Can you keep your residence? Maybe. Should you keep your residence? Maybe not.
You have one domicile. This is the technical name for your permanent residence, your tax home. There is no single factor that determines where your domicile is located, it depends on all facts and circumstances. Some things to consider are, where you live, where are you registered to vote, where you register your car and drivers license, the location of your doctor and dentist, the location of your church and other social relationships, and so on.
Additionally, when you change your domicile, you must not only take steps to establish a new domicile, but you must take affirmative steps to abandon your previous domicile.
Domicile is largely a manner of intention. What do you intend to be your real and permanent home? It is possible to live away from your domicile for a long time without actually changing your domicile. So it is possible that your transfer to Georgia could be considered temporary, and you could consider South Carolina to be your real domicile, even if you are in Georgia for a long time.
However, there are legal and tax considerations you have to keep in mind. Legally, you might be required to register your car and get a drivers license in Georgia if you are in the state more than a certain number of days, even if you intend your stay to be long-term but temporary. (I don’t believe you can be required to change your voter registration, but if you do register to vote in Georgia, that will undermine the argument that you are still legally domiciled in South Carolina.)
For taxes, you owe a state income tax to the state where you are domiciled, your permanent residence, that reports and pays income tax on all your worldwide income. Then, if you are physically living and working in another state, you also owe that state a nonresident tax return that pays tax on the income you earn in that state. Your home state should give you a credit for taxes paid to another state, which will reduce double taxation, but it may not completely limit double taxation and you will have to file to state tax returns. Depending on how long you stay in Georgia, they may consider you a full year resident taxpayer even if you don’t plan to change your domicile, and you would again be required to file two full tax returns.
So, while you can possibly move to Georgia for several years and still consider yourself a permanent resident domiciled in South Carolina, this may not be wise from a state income tax point of you. You may want to get more customized local advice from your own tax professional.
