Part time residency

[David44]

I earned my retirement income in Arizona, I live in Washington 7 months out of the year, can I take advantage of the tax friendly laws on my pension in Washington for 7 months out of the year?

David

[Critter]

You will pay taxes to your resident state ... so where is that ?  Which state is your DL in ?  Where do you vote ?  Where is your residence homesteaded ? 

[David44]

Primary residence in Arizona 5 months of year. 2nd residence in state of Washington. I haven8

haven't voted in 2 years but last one in Arizona. 

[Anonymous]

are you sure Arizona is your primary residence?

see this thread

https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/primary-residence/

in effect it's stating that residency is determined by many factors.    time spent in each location is just one.

I'm not saying you are a resident of Arizona or Washington.

Nor am I saying your a part year resident of each.

state laws as to residency are complicated and differ from state to state.  Beside the tax codes there are numerous court cases dealing with residency.   

California and Nevada actually fought each other in court as to the residency of a deceased billionaire named Howard Hughes. 

if you have a state taxable estate ( laws completely different from federal) you should take steps to establish residency in one state or the other.   you don't need to register  to vote.  things like getting a state ID.  establishing a primary mailing address.      

[Critter]

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@David44 wrote:

I earned my retirement income in Arizona, I live in Washington 7 months out of the year, can I take advantage of the tax friendly laws on my pension in Washington for 7 months out of the year?

David

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 Well you cannot just pick and choose which state to file on what income ... as mentioned below you must figure out which is your primary resident state.   If your personal residence in AZ is homesteaded and your DL is still AZ then AZ will expect a resident return with all your annual income on it ...  you cannot just file a part year or non resident return to avoid income taxes ... the state will not let that fly.    Now an option is to change residencies ... if you change your homestead exemption to WA along with your DL & Voter's registration then you could avoid filing an AZ return all together  since you will not have earned any AZ sourced income if you just snow bird to get out of the cold and you spend less than 1/2 the year there.   This comes with tax consequences  when you go to sell the AZ residence so you must think hard on this situation .... of course if you rent in both places that will not be an issue.   You may want to discuss this with someone local in AZ to determine your best options. 

[Rainman12]

I suggest filing a Part-Year AZ return would be the most accurate and verifiable solution. Bank records (checks, charges) can indicate physical presence- which is the primary factor in which location a retiree owes taxes. As for the 'main home' exemption mentioned, I believe that's 24 of 60 months prior to sale. NB: As a VITA volunteer in AZ, I've noticed most 'snowbirds' simply pick the lowest tax option, and have seldom seen problems arising from AZ DOR. AZ LE may be an issue if your plates and DL don't match, though ...

[TomD8]

This web reference describes in detail how Arizona determines residency:

https://azdor.gov/sites/default/files/PROCEDURES_INDIV_1992_itp92-

Note in particular that if your domicile or main home is in AZ, it is presumed to remain so unless you change it, and note that such a change change involves an "intent to abandon" the former residence.  A taxpayer can have only one domicile at a time.

If you are determined to be a legal resident of AZ, all your pension is taxable by AZ.

Also note the rule that "Any individual who is a resident of Arizona continues to be a resident even though temporarily absent from Arizona."

[Rainman12]

Tom, from your cite: "Every individual who spends, in the aggregate, more than nine months of
the taxable year within Arizona is presumed to be a resident."  He doesn't. 

"Hier stehe Ich, Ich kann nich Anderes" ...

[TomD8]

@Rainman12   “An individual who is DOMICILED in Arizona continues to be a resident even though temporarily absent from the state.”

I think the taxpayer - if questioned - will have to convince AZ  that he is no longer domiciled in AZ.  In other words, that he has literally moved to Washington.