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Work & live/rent in WA; but keep OR bank, drivers license & voter registration @ parents' permanent address. Must I file OR state NR tax return?

Washington has sales tax but no income tax. Oregon has income tax but no sales tax. Work full time and full year in Washington. Live in rented apartment in Washington. Parents' house is in Oregon, which I use as my legal address: drivers license, vehicle registration, voter registration, Federal tax return address.

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GeoffreyG
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Work & live/rent in WA; but keep OR bank, drivers license & voter registration @ parents' permanent address. Must I file OR state NR tax return?

The answer to your question is that, of course, you are free to do as you like, and not file any Oregon tax return if you don't want to.  But that wouldn't be legal; and the Oregon Department of Revenue is known to be pretty strict when it comes to residency issues, and for taxing Oregon taxpayers who attempt to leave Oregon's taxing jurisdiction -- but don't really leave Oregon.

It seems fairly clear (and it would be to an Oregon state income tax auditor) that you haven't completely "abandoned" your Oregon legal "domicile" in favor of a complete move to Washington state . . .  because you still have an Oregon drivers license, vehicle registration, voter registration, etc., and you use your parent's address to receive at least some official mail.

Yes, it's true that you may indeed be physically living and working in Washington state on a full-time basis; but the tax laws would still consider you an Oregon resident living "temporarily" in Washington (where temporary can mean anywhere from several months to an indefinite period of years).  The correct Oregon tax form that you really should be filing is Form 40 (full-year Oregon resident), and not Oregon Form 40N (nonresident).

You can read more on Oregon residency (domicile) rules yourself, as they apply to state income taxation, on Pages 14 through 16 of the (2016) Oregon Publication 17.  A courtesy link to that document is provided for you here:

https://www.oregon.gov/DOR/forms/FormsPubs/publication-or-17_101-431_2016.pdf


In the future, if you truly wish to rid yourself of the burden of Oregon income taxation, you would be well-advised to take all of the necessary steps of transferring your legal documentation, licenses, registrations, bank accounts, etc. over to Washington state, in addition to physically living there on a full-time basis.

In conclusion, we are sorry if this answer is informing you of something other than what you may have hoped to hear.  But at least now you know the facts, as far as taxation by the state of Oregon is concerned.

Thank you for asking this important question.

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