Spouse of an active duty service member. Our domicile is CA. Got orders to HI. Stayed in HI for about 4yrs. I moved to TX, but not a resident of TX. How do I file?

[Carl]

TX doesn't tax personal income, so that's not the issue. Did you or your spouse have income in HI from a HI based employer in 2017? (military pay is not HI taxable income, any way you look at it.) Is this what you're asking about? Or did you the non-military spouse work for a TX based employer in 2017 and that's what you're asking about?

[yoopees]

Thanks Carl for the input! My spouse (non active) worked a civilian job in HI.

[Carl]

If you were there with the spouse for four years, I'm surprised you're not aware of what you're about to learn. This is from http://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/tir10-01.pdf
Nonresident Spouse of a Servicemember. A nonresident spouse of a servicemember
who is present in Hawaii solely to be with the servicemember serving in compliance with
military or naval orders is not a Hawaii resident and will be treated as a nonresident unless the
spouse establishes residence or domicile in Hawaii. A nonresident spouse of a servicemember is
subject to Hawaii income tax on his or her Hawaii-sourced income. However, if the nonresident
spouse satisfies the conditions prescribed under the SCRA (discussed in Part III of this TIR),
then the nonresident spouse’s income from services performed in Hawaii is not considered
Hawaii-sourced income and is not subject to Hawaii income tax or Hawaii withholding. If the
nonresident spouse does not satisfy the conditions prescribed under the SCRA, then the
nonresident spouse’s income from services performed in Hawaii is Hawaii-sourced income and
is subject to Hawaii income tax and Hawaii withholding. A nonresident spouse with Hawaiisourced
income is required to file Form N-15. A nonresident spouse with no Hawaii-sourced
income is not required to file a Hawaii income tax return.

[Carl]

The requirements in PART III are:
1. The servicemember (as defined in 10 U.S.C. §101(a)(5)) is present in Hawaii solely in
compliance with military or naval orders;
2. The spouse is in Hawaii solely to be with the servicemember; and
3. The spouse and servicemember are domiciled in the same state and that state is not
Hawaii.
The requirements are met in your case. So were taxes withheld on the non-military spouses income by the state of HI?

[yoopees]

Awesome! Yeah, I let her take all the taxes and such to the tax center on base and just let them do the work. Since, Im not with her in TX, shes trying to file on her own. Shes going to school in TX, but both our domicile is CA.

[Carl]

Also,read part IX for how to get the withheld taxes refunded from the state.
IX. HOW TO FILE FOR A REFUND OF HAWAII INCOME TAX WITHHELD

[Carl]

I doubt the temp hire legal beagles in the TX legal office for the tax season are trained on HI state taxes. You may want to consider letting the HI office do it, assuming you're still in HI.

[yoopees]

yeah no im currently way out, and shes in tx trying to file

[Carl]

There's no reason she can't do it herself and complete the HI state N-15 tax return. Only thing is, she can't e-file it if she wants all that money back. She has to print, sign and mail it to the state and include copies of all the supporting documents called for in PART IX of the Hawaii State MSSRA. So weather she does it, or someone else does it, it still has to be mailed.