South Dakota law change (2023): legal full-time-traveler resident of SD cannot pay into unemployment from fully remote job in GA

[amandawraymond]

I am a legal resident of South Dakota since Oct 2022. South Dakota caters to full-time travelers and allows them to declare SD as their domicile with a few requirements, all of which I meet. Part of the relevant situation is that thousands of full-time-travelers legally domiciled in SD use Personal Mailbox addresses as their primary address. I have such type of address and I travel around America in my RV 100% of the year. My problem started in 2023 when SD updated their laws (see: 61-1-3. Employing unit defined   ; 61-1-26. Service within and without state included--Base of operations or residence as basis for cov... ; 61-1-27. Service considered within state--Services in more than one state. ) to not allow out-of-state employers to pay into SD unemployment for their SD employees. 

This has caused quite a pickle for me to navigate. My employer informed me that it is not possible to differentiate between unemployment tax and state income tax; therefore, my employer wants me to fill out a G-4 tax for Georgia Withholdings and to pay back taxes to the state of GA for the entirety of 2023 (~$10,000). 

My main questions are:
1) Do I have to fill out this G-4 tax form, and if so, what address do I put as my "Home Address" in the form box 2a since I am not a resident of Georgia?
2) If I fill out the G-4 tax form, does that make me a Georgia resident? and how does that affect the legality of my RV registration and driver's license in SD?


any help would greatly be appreciated!

[tagteam]

@DoninGA may have some insight on this. Otherwise, you probably going to have to contact Support.

How do I contact TurboTax? (intuit.com)

[DoninGA]

If you are working in Georgia with a Georgia employer then you are required to provide the employer a Form G-4 for state tax withholding.  Completing the G-4 does not make you a Georgia resident.

If you lived in Georgia for 183 days or more in continuous 12 month period then you are a Georgia resident for tax purposes.  You are required to file a Georgia state tax return for income received while working and living in Georgia, either part-year, full year or nonresident.

[amandawraymond]

Thank you for your quick response! I am new to all of this and trying to fully understand your response, so apologize if any of this is redundant

To be clear, I did not live in GA while working for GA based company.
1. So would that make me a non-resident for tax purposes and would that mean I need to fill out another Tax form for nonresident, in addition to the G-4 form? 

2. If I do fill out the G-4 form - What address should I use on my G-4 Form? My South Dakota address? 

3. My understanding is that Georgia is not a state listed to enforce the "convenience rules" for remote employees. So does that mean Georgia might refund me my withholdings for state income tax when I file my taxes for 2023 since I am not a resident?

[DoninGA]

If you are working remoting for a Georgia employer then you have Georgia Sourced income and a GA state return is required.  You would file as a nonresident only reporting your GA income and the GA taxes withheld on that income.

Since SD does not have a personal income tax you cannot get a credit for the GA state income taxes paid..

[DoninGA]

The way I am reading your post seems to be that you never completed a G-4 for tax year 2023.  If that is the case then you need to pay GA estimated taxes on or before January 16, 2024.  Or you can wait and file the 2023 state return and pay the taxes with the return and any underpayment penalties assessed on the return.

Go to this Georgia website to initiate a state estimated tax payment - https://georgia.gov/pay-estimated-tax

If you are going to continue to work for this Georgia employer then you should complete a G-4 starting now for tax year 2024.

[amandawraymond]

Thank you so much for your expertise and time!

Yes, you are correct that my company (who files my withholdings) did not have me fill out withholdings form for the state of GA for the year 2023 (a G-4 form) because they were under the assumption I could pay my payroll taxes to South Dakota. What they learned is that SD changed their laws in 2023 and was no longer accepting payroll taxes from remote workers who did not have a physical South Dakota address where they performed the work for out-of-state employers.

Okay, so as I understand it I need to pay back-taxes to GA asap via the link you provided: https://georgia.gov/pay-estimated-tax before Jan 16th, 2024.
I am reading the details listed on that webpage and I am still a bit confused about the process or next steps. If I were to pay estimated taxes due electronically to GA -> I would still need to file my taxes for the year of 2023 before April 18th, 2024 through TurboTax like I do every year and somehow account for the already paid GA state taxes for the year of 2023?

thank you again for your time!

[DoninGA]

Yes, you will need to file the GA return on or before April 15, 2024.

If you pay the 2023 GA estimated taxes then you will report that amount of estimated taxes paid on the GA state tax return.

If you will be using the GA-4 for 2024 you do put your South Dakota address on the form

On TurboTax return -

To enter, edit or delete estimated taxes paid (Federal, State, Local) -

Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
Click on Deductions and Credits
Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
Scroll down to Estimates and Other Taxes Paid
On Estimates, click on the start or update button

Or enter estimates paid in the Search box located in the upper right of the online program screen. Click on Jump to estimates paid