PLEASE HELP ME with this tax dilemma...?

Question

okay so from Sept. 25, 2007 to April 2, 2008 i was living in Arizona, which means i was supposed to file taxes for arizona this year-- BUT before then i was living in Illinois...SO i had to file taxes for IL. this year also! my aunt filed my taxes for IL. but she said she didnt quite understand the Arizona sheet that you have to fill out so i guess she just didn't do it altogether-- now my question is can i still file them even now and everything will go through fine??!

i just dont want the IRS banging down my door because i didnt file arizona AND illinois taxes this year. im only 19 and dont know ANYTHiNG about taxes, but i need your insight as to what i should do before tax time next year because i have to do the same thing next year!

soooo PLEASE HELP ME THANKSSs♥

Answer 1

Well, first of all, since the IRS is federal, they don't care about your state returns and won't be banging down your door.

But since you were a part year resident of both states, then yes you need to file both states.  If you didn't file AZ yet, you can still do so, and are most likely required to.

Answer 2

the irs wont hound you for state taxes...just get the 800 number for each state you must file in and ask them what you must do now.

it wont be too hard, but it will be time consuming.

Answer 3

From Sept. 25 through Dec 31 of 2007, did you have a job in Arizona and earn wages?  If so, and you filed a federal tax return, you are going to have to file an Arizona tax return.  

You can still do the tax return.  You can go to the Arizona website and download the forms and fill them out.  The link is below.

My guess is that your Aunt filed your Illinois tax return as if you were a resident of Illinois.  If this is the case, to avoid complications, you should file a nonresident Arizona return.  

Your aunt was likely confused in trying to file you as a part-year resident of both states.  This causes the state returns to interact with each other, often in strange ways.  So leave that alone.  It may have given you a better break, but it is going to be expensive to fix if you go to a preparer.  

You will need a copy of your federal tax return and your income documents to file a nonresident AZ return.  It shouldn't be a big deal, although you will mail in the return.

Added later:  Where you live now has no bearing on the above.  Just do the nonresident AZ and you are done.

Answer 4

Normally you would have to file for both states - IL resident, AZ nonresident. Depending on how much you made in AZ you might not meet the filing requirement then you are not required to file. Look on AZ web site and it should tell you. I looked for my own knowledge and you have to make a gross income of at least $15,000 then you are required to file.

Answer 5

There are two issues here. The first is getting your correct filing for 2007, but this hinges on the second question of what you will do in 2008.

So, lets look at the second issue. You say that the same thing will happen next year? Are you moving back to Illinois in 2008? If you are, you will not break residency in Illinois. You would therefore need to file a full year resident Illinois return for 2008 and a non-resident Arizona return (you can claim a credit for the taxes paid to Arizona on your Illinois resident return.)

If you have left Illinois for good in 2007, you need to file a part year Illinois return and a part year Arizona return. If you Aunt has already filed a full year Illinois return, then you need to amend it.

Given the fact that you are asking the question, I would suggest going to a tax preparer to sort this out. They wont be banging at your door, but they will send you notices until you sort it out. If they don't send you notices then generally that means that you are out of pocket - so go to a preparer anyway.