# What happens if you owe back taxes to the state, and move to another state?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-owe-back-taxes-to-the-state-and-move-to-another-state/367977>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 9, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-owe-back-taxes-to-the-state-and-move-to-another-state/367977 "2006-08-09T07:13:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cicada\_Killer\_Wasp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Cicada\_Killer\_Wasp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicada_Killer_Wasp)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-owe-back-taxes-to-the-state-and-move-to-another-state/367977/1 "2006-08-09T07:13:03Z")

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Suppose you owe back taxes to the state. An attorney told me once that if you moved to another state they probably would not be able to collect from you. Can State A not find a way to garnish wages in State B? Doesen’t State B have to give “full faith and credit” to any actions taken by State A?

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**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-owe-back-taxes-to-the-state-and-move-to-another-state/367977/2 "2006-08-09T13:13:00Z")

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[QUOTE=Cicada Killer Wasp]  
An attorney told me once that if you moved to another state they probably would not be able to collect from you.  
[/QUOTE]

This is nonsense.

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-owe-back-taxes-to-the-state-and-move-to-another-state/367977/3 "2006-08-09T13:18:07Z")

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They can find you if it’s worth their while. All they have to do is look at your federal return.

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**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-owe-back-taxes-to-the-state-and-move-to-another-state/367977/4 "2006-08-09T13:30:21Z")

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I moved from AZ owing state income taxes from the year that I moved. Their letters were forwarded, but I ignored them until they finally stopped. This was 25 years ago and I probably only owed a few hundred dollars. I’m not recommending that you do this, times change, states are hungry for money and it’s a lot easier to find you than it was 25 years ago.