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    Just moved from Canada to NYC — how do I fill out IT-2104 for state/city tax withholding as a single guy with no kids?

    Hey everyone,

    I recently moved from Canada to New York City for work and I'm trying to figure out how to correctly fill out the IT-2104 form for my employer.

    A bit about my situation:

    • Single, no dependents
    • One job
    • Living and working in NYC (not Yonkers)
    • Just relocated from Canada, so this is my first time dealing with US state/local taxes

    I asked Claude and I think I should be claiming:

    • 1 allowance for New York State
    • 1 allowance for New York City
    • $0 additional withholding across the board

    But Claude is second-guessing itself because this is also a partial year of NY residency (I moved mid-year), so I'm wondering if I should claim 0 allowances to be safe for the first year to avoid owing at tax time.

    A few specific questions:

    1. Is 1 allowance each for state and NYC correct for my situation?
    2. Should I be more conservative (0 allowances) given the partial year?
    3. Does coming from Canada complicate anything here, like the US-Canada tax treaty?
    4. Is there anything else I'm missing as a first-time US/NY taxpayer?

    I'm planning to consult a CPA eventually but just want to make sure I'm not completely off base before I hand in my forms. Thanks in advance!

    Just moved from Canada to NYC — how do I fill out IT-2104 for state/city tax withholding as a single guy with no kids?
    byu/originalgainster intax



    Posted by originalgainster

    2 Comments

    1. SettleKit on

      just put 1 on line 1 and 1 on line 2. single, one job, no dependents, that’s the standard answer. You don’t really have any reason to claim allowances.

      if you’d rather over-withhold and get a refund (I wouldn’t), put 0 on both. same total tax either way, just changes whether you get it now or in april.
      few things since you’re new to the US system:

      – IT-2104 is state + city only. you still need a W4 for federal
      – double check payroll has your NYC address on file. if they think you live outside the city they won’t withhold city tax and you’ll owe a chunk next april
      – if you’re on a work visa and this is your first calendar year here, look into whether you’re a nonresident alien for federal purposes. only affects the W4, not this form
      – fwiw expect ~30%+ of gross to vanish between fed/state/city. it’s brutal coming from canada where it’s one line on the stub​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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