Should I consider myself a Washington resident and a part-year resident, a full-year Oregon resident, or a full-year Washington resident for tax purposes?

[jeff520502]

I started my freshman year (2018)  in Washington and hold a Washington license before I moved overseas during my sophomore year (2020), but I'm an F-1 international student and just became a resident for tax purposes in 2022. I'm pretty sure because the payroll specialist at U of Oregon ran the test for me.

I moved back to Oregon in Sep 2021 from overseas for my senior year in college and moved out in June 2022 to Washington for my paid internship. I then moved to California for school in Sep 2022 with the intention to move back and reside in Washington in June 2023 potentially for at least a couple of years.

Should I report myself as a Washinton resident and a part-year Oregon resident for tax purposes in 2022, a full-year Oregon resident, or a full-year Washinton resident? I am not registered to vote in any state and do not have a home in any state.

My internship was in Washington, and the income I earned during the internship is over the standard deduction. My state of residency will matter a little bit because I'm not sure whether I should pay Oregon income tax out of my income earned during the Washington internship. 

[ErnieS0]

Your filing status depends on a lot of things. I’m not sure you ever abandoned your Oregon residency if you moved to Washington for a limited-duration internship and then went to school in California.

On the other hand, if you were a student in both Washington and Oregon pre-2022, you didn’t establish permanent residency in either of those states.

If you “do not have a home in any state” and are not a dependent, then your home is probably the place you are living, meaning you were a part-year resident of Oregon, Washington, and California.

Your intent to return to Washington doesn’t hold much weight if you never took any steps to establish any permanent roots there and the fact that you don’t plan on returning to Oregon suggests you left that state. However, you must also “land” in a new state, which you haven’t done.

My read, based on the limited facts you present is that you are a part-year resident of Oregon, Washington, and California.

[jeff520502]

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Your answers are really helpful for me to have something to start with. 

To provide more detail for some of the ambiguity:

1.

I rented an apartment and went to an Oregon college in 2022 for 5.5 months before moving to Washington. I think I have abandoned my Oregon residency, but I'm not sure. I ended my rental lease in Oregon, rented an Airbnb for two months in WA, and filled up a new W-4 during my internship to declare myself a Washington resident  (these were the all and only actions that I took) because I did not plan to return to Oregon ever, which still holds true.

2.

I have been holding a Washington state driver's license since 2019 and did not get any other because I hadn't been driving. Nonetheless, your description seems more appropriate because besides getting a WA driver's license, I did not take any action to establish residency in any state prior to 2022. I had my mailing addresses for banks and etc to be the places of my rental (2018-2019 Washington for 15 months, 2020 Oregon for 3 months), but all I was doing is going to school, so I'm not sure if that matters at all. Nobody can claim me as a dependent either because I'm in the US alone.

3. You are correct about the fact that I haven't taken any action to establish my WA residency. I signed a job offer with a Washington employer that will start in June 2023. All the other logistics such as W-4, insurance, etc haven't been brought to my attention by my employee.

4. I should probably stress that I did not earn any income in California.

I hope the 3 points above help clarify my situation a little bit. I think for now I'll try to go to the live tax advice and see what they think for a final confirmation, but I think it would be most appropriate to file as a part-year resident in all 3 states as you mention if I don't receive any further information.

Once again, your answer is really appreciated! 

[ErnieS0]

Based on your facts, you are probably a tax “transient” with no permanent home.

File a part-year resident return for Oregon. Washington has no state income tax, and you did not earn any money in California.

In the most technical sense, you are probably still a resident of your home country, since you moved to Oregon to attend college. The IRS considers attending University to be a temporary absence from your permanent residence.

However, those types of residency issues only come when someone moves back to a state after a period of time and the state wants to tax income in the period of absence or the taxpayer maintains a presence in the state. For example, a couple may sell their Oregon home, buy an RV and live in mobile home parks while keeping permanent possession in their child's home where they stay in-between trips.

In your case, it's fine to file a part-year Oregon return rather than a nonresident return.