Part Time CA Resident

[Bosqque]

My son is considering moving to Washington temporarily for the balance of the 2024 calendar year.  He will be working in Washington, and may or may not return to CA at a later date.  If he does return, it will most likely be in CY 2025.  He will likely have worked approximately 7 months in CA and 5 in Washington by filing time.  Will he be responsible for any CA state income tax for his income earned in Washington for those last 5 months?

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

California's rule is that any individual who is a resident of California continues to be a resident when absent from the state for a temporary or transitory purpose.

California will consider him a resident until he both abandons his domicile in California and establishes a new domicile in another state.  See Change of Domicile on page 10 of this California tax publication for more details:

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2023/2023-1031-publication.pdf

Also see Leaving California on page 6 of the same reference.

California taxes its residents on all their income, regardless of where earned.

[Bosqque]

He will definitely be giving up his California residence and will be living for an undermined length of time with family in Washington.  It is likely but not certain that he will return to California at some point.  So, it seems that he easily meets the first two criteria, but it is the third bullet point below that seems to be the grey area.  Thoughts?

Change of Domicile
You can have only one domicile at a time. Once you
acquire a domicile, you retain that domicile until you
acquire another.
A change of domicile requires all of the following:
• Abandonment of your prior domicile.
• Physically moving to and residing in the new locality.
• Intent to remain in the new locality permanently or
indefinitely as demonstrated by your actions.

[TomD8]

(I edited my previous response)

The section Leaving California that I referenced previously may help you.

"As evidenced by his actions" would include such things as obtaining a driver's license, obtaining vehicle license plates, and registering to vote in the new state.  See Guidelines for Determining Residency on page 5 of the same reference for more examples.

[Bosqque]

That is very helpful.  Thank you so much for your response!