I'm married but relocating to WY for work. My husband will continue to live in MT. Can I become a WY resident even if I'm married?

[SweetieJean]

Yes, spouses can be residents of different states.  But is the WY job a temporary assignment?

[hoopsnpins]

No, it is a permanent position.  I will be purchasing a home and licensing my vehicle.  Should I get a PO Box to establish residency until I find a home to purchase? Or I guess I should say, does a PO Box establish residency?

[SweetieJean]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://retirewire.com/establishing-residency-income-tax/">https://retirewire.com/establishing-resid...>

[Carl]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://wyomingregisteredagent.com/residency.htm">https://wyomingregisteredagent.com/residency.htm</...>

[Hal_Al]

That's tricky.  Not only CAN you be a WY resident; you MUST be a WY resident, for tax purposes, under certain circumstances. If the job is expected to last more than a year and you have WY residence, most states would consider you to be a WY resident for tax purposes.
That's the usual rule for state income tax. What makes your situation tricky is that WY doesn't have an income tax. MT can and may take the attitude that you are still a MT resident for tax purposes, since you maintain a home there that you regularly return to.

[hoopsnpins]

I know.  That's why I'm not sure how to go about this whole thing.  I will be purchasing a home, registering my vehicle, registering to vote, etc in WY.  I will only be returning to MT occasionally for holidays.  Just not sure how to prove that.

[hoopsnpins]

WY residency is a big thing for Game and Fish.  I'm not concerned with that.  I just don't want to pay state tax if I don't have to.  I'm expecting to have to file in MT this year since I probably won't have a house purchased until towards the end of the year.  But I'd like to be set up before 2018.  I'm having a hard time finding an accountant that has a clue.

[Carl]

Actually, I think the bigger concern is not when you *are* a WY resident, But when you are *not* a Montana resident any longer.

[hoopsnpins]

I tried to find info on that and all I could find was when you establish residency in another state by registering to vote, registering your vehicle, establishing a home.  I feel like it's the chicken and egg issue 🙂

[SweetieJean]

Do you and Hubby own a home on Montana?

[hoopsnpins]

Yes, we own a home in MT.  No mortgage.  We own the property in both our names. The house in WY would be in both of our names as well as we would have a mortgage on that one, at least for a couple of years.

[SweetieJean · Accepted solution]

Take a look at this and its links:

http://www.mtrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?RN=42.15.109

[hoopsnpins]

I need to go get my law degree 🙂  I did print it out and the links it took me to as I read through it.  Thank you!