02 Apr Do I need to file more than one state tax return?

Q. I moved from South Jersey to Philadelphia in September of 2025. I’ve lived in New Jersey and worked in Philadelphia for the last 30 years. Do I have to file 2025 taxes in both states? How does that work? I’ve always done my own taxes, federal and New Jersey state. Is the dual state filing complicated? Should I get help?
— Border crosser

A. States work together to make tax filings a little easier for people who work across the border.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania have a reciprocal income tax agreement where neither state taxes the wages of a resident of the other state.

As a New Jersey resident who commuted to Philadelphia the past 30 years, you were not subject to Pennsylvania state income tax, said Neil Becourtney, a certified public accountant and tax director with Smolin, Lupin & Co. in Red Bank.

Pennsylvania residents who work in New Jersey likewise are not subject to New Jersey nonresident tax, he said.

The Pennsylvania income tax is imposed at a flat rate of 3.07%, which for most taxpayers results in less tax compared with New Jersey, he said.

For 2025, you will have to file two part-year resident state income tax returns — New Jersey’s from Jan. 1 through the date you moved, and Pennsylvania from the date you moved through Dec. 31, he said.

Becourtney said if you use tax software, this is not terribly complicated.

“Besides splitting your wage income into the applicable portions of the year — presumably your employer began withholding Pennsylvania tax upon your move,” he said. “Any nonwage income such as bank interest would also need to be split into two amounts.”

If you were able to prepare your own federal and New Jersey income tax returns for all these years, you should have little difficulty preparing your 2025 income tax returns, Becourtney said.

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This story was originally published in April 2026. 

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