I own my house in a state that I am not a resident of. Does anyone know if I can be considered exempt for paying my property taxes under the SCRA Service Members Relief Act, Chptr 511???? Note: You may want to copy this to a word document to read it better.
Sec. 511. RESIDENCE FOR TAX PURPOSES. (a) RESIDENCE OR DOMICILE- A servicemember shall neither lose nor acquire a residence or domicile for purposes of taxation with respect to the person, personal property, or income of the servicemember by reason of being absent or present in any tax jurisdiction of the United States solely in compliance with military orders. (b) MILITARY SERVICE COMPENSATION- Compensation of a servicemember for military service shall not be deemed to be income for services performed or from sources within a tax jurisdiction of the United States if the servicemember is not a resident or domiciliary of the jurisdiction in which the servicemember is serving in compliance with military orders. (c) PERSONAL PROPERTY- (1) RELIEF FROM PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES- The personal property of a servicemember shall not be deemed to be located or present in, or to have a situs for taxation in, the tax jurisdiction in which the servicemember is serving in compliance with military orders. (2) EXCEPTION FOR PROPERTY WITHIN MEMBER'S DOMICILE OR RESIDENCE- This subsection applies to personal property or its use within any tax jurisdiction other than the servicemember's domicile or residence. (3) EXCEPTION FOR PROPERTY USED IN TRADE OR BUSINESS- This section does not prevent taxation by a tax jurisdiction with respect to personal property used in or arising from a trade or business, if it has jurisdiction. (4) RELATIONSHIP TO LAW OF STATE OF DOMICILE- Eligibility for relief from personal property taxes under this subsection is not contingent on whether or not such taxes are paid to the State of domicile. (d) INCREASE OF TAX LIABILITY- A tax jurisdiction may not use the military compensation of a nonresident servicemember to increase the tax liability imposed on other income earned by the nonresident servicemember or spouse subject to tax by the jurisdiction. (e) FEDERAL INDIAN RESERVATIONS- An Indian servicemember whose legal residence or domicile is a Federal Indian reservation shall be taxed by the laws applicable to Federal Indian reservations and not the State where the reservation is located. (f) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this section: (1) PERSONAL PROPERTY- The term `personal property' means intangible and tangible property (including motor vehicles). (2) TAXATION- The term `taxation' includes licenses, fees, or excises imposed with respect to motor vehicles and their use, if the license, fee, or excise is paid by the servicemember in the servicemember's State of domicile or residence. (3) TAX JURISDICTION- The term `tax jurisdiction' means a State or a political subdivision of a State.
Your reference does not mention real estate taxes as far as I could see (personal property is different than real property), and I have never heard of anyone being exempt from real estate taxes by being in the military.
Some states may give you a break by allowing you to claim homestead exemption even though you are not a resident, but then again some states may not.
If your active duty military, you are not necessarily a resident of the state you live in. But if you own property in the state you are required to pay taxes on the property regardless of whether you are a resident or not.
Originally posted by Tonys_hag: When you own a home in whatever state, you become a resident and pay RE tax.
Half right. You don't necessarily become a resident just by owning a home, sometimes not even if you claim that home as your primary residence for homestead exemption. For example I did not become a MI resident when I bought a house in Cheboygan, even though I was claiming homestead exemption. I paid no MI state income tax, I did not vote in MI, I did not have a MI drivers license or vehicle registrations. I did have to have my boats registered in MI, they were not covered.
An example of the purpose and benefit of the personal property tax break is car license plates. Many, probably most, states charge an annual personal property tax as part of the registration fee. Out of state military that have vehicles registered in-state can get a tax break and get cheaper tags. Sometimes it takes a form letter from the admin department.
As for the vehicle excise tax...I've got that taken care of with a letter from the command.
I own my home but am not a resident here. I even filled a tax form to the state of MA stating that I reside due to military order, but claim no residency. The state excepted it, and I don't worry about filing state (MA) taxes. My tax man was blown away and couldn't figure it out until he discussed it with his fellow tax people.
As you can see in this thread, it's a little bit confusing since our tax codes are not user friendly. With that said, for that and only that reason, I prefer paying a professional (CPA) to do my taxes every year. I get presented w/ the different options I have based on the tax codes. I am not advised, just presented w/ the options. I make my own decisions, but they are educated decision. Do yourself a favor, get a CPA to do your taxes and in the long wrong you will save lots of $.
Is that the supervisory inventory management specialist or the social worker? Even though the Daytona VA clinic is about half the drive to work as now, I don't think going down from GS-13 to GS-9 is a good career move.
Besides, I'm looking forward to unemployment, possibly next year. Then I'm going to become a reservist and work 3-6 months a year, depending on how much money I need.
When I leave the job (whenever I can afford to leave this job) I wouldn't mind a part-time job up there.
town and state tax at closing.
