Do I still have to file a New Jersey tax return after I move to Florida?

You file Form NJ-1040, enter the beginning and ending dates of your residency, report only the income you earned or received as a resident, and prorate your credits, exclusions, exemptions and deductions. If New Jersey-source income kept coming after the move, you also file Form NJ-1040NR, the nonresident return. A part-year return is required when gross income from everywhere for the whole year is over $10,000 for a single filer or a married person filing separately, or over $20,000 for a married couple filing jointly, a head of household or a qualifying widow or widower.

The Division of Taxation counts you as a resident while New Jersey is your domicile, the place you consider your permanent home and intend to return to after an absence. Someone domiciled elsewhere is still a New Jersey resident for the year if he or she keeps a permanent home in New Jersey and spends more than 183 days there.

Between $100,001 and $150,000, only a percentage of pension, annuity and IRA income can be excluded, and above $150,000 none. A separate Other Retirement Income Exclusion is for people 62 or older with total income of $150,000 or less and no more than $3,000 in wages, business profits and partnership or S corporation income; part-year residents figure it on Worksheet E. Beyond the exclusions, New Jersey's income tax is graduated, with higher rates on higher income. After you move, New Jersey does not tax a nonresident's pension, annuity or IRA income.

New Jersey law requires the registered owner of a vehicle to keep liability insurance, and when a carrier reports that coverage was dropped, the Motor Vehicle Commission sends a suspension notice. A copy of the plate surrender receipt, or proof that the vehicle is registered in another state, is among the documents that clear it. Hand the plates to staff at any MVC agency, leave them in the plate drop box outside one, or mail them to one of the agencies the MVC lists for mail surrender, with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Plates cannot be surrendered at inspection stations. Keep the receipt the MVC mails you, in case charges are later linked to those plates. Florida's own steps for a license and registration are in the site's general answers.

I-95 runs through New Jersey. The Amtrak Auto Train leaves from Lorton, Virginia, and arrives in Sanford, Florida, carrying your car, van, motorcycle, SUV, small boat, jet ski or other recreational vehicle along with you. Amtrak says the Auto Train saves 900 miles of driving.

For questions about your own return, call the Division of Taxation at 609-292-6400, or ask a tax professional. The MVC's information line is 609-292-6500.

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