United States. Illinois, and the states that operate a real withholding at closing

Is there an Illinois exit tax when you move out of state?

Illinois does not levy an exit tax, and its published guidance for people leaving describes something quite different: a domicile test, a part-year return, and tax on Illinois-source income after you go. The phrase gets attached to at least three unrelated things, only one of which is a real charge triggered by leaving, and that one belongs to New Jersey rather than to Illinois. Four questions and you will know which of them, if any, is actually pointed at you.

Question 1

Which state are you leaving?

The mechanism differs completely by state, and the phrase exit tax describes different things in each.

What US states actually do when you leave, 2026

Last updated 2026-08-15

The phrase exit tax is attached to at least three unrelated things: a charge for leaving, which is what people picture; a prepayment taken from a nonresident at a property closing, which is real; and a residency test that decides you never left, which is the expensive one. This table separates them.

Every row is taken from published state guidance read on 15 August 2026 and cited in full below: the Illinois Department of Revenue IL-1040 instructions and filing requirements for the Illinois rows, the New Jersey Division of Taxation GIT/REP FAQs and Technical Bulletin TB-57 for New Jersey, and the New York State nonresident and part-year resident guidance for New York. Figures are quoted as the states state them, including the 10.75% highest Gross Income Tax rate described as effective 8-1-2004 and the 184 day statutory residence count. Where this table says a state does not do something, it means the guidance cited describes no such mechanism, which is not the same as a search of the whole statute book: settlement practice in particular should be confirmed with the closing agent. No figure here is estimated, and no rate is carried over from another state by analogy. Rates and thresholds change on state legislative cycles, so the date this page was last checked is at the top of it, and it is the date the figures belong to.

What US states actually do when you leave, 2026
State	Is there an exit tax?	What actually applies	The mechanism	Where it catches people
Illinois	No	Residency by domicile, and tax on Illinois-source income after you leave	You are an Illinois resident if you were domiciled in Illinois for the entire tax year. A part-year resident files Form IL-1040 with Schedule NR	A move that did not change domicile. Domicile is where you reside and intend to return after temporary absences, and intent is read from the facts
Illinois, part-year	No	The split between the resident and nonresident periods	Include income received from any source while you were a resident, plus Illinois income received while you were not	The date of the change is doing all the work and is rarely evidenced at the time
New Jersey	No formal exit tax, and this is the mechanism people mean	An estimated Gross Income Tax payment on a nonresident's sale or transfer of New Jersey real property	The gain is multiplied by the highest Gross Income Tax rate, 10.75% effective 8-1-2004, and the payment must not be less than 2% of the total consideration stated in the deed	The 2% floor. A seller with no gain, or a loss, still pays 2% of the price at closing and waits for the return to get it back
New Jersey, the paperwork	Not a tax question at all	Which GIT/REP form reaches the settlement agent	GIT/REP-1 nonresident declaration at closing, GIT/REP-2 receipt for a prepayment before closing, GIT/REP-3 residency certification or exemption, GIT/REP-4 waiver, GIT/REP-4A corrective deeds	The form decides whether money is held back, and it is settled in the week before closing
New York, domicile	No	Residency by domicile, as in most states	You are a New York State resident if you are domiciled in the state	Nothing unusual. This limb behaves like Illinois
New York, statutory residence	No, and this is the expensive one	Residency by presence, regardless of intention	You are a resident if you maintain a permanent place of abode in New York State for substantially all of the taxable year and you spend 184 days or more in New York State	A genuine relocation plus a kept apartment plus frequent work trips. Intent is irrelevant to this test
Any state, after you leave	No	Continuing tax on income sourced to the state	Nonresidents are taxed on state-source income, which includes income from real property located in the state	Assuming that leaving ends the filing obligation. It ends the worldwide one, not the sourced one

Illinois levies no exit tax: its published guidance describes residency by domicile and a part-year return, not a charge triggered by leaving.
Illinois defines domicile as the place where you reside and the place where you intend to return after temporary absences, so a temporary absence does not change it.
An Illinois part-year resident includes income received from any source while a resident, plus Illinois income received while not a resident.
New Jersey requires an estimated Gross Income Tax payment on a nonresident's sale of New Jersey real property, computed as the gain times the highest rate of 10.75% effective 8-1-2004.
That New Jersey payment must not be less than 2% of the total consideration stated in the deed, so a seller with no gain still pays 2% of the price at closing.
New York treats you as a resident if you maintain a permanent place of abode in the state for substantially all of the taxable year and spend 184 days or more there, whatever your domicile.
Leaving a state ends its claim on your worldwide income, not on income sourced there, including income from real property located in the state.

Cite this page

“What US states actually do when you leave, 2026”, Exit Tax Estimator, https://exittaxestimator.com/ (updated 2026-08-15). Every row is taken from published state guidance read on 15 August 2026 and cited in full below: the Illinois Department of Revenue IL-1040 instructions and filing requirements for the Illinois rows, the New Jersey Division of Taxation GIT/REP FAQs and Technical Bulletin TB-57 for New Jersey, and the New York State nonresident and part-year resident guidance for New York. Figures are quoted as the states state them, including the 10.75% highest Gross Income Tax rate described as effective 8-1-2004 and the 184 day statutory residence count. Where this table says a state does not do something, it means the guidance cited describes no such mechanism, which is not the same as a search of the whole statute book: settlement practice in particular should be confirmed with the closing agent. No figure here is estimated, and no rate is carried over from another state by analogy. Rates and thresholds change on state legislative cycles, so the date this page was last checked is at the top of it, and it is the date the figures belong to.

Want a state tax adviser to check the move?

Tell us which states are involved and where the move has got to. Advisers who handle multi-state residency will contact you directly.

Which state are you leaving?

Where has the move got to?

Any property involved? (optional)

Anything else they should know? (optional)

When do you need this?

Your name

Phone (optional)

Tick the box above to send your enquiry.

Free, no obligation
Your details go only to advisers who respond
No marketing lists, ever

Guides

The longer answers, with sources.

The Illinois domicile test, and how a move actually gets proved

Illinois residency turns on domicile: where you reside and intend to return after temporary absences. What that means in evidence rather than in intention.

The states that really do take money when you leave

New Jersey's estimated GIT payment and New York's statutory residence test. What each one actually is, and why one is a prepayment rather than a tax.

The part-year return: which income belongs to which period

The year you move produces two tax periods with different rules. What goes in each, and the two items that most often land in the wrong one.

Leaving a state: the record to build while it is still easy

None of these items decides residency on its own. Together they are the record you would otherwise reconstruct years later from memory, under time pressure.

What it does and does not check

Illinois, where there is no exit tax and the question is domicile
New Jersey's estimated Gross Income Tax payment at closing, which is what most people mean
New York's statutory residence test, and how a kept apartment undoes a move
Selling real property in the state you are leaving
Part-year returns and what income belongs to which period
Based on published state guidance from Illinois, New Jersey and New York, read on 15 August 2026

Exit Tax Estimator is an independent site operated by Ellul Solutions Ltd. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Illinois Department of Revenue, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance or any government body, and it is not an accounting firm, a law firm or a tax adviser. Nothing here is tax advice on an individual move, and residency is decided on facts that this site cannot see. Every figure and every rule stated here is taken from published state guidance cited on this page and read on the date shown, and where the page says a state does not do something it means the guidance we read describes no such mechanism, not that we have searched the whole statute book. State rates and thresholds change on legislative cycles, so check the date at the top before relying on a figure.

Straight answers

Does Illinois have an exit tax?

No. Illinois publishes no charge triggered by leaving the state. What its guidance describes is residency by domicile: you are an Illinois resident if you were domiciled in Illinois for the entire tax year, and your domicile is the place where you reside and the place where you intend to return after temporary absences. In the year you move you file as a part-year resident on Form IL-1040 with Schedule NR, and after you go Illinois continues to tax income sourced to Illinois but not your income from everywhere else.

What do people mean when they talk about an exit tax?

Usually one of three unrelated things. A charge for leaving, which is what the phrase sounds like and which is not a feature of the states most often named. A prepayment taken from a nonresident seller at a property closing, which is real and belongs mainly to New Jersey and New York. Or a residency test that concludes you never left, which is the most expensive of the three because it taxes a full year of worldwide income rather than one transaction.

What is the New Jersey exit tax?

Not a tax and not about leaving. On a nonresident's sale or transfer of New Jersey real property, an estimated Gross Income Tax payment is required at closing. The Division of Taxation describes it as the gain multiplied by the highest Gross Income Tax rate, 10.75% effective 8-1-2004, and states that the payment must not be less than 2% of the total consideration for the sale or transfer as stated in the deed. The 2% floor means a seller with no gain still pays. It is a prepayment, and the actual liability is settled when the nonresident return is filed.

Can New York still tax me after I move away?

Yes, on two separate bases. You are a New York resident if you are domiciled in the state. You are also a resident, whatever your domicile, if you maintain a permanent place of abode in New York State for substantially all of the taxable year and you spend 184 days or more in New York State. That second test is the one that catches genuine relocations: a kept apartment plus frequent trips can produce New York residency for the whole year regardless of what you intended. Separately, a nonresident remains taxable on New York source income, including income from real property in the state.

How do I prove I changed my domicile?

With a pattern of small contemporaneous facts rather than a declaration. Where the home you actually live in is and what happened to the previous one, where the family is and where children go to school, driving licence and vehicle registration, voter registration, professional licences, doctors and dentists, safe deposit boxes and club memberships, and the address on the employer's payroll record. No single item decides it. The pattern is what gets read, and it is far easier to arrange before the move than to reconstruct after a notice.

Do I pay Illinois tax on selling my Illinois house after I leave?

The gain is Illinois-source income and Illinois taxes a nonresident on Illinois-source income, reported on Form IL-1040 with Schedule NR. The Illinois nonresident guidance cited on this page describes that computation and does not describe a payment or withholding taken at closing of the kind New Jersey and New York operate, so a seller expecting money to be held back at the table may not see it. Confirm the settlement mechanics with the closing agent, and consider whether the sale falls inside your resident or nonresident period, because that changes which part of the return reports it.

Can two states both tax me in the year I move?

Yes, and it is normal. The usual shape is that the state you left taxes your worldwide income up to the change of domicile and your state-source income afterwards, while the new state taxes you from arrival. Relief for genuinely doubled income generally comes through a credit rather than through choosing which return to file. What is not normal is both states treating you as a resident for the same period, which usually means the domicile change is contested or a statutory residence test has caught you, and that is the point to take advice rather than to file and hope.

Sources

Find out which mechanism is pointed at you

Which state, whether property is being sold, and whether the domicile really moved.

Talk to a specialist Run the checker

Use this on your own site

Embed it anywhere; attribution stays on. Copy this:

<script src="https://exittaxestimator.com/embed.js" async></script>

Talk to a specialist