Tax Question for CA Resident Military Spouse

I'm currently active duty stationed in MD with my home of record being CA. As active duty, I don't pay state taxes but I will be a civilian in a mere 57 days. My wife is also active duty, so I'll soon be a military spouse.

My question is if I'm going to continue to be exempt from state taxes under the military spouse residency relief act (so long as we're not stationed in CA), or if I'm going to have to start paying state taxes again.

I've done some research but this shit is so confusing. Anyone who was already married, joined the military in CA, and moved away should be able to answer this based on whether or not their spouse has to pay taxes to CA. Thanks guys.

 

As a dependa you can claim either your your spouse’s home of record or the state you currently live/work in for tax purposes. Go with whichever gives you the better deal.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901516-military-spouses-and-state-taxes

 

^this

 

Lookup IRS publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide (2017)

 

Here’s a good link. Everything is covered here

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p3#en_US_2010_publink1000176229

 

If you keep reading it states this. My wifes state of residence is PA and I've never lived there, so I can't just claim PA as my state of residence. This is why I fucking hate taxes.

 

I also hate taxes. Something else we agree on.

Can you become a state resident of maryland? Which state has a worse state income tax, CA or MD?

Im also pretty sure there should be some type of income tax relief due to the fact the only reason you will be in MD is due to being a spouse.

 

Fuck if I know, but I don't wanna be a resident of MD. We're about to move to VA so maybe I'll claim residency there? I should have just changed my state of residency to FL while I was stationed there because there are no state taxes.

 

My bad, I guess I just assumed you’d both lived in CA at some point. You might be able to claim either CA or your current state of residence. Most larger bases will have a free tax center set up for the next couple months, they can probably answer the question.

 

Right. If you are moving to VA, go ahead and do that before you exit service. Virginia will allow you to claim unemployment when you ETS.

 

The way I understand it, I'll remain a CA resident because I won't be forced to change it under the MSRRA. I'm just curious if I'll have to start paying taxes again. I was in some pre separation financial counseling the other day and she mentioned I could be exempt which is what prompted the research. If I can't get a clear answer through TW I'll talk to the local tax office and see what they say.

I won't be moving to VA until after I'm already out.

 

Are you moving right across the bridge or more inland?

 

Which bridge? I'll be down in the Portsmouth/Chesapeake area. My wife will be doing her pediatric residency at the portsmouth naval hospital, and we'll be moving there end of May.

 

She got family in PA? Claim their house as residency, fly in, go to the DMV and get a license and register to vote? IDK

 

It gets even more confusing and convoluted Her family has left PA and moved to their condo in FL living up the retired life.

 

ok, I know 1 guy in Portsmouth. His recommendation to me. If you wanna be a cop and do work, that is the place for it. Its the wild west from how he tells it.

Now, looking at it objectively, that tells me not to live in Portsmouth lol.

 

Id have her also change her residency to VA

 

Yeah I'd rather not live there lol I feel like I might as well change my mobtown lettering on the bedside to "Steal the fuck outta me"

Right now she doesn't pay state taxes because military is exempt in PA. If she changed to VA she'd have to pay taxes, including the property tax that everyone in the nova thread loves to complain about haha

 

This is an interesting topic. After reading more I’m not sure now if you can even retain your CA residency after separating from the service and not returning to live in the state. The law and several articles I read make it look like you have the choice of residency in a state in which your spouse PCS’d (and you also lived) or the current state you live in. As a service member you were able to keep CA as your legal residence for tax purposes but I think you might lose that special protection once you become a civilian.

 

Buy a condo in PA? Idk man, I dont like paying personal property tax, But my income tax is far lower than other places. If you do the math, it really isn't that bad. But I dont like any tax, and have been known to complain about all tax.