@vsundeep11 wrote:
Thanks for responses.
Can you please define "legal resident of Texas” What proves that I am legal resident in a state or otherwise?
I understand this is not a business related forum, but If I have to use my CA address for my employer purpose, payroll, taxes, etc... and still reside in Texas, is it illegal or any violation of tax laws(I understand it is foolish to pay CA state taxes when not required) Texas doesn’t have state tax for resident or nonresidents!!
Your domicile is your permanent home. There is no single factor that determines where your domicile is, but some of the factors will include your main place of employment, where your family is employed or goes to school, where you are registered to vote, and where you have significant legal and social connections, like your friends, your church, your doctor and dentist, your bowling league, and so on.
You only have one domicile at a time, no matter how many different homes you might live in.
You generally file a resident state tax return for the state you are domiciled in, that reports and pays income tax on your world-wide income, and you file a non-resident return if you are visiting or temporarily working in another state that only pays tax on that in-state income.
If you are temporarily living in Texas but your permanent home is in California, and you will be returning to California if and when your employer recalls you, then you are probably still domiciled in California and will be required to file and pay full CA income taxes. See this,
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2019/2019-1031-publication.pdf
Only you know the facts of your situation and whether you have truly changed your domicile to Texas. If you were a full year resident of California for 2019, and you claim you move out in 2020 and move back in in 2021, that might make you an audit target. But it always depends on the facts and circumstances. It's possible to move to another state with every intention of changing your domicile, only to have things not work out and you move back. You will have to be careful, though, if I am correct that you were domiciled in California pre-COVID.
