• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

State Taxes For Military

I

investmurr

Registered User
Was wondering how state taxes are handled since April 15th is slowly approaching. (I know check with my Tax professional). I have asked 3 pros and they seem confused. I am paying taxes on my LES to Missouri. Stationed @ NAS San Diego. Married and my wife pays Ca. state taxes. Do I pay Ca. and then get a refund from Mo. Accountants seem confused when I pose the question. Anybody got a clue? Will not hold anyone answer accountable but I do my own taxes and was just wondering how others handle this?
 
Taxes

So you can become a florida or tx. resident without being stationed there? Can a military person pick any state? sounds to me like all military personel should become fl or tx. residents.
 
MB is correct....but, unless your wife is military, she must pay taxes to the state where she works.

YOU should 'move' to a state which has no state income tax.
 
I was born in FL, but never came back, except to visit.

I became a FL resident the day I joined the Navy. There was a PN1 who was helping, suggested it, so I did it. He saved me thousands per year. (MA is 5.85%)
 
Just remember that when you decide to get out that the military is going to send you to where you are claiming as your home of record. So if you change to Florida, Nevada, Illinois, or any other state that doesn't take taxes from military that that is the place you are getting a plane ticket to when you get out. If it is saving money the whole time you are in, I think it is worth it. Guess that's why I changed mine to Nevada!
Plus it is free ticket to Vegas when I get out! :icon_zbee
 
According to my tax accountant, only your military pay is taxed in your home state of record, and your spouse will pay state tax on pay in the state in which it is earned.
 
Home of record and State of Residence are two different things. And you get to choose where the military moves you upon getting out, it wont automatically be to your listed HOR.
 
Because someone will ask about that free money, AK is one state you cannot claim residency in unless you PCS there or were from there to begin with.
 
skidkid said:
Home of record and State of Residence are two different things. And you get to choose where the military moves you upon getting out, it wont automatically be to your listed HOR.
Click to expand...
Good gouge; I just (well a year or so ago) changed my state of residence and hashed this out thoroughly with the JAG and PSD first. HOR does not change for officers. Enlisted can change it everytime they reenlist. It is the place from which you are considered to have joined the military. Once per career (for officers, don't know about enlisted) you can get a shipment sent to you from your home of record when you PCS. I used mine to get all my stuff out of my folks' house when I got my own place. Another guy I know is planning to use it to move his fiancee up here when they get married.

By claiming a state other than where you are stationed as your state of residence, you are in effect claiming that this is where you want to go to when you retire. Thus better to pay taxes there than the place you are stationed where you have no interest. Granted, you can go wherever you want when you DO retire or separate. But, as I understood what the JAG told me, claiming residence willy-nilly can have tax ramifications.

In other words, if you choose to continue listing your official residence based off of the apartment you rented for 5 months in A-pool, the state you switched from can call BS and come after you in court for back taxes. Technically. Thus, it is best from a legal standpoint to switch to a state where you either own property or have some history there through family, college affiliations, or other ways to make the case that you do indeed intend on going there when you leave the military. That said, I am not a lawyer. Caveat Emptor.
 
investmurr said:
So you can become a florida or tx. resident without being stationed there? Can a military person pick any state? sounds to me like all military personel should become fl or tx. residents.
Click to expand...

Since about month four of my being in the military I decided I inteneded to retire in Florida, and PSD changed my state residence. That was over ten years ago, things may be different now.
 
investmurr said:
sounds to me like all military personel should become fl or tx. residents.
Click to expand...

Something to think about - if you plan on separating and going back to school, it usually takes a year or two to establish residency in that state, otherwise you will pay horrendous out of state tuition rates, which is one reason why I kept CA residency (that and they don't charge income tax if you are assigned to a base outside of CA and I wanted to vote in CA elections)
 
If you are in the military and paying state income taxes to Missouri, you will get it all back if you file properly. You need to do the MO-1040 long form. Attach Form MO-NRI. When done correctly your Missouri income percentage should be 0% on the NRI which corresponds to item 26 on the 1040. This is all from my 2004 return, so line items might have changed. I have since changed to Florida and no longer worry about it. Obviously, I am no tax professional, but I did this for years before converting and got everything back. Make sure you include a copy of your LES.
 
While some states make it possible to get your $$ back...

I prefer NOT having to file. And having the money all year vice the 0% Govt Savings account.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top