Continuing from previous discussion above regarding “AZ nonresident” status:
> Facts from before:
“My wife & I lived in Texas for 10 years. In 2022, she went to Arizona for about 6 months (<9) to complete an internship in pursuit of a degree. After the internship, she is returning to TX. That relocation is legitimately temporary and it has always been our intent for her to return to her domicile with me in TX.”
> New info:
When my wife relocated to AZ temporarily, she got an AZ driver’s license and registered one of our three vehicles there. The AZ DOT website indicates that Arizona requires vehicle registration and driver’s license are required if you live there for 7 months (she was there 7 months 11 days in 2022). Our other two vehicles remained registered in the state of our domicile, Texas.
However, when my wife got her driver’s license, she also registered to vote in AZ and at some point in 2022 she did vote in AZ. Voter registration is one of many considerations used to evaluate residency status. It’s my understanding that “the question of residency for state income tax purposes cannot be answered by a general rule, but depends largely on the circumstances of each case. Generally, no one single factor is controlling, but all relevant facts must be considered in determining residency.”
I believe the totality of the facts and our actions still substantiate that Texas is and has always been our domicile. That has certainly always been our intent. She only went to Arizona because that is where the internship she needed was located, and conveniently her sister has a house that we rented for her time there. Voter registration was a mistake; should have simply voted in TX via absentee ballot. The action of registering and then voting could certainly be interpreted differently and the state might conclude that voting made her a resident.
To quickly assess “actions”(indicators) of intent that are listed:
1 - we registered one of three vehicles in AZ; the other two remain in domicile(TX).
2 - she lived in AZ for 7 months
3 - she got an AZ driver’s license
4 - bank accounts: did not get any in AZ
5 - home purchase: did not..rented in AZ
6 - real estate tax: did not pay/owe any
7 - AZ income tax: did not estimate/pay any
8 - employment/income within AZ: none
9 - voter registration: she registered/voted
----- also relevant ------
- her husband (me) remains in domicile of TX
- two vehicles remain registered in TX (we are both on the titles)
- we have lived in TX for 10 years
- we filed Federal return as “married filing jointly”, claiming TX address/domicile
- her intent has always been to leave AZ following the internship
Question to expert:
1) Given the additional information, do you still think my wife qualifies as a “nonresident” in Arizona?
