My husband is military and is an IL resident. I am now a VA resident but was a CA resident for most of 2016. I have no income for 2016. Do I need to file a return for CA?

[kjohnsen81]

Do I need s return for VA? We filed our federal taxes married/ joint. Thanks

[PatriciaV · Accepted solution]

No. If you have no California income to report, you are not required to file a California State income tax return. Likewise, you would not file a Virginia State income tax return if you earned no income in that state.

However, you would file as a resident of Illinois, if that is your legal residency. Illinois allows you to exclude some military pay. TurboTax will ask you about this during state taxes interview.

From a tax standpoint, your State of Legal Residency (SLR) is considered your “domicile” or “resident” state as long as your spouse is on active duty. Even if your spouse is stationed in another state, you’re still considered a resident of your SLR.

The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA), signed in 2009, says that a nonmilitary spouse of a service member may be able to keep the same resident state of the military spouse regardless of which state they live in.