I am located in NH on the border to Massachusetts. Every year I have to apportion wages for NH residence who work for MA companies but oftentimes work out of their NH residence or travel outside MA and do not have to pay MA taxes on income earned outside of that state.

For 2020 MA (and other similar states) have stated that they will consider ALL work for a MA company to be taxable to MA. The reason stated is the Corona-19 virus, which has many employees having to work from their homes.

NH's Governor has filed a suit against MA, however, it appears this suit will not be settled until after the 2020 tax season filing deadline. This creates a significant problem for employees who have always had to apportion their wages in and out of MA, plus it now effects the taxes of ALL such employees working from their homes, employed by MA companies due to the virus..

Is there a way to get a consensus on how to best deal with this issue so that all preparers are reacting in a similar way? I'm concerned that if we have no guidance on this matter we will each attempt to handle the matter differently, creating a potentially more serious problem for everyone.

Our clients will be frustrated and many tax returns may need to be amended needlessly.

I appreciate the assistance I've received from the Lacerte Support experts in the past. I sincerely hope there is a solution we can all use as we begin to file tax returns in a month or so.

Sincerely,

O.E. (Bob) Bellerose, EA