topic Does my wife qualify for the military spouses residency relief act? Domicile = CA. In KS on orders. Spouse worked remotely for employer located in CA. in Tax help for military filers

Does my wife qualify for the military spouses residency relief act? Domicile = CA. In KS on orders. Spouse worked remotely for employer located in CA.

paulson2009 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 00:17:12 GMT

In order to qualify, you must both have the same resident...

BarbL — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 00:17:14 GMT

In order to qualify, you must both have the same resident state - your post wasn't quite clear on that. Under the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA), a military spouse may be exempt from filing and paying taxes to a non-resident state. In order to qualify for the exemption, all of the following must be true:

You are both legal residents of the same state;
You are serving in a non-resident state in compliance with military orders; and
Your spouse is residing in the same non-resident state solely to be with you.

The MSRRA exemption applies to wages, salaries, and self-employment income earned for services performed in the non-resident state. This income would instead be taxed by your home state.

If you are both California residents, the income she earned in Kansas is considered California income for tax purposes. (Even though the employer is based in California, her work was performed in Kansas, so it is treated as if she worked outside the state.)

The State of California grants non-resident status to military members and spouses when stationed out of state, and does not tax income earned while out of state on military orders. If you received unearned income (interest, dividends, etc.) or other California-source income (rental property, etc.), you will file a California return to report that income only.

Re: Does my wife qualify for the military spouses residency relief act? Domicile = CA. In KS on orders. Spouse worked remotely for employer located in CA.

maliachick — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 21:31:11 GMT

Does that change if they just got married, she is still in the non-resident state on the military members orders, but her legal resident state is different than his?

Re: Does my wife qualify for the military spouses residency relief act? Domicile = CA. In KS on orders. Spouse worked remotely for employer located in CA.

Critter — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 19:19:27 GMT

The MSRRA changed recently ... you no longer have to establish a residency in the military member's SLR to take the same resident state ... the moment you marry you can take the military member's SLR for the entire tax year. https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2019-news-articles/advocacy/FAQ--New-Military-Spouse-Residency-Rules/