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Officially Work and Reside in one state, but physically be in another.

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StardustBeyond

Junior Member
Details:
Work in TX officially -- [My 'office' and address in TX, but my type of work allows me physically to be anywhere, even a Starbucks, in any part of the world]
Reside in TX officially -- [My home address remains the same as i continue to possess my current residence]

I would be spending my time traversing the States, however, i may choose to stay for a time by staying in some corporate housing development or hotel in some places, but would never change my personal info to relate to the varying states as i will continue to move about.

Will this cause my to have to file some crazy complicated tax forms, or since i am officially doing everything from my home state maybe things remain as they always would have been?

A simple example on this is: what if Person flies from NY to LA, resides in NY, but is working from laptop on the plane, do they suddenly have to file taxes in every state crossed over because they physically 'worked' in them, and furthermore, when they land in LA, and go to a hotel, and work for a bit from the laptop, should they really have to file in that state as well?

The example is pretty much the same, however, i might personally sit in a hotel or other temporary housing for a few months before moving to my next destination.

I think i covered the matter thoroughly enough for some well informed feedback, but if more information is beneficial, i can do my best to provide.

Thanks in advance.
 


davew128

Senior Member
You would have to report income earned in each state you did work in physically subject to any de minimus laws each state might have for non-resident workers.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
You have not presented enough information, to answer the question with certainty. What kind of work are you doing? How long are you going to be staying in these hotels or exec apartments? If you are in a particular state long enough to establish residency for tax purposes, you will be required to pay apportioned taxes there. On the other hand, if you are just traveling and working on the way through or there briefly, you should not. Consider truck drivers, who travel through all states.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
You have not presented enough information, to answer the question with certainty. What kind of work are you doing? How long are you going to be staying in these hotels or exec apartments? If you are in a particular state long enough to establish residency for tax purposes, you will be required to pay apportioned taxes there. On the other hand, if you are just traveling and working on the way through or there briefly, you should not. Consider truck drivers, who travel through all states.
That is not entirely accurate and not entirely inaccurate...and neither is the previous response.

We honestly need to know exactly what it is he is doing and where.

I will give you a couple of examples...

A professional sporting figure (baseball, basketball, football etc) must pay state tax for every game he plays in that state. A construction worker who is based in OH but spends a couple of months on a project in KY, will have to pay KY state tax on the work done in KY. A truck driver who is passing through a state making the occasional delivery does not fall in that catagory. Neither does a sales rep who makes occasional visits to customers in other states.
 

davew128

Senior Member
Excuse me? My response was 100% correct. I'll also point out that a professional athlete playing out of state only has to pay in that state if there isn't a de minimus for time spent working in that state and yes there are states that have such laws.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Excuse me? My response was 100% correct. I'll also point out that a professional athlete playing out of state only has to pay in that state if there isn't a de minimus for time spent working in that state and yes there are states that have such laws.
You were not wrong...sorry about that, but you were so brief that it wasn't very likely that the OP would have understood.
 

StardustBeyond

Junior Member
Basically whenever i open up my computer and do a little work. I just manage basic account and support type stuff for clients of the company i work for. I can pretty much work at will, but do not want to risk having to pay like 80% of my yearly earnings in taxes to 15 different states or something nutty like that.

Some places i may want to stick around for several months though if possible. Like Colorado, Oregon, Washington for example. I may return home in between as well.

Quick reply as i have no time, hope this is enough more info.
Also thanks for the replies!

Regards
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
You are saying two different things. You are saying you do not need to stay in these other states, yet you wish to for personal reasons. If you choose to live in those states, you are likely going to owe taxes to some.
 

StardustBeyond

Junior Member
Yeah, bottom line is i want to take a continue 'vacation' and visit alot of places for 1 week to maybe up to 5-6 months without ever establishing residence anywhere else. I will continue to have my bills back home anyway as well.

My work itself does not tie me down at all. Just the concern of the tax issue is something i want to protect myself against.

Regards.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Yeah, bottom line is i want to take a continue 'vacation' and visit alot of places for 1 week to maybe up to 5-6 months without ever establishing residence anywhere else. I will continue to have my bills back home anyway as well.

My work itself does not tie me down at all. Just the concern of the tax issue is something i want to protect myself against.

Regards.
So, what you are saying is that you have a work from home position, and you want to wander the US. In anticipation of this you want to find out if any of the states you wander into would try to tax you as a resident.

If you do not rent an apartment, or establish any utilities, or establish a driving's license, register a car, register to vote, work for anyone who would give you a W2 or 1099 reflecting that state, then generally the state would not be aware that you existed and therefore would not attempt to tax you. However, you would really be pushing the envelope staying somewhere for months at a time. Odds are that your driver's license and car registration from your home state would be considered invalid in the state you were staying in once 30-60 days have passed, and there are other issues that could come up as well.

I think its great that you want to travel and are able to travel, but you probably would need to limit your stay in one place to a month or so to be perfectly safe.
 

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