I finished serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the middle of last year. My entire income in 2008 was as a PCV in Bulgaria.
Although I live in Michigan, I am not a “resident” of Michigan - according to the University of Michigan, I am a resident of Illinois, which is where I lived before I went to Bulgaria.
But I am registered to vote in Michigan.
And I haven’t had an actual Illinois address since 2006.
OTOH, I am loathe to file my taxes in Michigan because they’re charging me such a ridiculous amount of money to go to school here.
And I’m annoyed at the state of Illinois for being a lot of crooks and also because they’re currently harassing me about my taxes from last year (WHICH I PAID AND THEY ARE IDIOTS).
IANA lawyer or accountant, but you typically file in whatever state your permanent residence is in. It doesn’t matter where you are registered to vote.
It also doesn’t really matter what the University of Michigan says. Their rules for determining in-state tuition is not likely to be tax authority relevant.
Is there a school tuition advantage to you eventually becoming a Michigan resident?
I’d check the rules from the state of Illinois and the state of Michigan. You may well be required to file in both states (or neither).
Good point. If you’re talking about the foreign earned income exclusion, that requires either being a foreign resident for an uninterrupted tax year, or the physical presence test, which requires being out of the US for 330 days in a 12-month period. It also only covers foreign earned income, as far as I understand it (and as far as it applied to me, when I lived overseas.) It sounds like Kyla might be able to qualify, but it depends on the factors above.
Since you asked for “any thoughts,” I will pipe up with this one: filing income tax (even if you don’t have to pay) in Michigan will go a long way toward establishing you as a resident of Michigan, more than likely putting a significant dent in what they charge you to go to school there.
But if you moved for education purposes, you cannot become a resident of the state. Period. (At least in Michigan, which has very strict residency requirement.)
North Carolina was similarly strict (this was in the early 80s) when Typo Knig wanted to establish residency while in grad school. IIRC, the main reason he was able to do so was the fact that I had lived and worked in NC for a year or so before we got married, so clearly I was considered a resident. Other grad students were much less successful in establishing residency.
We knew one fellow who only got it by arguing that his 2 year old son - who was born in NC - was a resident but he himself was not considered one.
Re the OP: Where do you have your driver’s license? Do you have any other legal presence in either state? I’d say that if you’re registered to vote in Michigan, Michigan certainly considers you a resident (and simply registering, in my opinion, suggests you consider yourself a Michigander).
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa;10919942
Re the OP: Where do you have your driver’s license? Do you have any other legal presence in either state? I’d say that if you’re registered to vote in Michigan, Michigan certainly considers you a resident (and simply registering, in my opinion, suggests you consider yourself a Michigander).[/QUOTE]
My driver’s license is from California. I have no other legal presence in…well, any state, actually.
If you can pick any state you want, pick one of those small or negelected states. Show Rhode Island some love! Or be an Alaskan for a year. Or get a grass skirt and pretned you’re from Hawaii. Can you file from any state you want?
Fill out the form “State of Confusion” and send it to the IRS that way. The people at the IRS have a great sense of humour and love jokes on the tax form.
I think you have to file a state tax return in Michigan, since you seem to be saying that you live there now and have not lived in any other state since 2006.
Even though the UofM considers you a non-resident, I think the state of Michigan considers you a resident by most other standards.
State colleges generally won’t let out-of-state students establish residency through any means, since they are subsidized by state tax dollars. But as far as everyone else is concerned, you are a Michigan resident.
Did the Peace Corps withhold any state or local taxes from your pay?
You might be required to file returns in multiple states. I’m not familiar with income tax rules for MI or IL specifically, but many states tax you on income you earn in the state, even if you are not a resident.
(And as far as Illinois goes… I can sympathize. I was there for a four-day convention in 2003. I filed and paid my $56 in sales tax collected, with a request to close the account. They didn’t close the tax account, and decided that I must have done so much business in 2004 that I should owe an estimated $85,000. This was only finally resolved - I think - about two months ago).
If these don’t count, I would guess the current, legal population of Michigan is about 7.
One year or more doesn’t count? So If I live there 20 years, vote and own property in MI and pay MI taxes, I am still not a resident. Wow. I guess you need the Golden Certificate and Seal Of Residency in the Great State Of Michigan personally bestowed upon you by the governor.