- quote -

Just remember [and as per the ARGUMENT offered for TCMemo
2003-232], the Court made no distinction between temporary
and indefinite - and even permanent, at least in the context
of TR's enacted before 1988 as temporary and lacking the
regulatory process for permanence. I'm just waiting for
that to be cited as precedent somehow in the "tax home"
arena.... :-)

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D. Stussy wrote:
- quote -

(snipped
- quote -

Welllllll now.. I had forgotten about that. Thanks for
the tip!

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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pretrip8[at]hotmail.com (lek) wrote:

- quote -

I haven't read the many other responses you've received here, so
forgive me if I repeat.

First, it is certainly not necessary that you be a tax resident of
some state just because you are a U.S. citizen and have a federal
income tax filing requirement. HOWEVER, depending on the laws of the
state where you last lived, and the facts of your situation, you MAY
be a resident of that state for income tax purposes in 2003.

Residence for state income tax purposes is defined by each state's
statutes. In general, a resident is a person who is domiciled in the
state, or who, though domiciled elsewhere, has signficant ties to the
state such as maintenance of a place of abode and spending a minimum
amout of time (often, more than 183 days) in the state.

Your domicile is your permanent home, the place to which, whenever
absent, you intend to return. Although it is not necessary for you to
be a tax resident of any state, most states will say you must be
domiciled somewhere at all times. If you have not taken all of the
steps to establish a new domicile, your domicile generally remains
where it last was.

In order to change domicile, generally all of three requirements must
be met: (1) Abandonment of the previous domicile; (2) moving to and
residing in a new location; and (3) an intent to remain in the new
location permanently or indefinitely. Since it appears you have not
yet met the second requirement, State A may consider you to remain
domiciled there, and therefore to be a resident for tax purposes even
though you were not present in the state at any time during the
taxable year.

Some states allow a domiciliary to be a nonresident for income tax
purposes under certain circumstances. At least one state (Maryland)
allows the abandonment of domicile there when the taxpayer has left
the state with no intention of ever returning there to live, even
though a new domicile has not been established elsewhere. Without
knowing the particular states involved, no answer can be given to your
question. You may be a tax resident of State A for 2003, or you may
not, depending on which state it is.

The address from which you file your 2003 federal income tax returns
should be the address at which you want to receive communications from
the tax authorities. It is one fact that will be taken into account
in determining your tax residence for 2004, but is not determinative
in itself. The most important thing is to be sure that you receive
any communications from the IRS or the state tax authorities on a
timely basis.

Katie in San Diego

The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only and does not
constitute legal or professional advice.

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- quote -

Same with Switzerland: Citizenship by country, canton, and
village. To change, one [historically] had to "buy"
citizenship in the new village.

- quote -

Does that assume that he obtained all from the SAME state?
What about if each different thing traces back to a
different state from the rest? :-)

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Harlan Lunsford wrote:
- quote -

Do you file with a deduction for being "temporarily away
from home" too? :-)

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Harlan Lunsford wrote:
- quote -

Yes, but by "long term," I meant a condition of owning no
real estate (i.e. no "residence"), having no valid U.S.
state's driver's license (but only foreign ones), etc...,
thus having abandoned any U.S. domicile.

As far as the states that don't have an income tax, I don't
believe that you meant your comment to apply.

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Harlan Lunsford wrote:

- quote -

My not-FIL's Chinese passport shows as his place of birth
not the place in which he was actually born (unknown to
everyone, as his parents are deceased and no record of
births during wartime were kept, but in a different province
than that on his passport), but the place his ancestors came
from.

Phoebe

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- quote -

There's a difference between "tax home" (which the
travelling salesman doesn't have), residence, and domicile.
We don't know he (I ASSume it was a "he") didn't pay state
taxes to a domicillary state.

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- quote -

True, you don't have to "live" any one place, but whereever
you're from does matter. I recall that in Europe people
vote in the localtiy where they were born. The Germans have
a verb "stammen", meaning to "originate" from a certain
area, as in "Ich stamme aus Bayern."

So then, the state the salesman, taxpayer, client,
perpetrator obtained his auto registration and driver's
license is the state, absent any other factors such as
voting registration, owning property etc, that will affirm
his domicile and expect a tax return.

In an ideal world, that is. lol

cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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- quote -

No, you don't. I recall reading about a case where a
travelling salesman claimed travel expenses for 365 days in
a year. The IRS disallowed, and the court agreed, ruling
that the deduction is available only for travel away from
home, which required him to have a home to be away from, and
he didn't.

Seth

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D. Stussy wrote:
- quote -

But there ARE laws saying one has to file a state tax return
if one is still domiciled in a particular state.

But you knew that! lol

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford

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CLJ1219 wrote:

- quote -

Actually Carol, the way I say it, "you have to BE from
somewhere".

What I see down here are civil service workers who may leave
Alabama and spend three years working in Germany with NO AL
tax withheld, even though they still own property in the
state. They return and are amazed to find out they were
supposed to be filing Alabama returns all those years.

On a personal note, I still consider myself a citizen of
Georgia, even though a temporary full year resident of
Alabama for the last 26 years. After all, I still file a
Georgia tax return every year, and still fly THE Georgia
flag in front of my house. (You know which one.)

For those scratching their heads about now, I should add
that the Geogia return my wife and I file is because she
works IN Georgia, and not because I'm dumb.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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The answer is "maybe" you can play the multi-state tax game.
It depends on knowledge tax laws, fortunate circumstances,
and not having to cheat. In my case it was job relocation
from a state with an income tax to one without and
vice-versa. The issue was a job-change income "bubble" due
to termination, relocation, and startup income- a
significant fraction of a year's pay. In one case I
transferred residency in a few hours to "beat" the bubble
payout to the non-tax state. And the other case
procrastinated to the 30-day transfer law of the parties
involved, to have the bubble payout in the non-tax state.

Technically the more serious matter may be insurance. If
your health, auto, or home insurance does not match your
residency or where you'll make a claim, it could likely be
declared invalid and not pay a claim in case of a problem.

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lek wrote:

- quote -

No. That would be a real problem for long term U.S.
citizens living outside the U.S. with no ties in
country..... ALso, about 5 states don't have state income
tax, so it's "difficult" to file there. :-)

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- quote -

Sounds about right. You have to live *somewhere*. Having
an auto registration, a drivers license or voter
registration pretty well makes you a resident.

Carol
What can one expect of a day that begins with getting out of bed.

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lek wrote:

- quote -

whichever state office you call, whether a, b, or c, will
contend you are a resident of their state. But only you
can determine.

And I would say whereever the prepondereance of your income
comes from plus the fact of whichever state you spent the
most time in. It's what we call a "facts and circumstances"
case, which doesn't always give it'sef to easy
determination.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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Is there a law or rule that says I must file a state return
SOMEWHERE if I'm required to file a fed. return? I guess it
boils down to: must I be a legal resident of any particular
state? In 2003, my car was (and still is) registered in
state A. All of my mail still goes to a mailbox address in
state A. That's the only tie I have/had to the state.
And i have no ties to any other. OK, here's the story. Due
to complicated issues related to both of my parents dying in
various other states (and my travelling alot to settle their
affairs), as well as my own travelling inside or outside the
US when I was not helping my parents (for all of 2003), I
did not rent or own an "abode", and did not stay in any
particular state for very long at all. My only income in
2003 is bank interest, mutual fund gains, dividends, payouts
from my parents annuities, etc. None of it comes from state
A. But it's high enough to require filing a federal
return. So, I guess if I had to file a state return
SOMEWHERE, I would pick the state where my car was
registered (and drivers license registered) for the whole
year. ?? I guess that would be easiest if I had to file a
return somewhere. Although I'm currently in state C
temporarily settling my mothers affairs (and selling her
house), I certainly don't consider myself a resident of
state C...I'm trying to get out as soon as the house sale
goes through. (I'm also in the process of selling her car.
I transferred her car title into my name here in state C,
and insured it in my name, until I sell it). By the way, I
did read the "definition of residency" type of rules in
state A's 1040 booklet (at their website) and it did not
help answer my questions.

One other question: When I file a 2003 federal return in
april, I'm not yet sure what address or state I will use at
the top of the form. Though I do tentatively plan to move to
state B (yes B, not A or C) soon when I finish selling my
mothers house (in state C) in a few months, how important is
the address I write there? What I mean is: If I use an
address for state B (a temporary mailbox address that I
already have) on the 2003 federal tax form in april, for
example will State B get a record of this and make it
difficult if I change my mind and do not move there.

Thanks for any info. I wonder if I should call any of the
state tax offices (or IRS) with this type of question...or
ask tax accountants?

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