Keeping a US Home Base

[skatewash]

The best way to avoid voting and state income tax problems is to move to a state without state income tax (i.e., Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming) before leaving the US to live overseas. For example, if you want to live overseas and you live in Maryland (a state with state income tax) you could move to Florida (a state without a state income tax) and establish residence there (sign a lease, file a declaration of domicile with the county courthouse, get a driver's license, register your vehicle, register to vote, open a bank account, get a library card, etc.). Then sever all ties with Maryland (you cancel your MD driver's license when you obtain one in FL, you send your car license plates back to MD when you register your car in FL, you cancel your MD voter registration when you register to vote in FL, when you open bank accounts in FL you can close those in MD, cancel any library cards in MD, etc.) Establish ties with the new state (that has no state income tax), sever ties with the old state (that has state income tax). File a part-year state income tax return with MD. At this point you're done dealing with MD.

Voting is very important to me. I have never missed a vote for which I was eligible. I vote in all elections federal, state, and local, for which Florida will send me an absentee ballot by email. I return my absentee ballot by fax (although this year I may also be able to do it online). I have no worries that MD will pursue me for state income tax as MD is no longer my tax domicile, FL is. MD can claim that I have tax domicile in MD, but they would have an exceedingly weak case (I can't think of a single thing that ties me to MD or I would have gotten rid of it).

If you unfortunately left the states to live overseas while you had a tax domicile in a state with a state income tax then you are in a different situation. You do need to be concerned about the implications of voting. I went through the process outlined above just to be in a position where I would not have to worry about that. I do understand that not everyone is in a position to completely sever ties with their former state with a state income tax, for example if you continue to own real estate in that state, but if you can there are nice tax and voting benefits to doing so.

Even if your US tax domicile is in a state with state income tax you are still entitled, as taxout pointed out above, to vote in federal elections from that state without fear that solely by doing so you will be liable to pay state income taxes to that state. However, if you have other ties to that state (beyond merely voting in a federal election from that state) then it is possible that the act of voting could be used to reinforce your existing ties to that state.

Here's some advice on how to lessen the chance of that happening (https://vhd.overseasvotefoundation.org/index.php?/ovf/Knowledgebase/Article/View/574/10/can-you-tell-me-about-voting-from-overseas-and-taxes-in-more-legal-terms)

UOCAVA [Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act] provides as follows on the question of the effect of voting on tax liability: The exercise of any right under this title shall not affect, for purposes of any Federal, State, or local tax, the residence or domicile of a person exercising such right.

... Under Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution (commonly called the Supremacy Clause), a Federal statute (like UOCAVA) supersedes and overrides a conflicting state statute or state constitution.

If you vote FOR FEDERAL OFFICES under UOCAVA, it is unlawful for State A to use the fact of voting to establish your liability for the state income tax. On the other hand, if you were to vote a FULL ballot (including state and local offices), it would be arguably permissible for State A to use the fact of voting as evidence of your liability for the state income tax.

I suggest that when you apply for an absentee ballot, you should make clear that you are only eligible to vote and only wish to vote for Federal offices, and request that the election official send you a ballot that is limited to Federal offices. If the official nonetheless sends you a full ballot, you should only mark it for Federal offices. Then, you should send the official a separate letter, in a separate envelope, and point out that you had requested a ballot that was limited to Federal offices and that you only marked your ballot for Federal offices. (Do not include this letter in the same envelope with your marked absentee ballot, because notes accompanying absentee ballots are generally neither read nor preserved.) Keep a copy of the absentee ballot request and the letter, just in case.

I have not found a report of someone being held liable for state income taxes solely on the basis of having voted in a federal, state, or local election, without any other ties whatsoever to the state. Whether you think it is worthwhile to vote under those circumstances is up to you. Depends on your tolerance of risk and how important your right to vote is to you.

[taxout]

My state always has an option for a "Federal only" ballot. I believe I've seen somewhere a rule that if a state doesn't offer a "Federal only" ballot, then they can't use your voting for Federal and state offices as evidence you're a resident for state tax purposes. But that's a recollection, and I'll leave it to others to track it down if it's an important point to them.

[IMA_FARANG]

O.K. But i left the U.S. in 1966 when the Army sent me to Vietnam....and so far i haven't returned there to live since that time.

I ;m now 70years old.....and i don't expect to be going back there before i die except for perhaps a short visit yearly to see what is left of my family.

Never permanently.

[GinBoy2]

I think that the issue is that all States are different. They interpret what is a 'resident' quite liberally when it comes to determining if they deserve a tax income from you.

Probably voting alone isn't a problem.

But, at least in California, a D/L renewal, worst still a vehicle registration most certainly constitutes a 'resident'

And, the trouble is not now, in all cases, more if you ever decide to return, that's when those pesky missing years can become an issue

Edited July 1, 2016 by GinBoy2