Husband and I are California residents, stationed in Texas. Do I put Texas as state of residence since we lived in Texas even though we are California residents on LES?

[Anonymous]

We are permanent residents of California. We have been living in Texas for the last three years on military orders. When I put California as my state of residency it asks me if I lived in another state, which we have, Texas. But it says "previous state of residence (where you lived before moving). We have been here for three years, so there was no moving.  It wont let me put California twice, and "the date you became a resident of California" is before 1/1/17 so it wont let me input that either. We came from California to Texas in 2014. We lived in Texas all of 2017. Still California residents. How do I proceed?

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

You are California residents.  Since you are stationed in California, you are not considered to live in Texas.  For Active Duty Armed Forces members and their Military Spouses covered by MSRRA (which is your case), you are only taxed by your SLR, which is California.  You must answer no to the questions if you lived in another state other than California or if you worked in another state other than Californai.  Good news is that California no longer taxes Active Duty income for the Military Members stationed outside of California.  However, the non-Active Duty income of the spouse is still taxed by California.

As a tax strategy going forward, you can try to see how to establish Texas as your SLR while you are stationed there.  If you are able to do so, then neither will be taxed on income if you are stationed in other states because Texas has no state income tax at all.  You do have to have a justifiable reason to change your SLR, but it can be applied for by using DD Form 2058.  Here is an FAQ with more informaiton:  https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3302301 

[ovillarreal]

My situation is the opposite.  I'm a resident of Texas.  Am I required to pay California taxes?

[DanaB27]

No, if you are active-duty military and are only stationed in California then you do not have to pay California income tax as long as you do not have any other California income (for example from a part-time job).

Please see Civilian pay earned by active-duty military for additional information.

Please ensure that you enter Texas for the State you live in under the "My Info" section:

1. Login to your TurboTax Account 
2. Click "My Info" from the left side of your screen
3. Click “Edit” next to your name
4. Please scroll down to “2. Tell us the state(s) you lived in” 

@ovillarreal