Do international students pay state income tax? A state-by-state guide

Which state do I file in: where I live, study or work?

You may need a return in two states, if both tax wages: the state where you did the work and the state where you were a resident. A state taxes residents on all their income and nonresidents only on income from that state, for most students wages for work done there.

The state where your school is matters only if you also live or work there. In California, enrolling at a school does not by itself make you a resident, as Publication 1031 says.

Remote work for an employer in another state is not covered here; read both states' nonresident instructions before you file.

Am I a state nonresident because I am a nonresident alien?

No. Being a nonresident alien for federal tax does not decide whether you are a resident of a state, because each state applies its own tests (New York, California).

Most states look first at your domicile, which is your permanent home. The F-1, J-1, M-1 and Q-1 visa rules require you to keep a residence abroad that you do not intend to abandon. That is evidence your domicile is outside the US. It does not settle state residency, because some states also treat you as a resident if you keep a home there and spend enough days there.

The California test is in Revenue and Taxation Code section 17014 and the Illinois test in 35 ILCS 5/1501(a)(20). The answer decides which return you file. Each of the four states uses the same return for nonresidents and part-year residents.

Housing decides many student cases. In New York, housing kept by a full-time undergraduate while attending school is not a permanent place of abode. Full-time means at least 12 credit hours a semester for at least two semesters. A traditional dorm room without its own kitchen or bathroom is generally not one either (New York regulatory impact statement).

Graduate students do not get the undergraduate exception. A master's or PhD student, or a graduate on OPT, can be a New York resident. That happens if you keep a New York apartment for substantially all of the year and spend 184 days or more in the state. The Tax Department's audit guidelines generally read "substantially all of the year" as more than 10 months, their policy since tax year 2022.

Massachusetts generally does not treat a dorm room as a permanent place of abode, but an off-campus apartment can be one (TIR 95-7). In the Department of Revenue's own example, a student who shared an off-campus apartment and spent more than 183 days in the state was a resident.

Publication 1031 presumes you are a California resident for any tax year in which you spend more than nine months in California. You can overcome the presumption by showing the stay is for a temporary or transitory purpose (Revenue and Taxation Code section 17016). Publication 1031 has no rule for students on visas, and the Franchise Tax Board gives no written opinions on residency. A graduate student or OPT worker who lives in California all year should read it before choosing between Form 540NR and Form 540.

Do states follow my federal tax treaty exemption?

California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania tax wages that a tax treaty exempts from federal tax (Pennsylvania unless the treaty itself exempts state tax). New York, Massachusetts and Illinois leave them out.

For any other state, read its nonresident instructions before you rely on the treaty there.

New Jersey tax is not computed from federal adjusted gross income, and its law excludes treaty income only for some foreign corporations (Division notice), not for individuals.

For Massachusetts, the subtraction applies only to treaty pay that is inside your W-2 wages. If your employer applied the treaty and reported the exempt pay on Form 1042-S instead, it is not on Form 1-NR/PY line 5, so there is nothing to subtract. To claim the treaty on your federal return, see how to claim a tax treaty on Form 1040-NR.

How do states work out tax for a nonresident?

California and New York work out the tax on your income from all sources as if you were a resident, then keep only the share that comes from the state. Illinois and Massachusetts tax only your income from the state, but they cut your exemption to the state's share of your income.

On the 2025 forms, the sharing happens on Form 540NR lines 36 to 39 in California and on Form IT-203 lines 45 and 46 in New York. Illinois uses Schedule NR lines 46 to 52, and Massachusetts uses Form 1-NR/PY line 22. When all of a student's income is wages from one state, the share is 100% and nothing is lost.

Illinois is the clearest place to see this, because its 2026 figures are already published. The rate is a flat 4.95% (IL-700-T) and the 2026 exemption is $2,925 (Bulletin FY 2026-15).

On his federal return, Lucas can deduct the $420 of Illinois tax withheld in 2026 on Schedule A (Form 1040-NR), line 1a of the 2026 draft. If he does, the $61.37 refund he receives in 2027 can be taxable income on his 2027 federal return. For the federal form itself, see how to fill out Form 1040-NR.

Do I have to file a state return?

File a state return when your income is over the state's filing threshold, and whenever state tax was withheld from your pay and you want it back. Withheld tax is credited only on the return: for example, Form 540NR line 81 and Form IL-1040 line 25 (2025 forms) are where it goes.

The 2026 thresholds are not published yet. For 2025, a single California filer under 65 with no dependents had to file with gross income over $22,941 or adjusted gross income over $18,353 (FTB booklet). Those figures are from the resident booklet; as a nonresident, check the Form 540NR booklet for how income from outside California counts. In Massachusetts, a single filer whose Massachusetts adjusted gross income, as Schedule NTS-L-NR/PY defines it, is $8,000 or less owes no Massachusetts income tax (2025 schedule). If Massachusetts tax was withheld from that student's pay, filing a Massachusetts return is still the only way to get it back.

For a rough number before the forms arrive, try our 2026 take-home calculator or the OPT examples by salary.

When are state returns due for tax year 2026?

California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts returns for tax year 2026 are expected to be due Thursday, April 15, 2027. None of the four has published its 2027 date yet; for tax year 2025, all four were due Wednesday, April 15, 2026 (FTB, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts).

Of these four states, a federal June 15 date moves only the New York return. That federal date applies to a Form 1040-NR only when you had no wages subject to US income tax withholding. For tax year 2025, the IT-203 instructions gave those filers the same June 15 deadline for the New York return, with special condition code E4 (2025 IT-203 instructions). California, Illinois and Massachusetts had no June 15 date for them; California's June 15 date was only for people living or traveling outside the US on April 15 (FTB).

California and Illinois extended the time to file 2025 returns by six months automatically. New York extended it by six months if you filed Form IT-370 by the April due date (2025 IT-203 instructions). Massachusetts extended it automatically if at least 80% of your tax was paid by the April due date. None of these gave more time to pay. The federal and state dates are in tax deadlines for international students in 2027.

Does my state tax wages? All 50 states and DC

Forty-one states and the District of Columbia tax wages in tax year 2026, according to the Tax Foundation's 2026 table. The nine states above do not.

Find each state where you earned wages in 2026 below; each name links to its page in our 2026 take-home calculator.