Questions on form 4852 and 8919 for working as a household employee out of state without W2

THL

Can add the nanny income as Common Income→Wage(W-2)→non-standard W2 but do I need to add 2 states info (one for home (NJ), and the other for working (CA)) for state taxes reporting/calculations.

Plus after adding Income→Other Income→Wages not on a W-2 (Form 8919) to report

uncollected Social Security and Medicare taxes, the nanny income is double counted as shown on form 1040 line 1a and 1g (wages from Form 8919).

What should I do to correct that?

The HACK I'm thinking is add the non-standard W-2 federal income to be $1 but input correct income for states. Hopefully, this triggers the correct state taxes calculation.

The corrected nanny income will be reported on Other Income→Wages not on a W-2 to trigger generation of Form 8919 with the social security and Medicare taxes calculated correctly and have Form 1040→Income line 1g populated.

Please advise and thanks!

Hope I can use below to get CA taxes credit to NJ https://community.freetaxusa.com/kb/articles/72-how-to-claim-the-credit-for-taxes-paid-to-another-state

PS: will Freetaxusa software knows automatically calculate correctly and generate 2 states returns. Thanks

JanaA

Hello THL! Regarding the double-counting issue, this is the core problem to fix first. You should use either the non-standard W-2 entry or Form 8919, but not both for the same income. Since you did not receive a W-2 and your employer did not withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes, Form 8919 is the correct way to report this income. The non-standard W-2 entry should be removed entirely. When you enter your wages on Form 8919, that amount flows to Form 1040 line 1g, which is exactly where it belongs. The "hack" of entering $1 on the W-2 is not recommended because it would misrepresent your income and could cause issues with your return.

To remove the non-standard W-2 entry, go to Income, then W-2 (Wages), and delete that entry. Your nanny income should only be entered through Income, then Other Income, then Wages not on a W-2 (Form 8919).

Regarding state taxes, since Form 8919 does not have state wage boxes like a W-2 does, the state income allocation works differently. When you go through your NJ and CA state returns, the software will generally pull your total wages and ask you to allocate or confirm what portion was earned in each state. You will want to enter the CA wages as the amount earned while working in California, and NJ will typically tax you as a full-year resident on all income. You are correct that you can claim a credit on your NJ return for taxes paid to CA, and the community article you referenced is a good guide for that step.