I seldom disagree with Paul, but in this case I beg to
differ with his statement that "you can have only one tax
home." Unfortunately, this is not the case with respect to
residence for income tax purposes (which is not the same as
the concept of "tax home" for purposes of deducting
away-from-home living expenses). An individual may be, and
often is, a resident of two states at once for income tax
purposes.

New York and Virginia have very similar definitions of a
resident for tax purposes. In both states, an individual
domiciled in the state is a resident, regardless of the time
of presence or absence from the state. An individual
domiciled elsewhere is also a resident under certain
circumstances. In NY, a nondomiciliary is a resident if he
or she maintains a permanent place of abode in NY and is
present in the state for at least 183 days of the taxable
year (partial days count). In VA, a nondomiciliary who
maintains a place of abode for at least 183 days during the
year is a resident. The NY and VA rules differ a bit
because, in NY, a nondomiciliary must BOTH maintain a place
of abode AND be present in the state for 183 days. In VA,
maintenance of a place of abode for 183 days is enough, even
if the individual is not actually present during all that
time.

It is clear that if you are domiciled in one of these
states, and you maintain a place of abode and spend more
than 183 days in the other, you are a tax resident of both
states.

Since your wife and your home are in NY, it would appear
that you are a domiciliary resident of NY. How much time
you spent there during the year, in that case, is not
relevant; you are a resident even if you were absent for the
entire year.

Whether you are an "actual" resident (as the Virginia
statute puts it) of Virginia depends on whether you
maintained your apartment there for more than 183 days --
not how many days you were physically present, but how many
days you paid the rent for the apartment.

If you are a resident of both states, you must file as a
resident in both states and pay tax on 100% of your income
to both states. However, NY will give you credit for the tax
you pay to VA on your income from services performed there.

If you file jointly for federal purposes, you must file
jointly in NY. In VA, if you are a resident and your wife is
a nonresident, you must use the "married filing separately"
status and report only your own income.

Katie in San Diego

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

"DavidM" <drmandel[at]gmail.com> wrote

- quote -

Well, obviously this is not a short term deal.

But, luckily, you can only have one tax home.

- quote -

Where are you registered to vote? That's where I'd hang my
residency and stick with it.

You probably have a complex enough situation to have needed
a CPA or EA on last years return. Consider finding one for
this year - and have them take a look at last years return
as well.

--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

I am working (at an office) and have an apartment in
Virginia, but have a house and wife in New York for the past
two years. I spend about half my time in each location
(need to research where the 183 days is spent) and work out
of my NY home when in NY. My wife's income is all in NY.
After reading the VA and NY tax codes, it appears that I am
a resident of both states and should file separately with
either NY or VA being the principal residency (not sure).
Question: How should I be filing and claiming residencies?

Thanks -- David

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >