]

See if your software lets you include a return note or return list so you can label it Paternity Leave. I use ProSystem fx, and I can open a list that would have only one item in this case - Paternity Leave and the # - which would populate the Other line with the # but also get transmitted with the return.

[Yardley CPA]

47 minutes ago, Lion EA said:

See if your software lets you include a return note or return list so you can label it Paternity Leave. I use ProSystem fx, and I can open a list that would have only one item in this case - Paternity Leave and the # - which would populate the Other line with the # but also get transmitted with the return.

Will definitely look to see if ATX offers this.  Thanks very much for all the suggestions and information. 

[Lion EA]

I've gotten some clients over the years because of NY and "days out" issues. They come to me to amend their home state, and usually stay. NY is hard to deal with, a bulldog on NY-sourced income issues, and never answer their phones. I'm used to the NY returns, living so close to NY with lots of commuter clients, but I still don't like them and charge accordingly. Also, dislike NJ and PA with their localities and CA; this year "decoupling" adds more complexity. I really need to raise my prices!

[FDNY]

I hear you Lion.  I just finished a NJ part year,  NY part year and change of NYC residence 360.1 form where I had to do manual calculations due to the "decoupling."    It also took me awhile to figure out there is no NJ part year form because I'm so used to NY's and MA's PYs.  I should have sent Yardley a PM, would have saved me  some time and frustration.

[joanmcq]

I have quite a few NY & NJ clients.  And one that had deferred comp back when he worked in NY, PA & then CA. 

Yeah, getting spreadsheets with working/vacation/sick/weekend days is a lot of fun.