Am I a resident of the state where I (a) work 4 days/week, (b) spend weekends with my husband (active duty military), or (c) vote, own home, & intend to return?

[Carl]

I would suggest you seek legal advice on this from the base legal office, since it's free for the two of you. We can't give defini9tive answers without specific details.
- Some states have requirements that must be met before you are considered a resident of that state for tax purposes.
- Some states have requirements that must be met before you are considered to no longer be a resident of that state.
- If you earn money in a state that taxes personal income, it doesn't matter if you are a resident or not. You pay taxes to that state on the money  you earned in that state. If a resident, you file a state resident return. If not a resident, then you file a state non-resident return.
 - If you live with your AD/MIL spouse in a state that taxes income, and you are ***NOT*** a resident of that state, and you are there for the primary reason that your spouse was sent there on official military orders on an accompanied tour, then the spouse who is a non-resident of that state can qualify for the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA) of that specific state, and potentially not have to pay any taxes to that state at all, while working in that state.
So call and make an appointment at the nearest base legal office. You have a dependent ID, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[needtaxhelp123]

Thanks for the good advice, Carl. I will scheduled an appointment with base legal.

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

Each state has its own laws, but generally speaking:

If you and your husband still own and maintain your permanent home to which you intend to return - your domicile in tax lingo - in State A, your income is entirely taxable by State A, regardless of where you earn it.  Your husband's military income may or may not be taxable by State A, depending on that state's laws regarding military pay.

State C will tax you as a non-resident (or possibly as a "statutory" resident, depending on how many days you lived there) on your earnings from working within State C.  But you may well have to pay taxes to State C as well as State A.  

If you never worked in State B, and your husband's only income in State B was his military pay, neither one of you will have a tax obligation to State B.

Your domicile will remain in State A until you establish a new domicile (permanent home) in another state.

We can give you more specifics if you identify States A and C.

[needtaxhelp123]

.

[Carl]

So you see how this can get complicated. That's why base legal will have an easier time of providing better clarity with a one-on-one face-to-face meeting.

[TomD8]

Since Alaska has no state income tax, it is a non-issue for this discussion.

If you maintained a place of residence in DC for 183 days or more during the tax year, DC considers you a part-year resident.  In that situation, you must file a DC tax return, and your income there is subject to DC income tax.

[needtaxhelp123]

Thanks, TomD8! Really appreciate it. Just to confirm: I can retain my AK domicile despite paying income tax in DC?

[TomD8]

Yes, you can.  The obligation to pay DC income tax does not constitute a change in domicile.  Your domicile is AK as long as you maintain your permanent home there.  Your domicile would only change if you left AK and moved your permanent home to another state.  You can only have one domicile at a time.
Non-domiciliary states can tax you on income from working within their borders, but that doesn't change your domicile.