I want to claim previous years state taxes back. It was claim as paid, but as per lastest tax return, the accountant said I am not a domicile of any state.

[ravgowda]

I am in India for last 8 years, but I paid NC state taxes, can I claim back last 8 years so for state taxes.

[NCperson]

@ravgowda 

first, you can't claim a refund more than 3 years back.  That is state law.  So only 2019, 2020 and 2021 is open for discussion.

how is it you are paying NC tax and filing a tax return if you have been in India for the past 8 years? can you please explain that? 

[ravgowda]

I stayed in India since 2012 as i was place in India as a expatriate from the company I worked for. Now I am retiring staying in India but as a US citizen .

[Opus 17]

You must pay state income tax if you are domiciled in that state.  Your domicile is your real permanent home.  There is no single factor that determines where your domicile is, it depends on a combination of all your facts and circumstances such as your home, business relationships, social relationships, church, doctor, voter and car registration, etc.  Changing domiciles requires both taking steps to establish a new domicile and taking active steps to abandon or leave your prior domicile.  It is possible to live away from home for a long time without actually changing your domicile.  

So the question you have to answer is, have you changed domiciles, and when did that actually happen? For example, if you maintain a home in North Carolina that you visit for a few weeks a year, and you keep your US voter registration active in North Carolina, then the state of North Carolina may view that you never abandoned your North Carolina domicile and are still required to pay North Carolina state income tax.  Or, the facts might show that you maintained a North Carolina domicile, intending to return, and only abandoned the domicile when you decided to remain in India after retirement.

If you determined that you were not domiciled in North Carolina for 2019, 2020, or 2021, you can file an amended state tax return to claim a refund of all your withheld taxes. You would file the amended return as a non-resident and report zero NC-sourced income.  Previous years are too old to amend. Also note that if you had North Carolina-source income, such as the sale of  property located in the state of North Carolina, you must report that as taxable income on a non-resident return. 

[ravgowda]

I like your answer. One more question regarding domicile .

- I changed my DL address to SD from NC 5 years ago

- I also got Summon from court in SD for jury in 2016

- I also have voters register in SD in 2016

- I also have DL and Tax doc form India since 2012 as expat.

- No investment in NC ( house etc ) since beginning that is 2012.

But my income was from a company located in NC for every as a expat. If Salary come from the company there, but my work was always in India as expat. 

Appreciate response .

Thank you again. 

Regards,

Rav

[Opus 17]

@ravgowda 

when you are a regular employee, your salary is deemed to be earned based on where you lived or physically were located when you performed the work, regardless of the location of the employer. For example, if you were required to return to your North Carolina employer for two weeks per year for training, those two weeks would be considered NC-source income and would be reported on an NC nonresident tax return, even though the majority of your income is not NC-source.

It sounds like you can prove you left your NC domicile in 2016.

If you file amended NC State tax returns, be prepared to prove that you abandoned your NC domicile prior to 2019 if asked.