[Help] Two W-2s from Same Internship (NY and CA) – Same Wages, First Time Filing Multi-State Taxes

Kasey_icetea
Kasey_icetea Member Posts: 1 Newcomer
in General

Hi everyone,

I'm a full-time student and a New York resident. In summer 2024, I completed a paid internship in California (June to August). This internship was my only source of income in 2024 – I had no income in NY.

Here’s the tricky part:

My employer issued two separate W-2s for this one internship:

  • W-2 (NY): Includes federal wages and tax info (Boxes 1–6), and NY state info in Boxes 15–20.
  • W-2 (CA): Includes only Boxes 15–17 with CA State Wages and CA income tax withheld.

👉 Box 16 (State Wages) is identical on both forms, because they both refer to the same income from my internship.

The problem:

  • I entered the NY W-2 for the federal portion since it has all the main data.
  • I also entered the CA SDI info in Box 14.
  • But when I got to the CA state tax return, the system says I don’t qualify for CA tax credits or refund, because it thinks I didn’t earn income in CA.

💸 The issue is, I had $1,900+ in CA state income tax withheld – but now I may not get any of it refunded because the system thinks I had no California income!

I contacted FreeTaxUSA Live Chat:

  • One rep told me to “add another state” to my W-2.
  • Another warned me not to report both W-2s in case it double-counts income.
  • They suggested I ask my employer whether I should even have two W-2s.

So now I’m stuck and not sure what to do. 😞

My questions:

  1. Should I report both W-2s separately, even though the wages are the same?
  2. Should I combine them into one W-2 entry and list both NY and CA in Box 15?
  3. How do I make sure my $1,900+ in CA state tax is properly reported and refunded?
  4. Is it correct to use only the NY W-2 on the federal return even though all the income was earned in CA?

This is my first time filing multi-state taxes and I really don’t want to mess it up.
If anyone has dealt with split-state W-2s for an internship or remote job, your help would be incredibly appreciated!

Thank you so much in advance! 🙏

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Answers

  • knittingfun
    knittingfun Member Posts: 55 Level 5

    If you enter them as two separate W2s - would it double your income? It's interesting that they sent them as two different forms. Adding another state at the bottom of your current W2 seems like it makes the most sense.

  • KeriC
    KeriC FreeTaxUSA Agent Posts: 218

    @Kasey_icetea
    First, let me address your W-2 entry question. You should do one W-2 entry from your employer. You will need to "add another state" so that you can enter both sets of Boxes 15-17 for CA and NY on one W-2 entry.

     As you prepare your state returns, here are a few things to note.
    1) CA will tax you on all income earned from CA sources.
    2) If you were considered a full-year resident of NY, NY will also tax you on all of your income for the year.

    If you were a nonresident of CA, you will first fill out your CA tax information in to the software. It  is possible that you won't receive a full refund of your CA tax withheld. The last page of your CA entries will be the California Tax Summary. You will likely need to refer back to this page later, so you may want to take a screenshot of it or copy it to view later. Otherwise, you can navigate back to the page, if needed. 

    Once your CA return information has been filled out, you will proceed with your NY return.

    The remedy to being double taxed by both states is claiming a credit for taxes paid to another state on your NY tax return. You will need to fill out this portion of your NY return entries using the values found on your California Tax Summary screen. This will allow you to receive a credit on your NY return for taxes paid to CA and eliminate being double-taxed on your internship wages.

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