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I went through this with my tax accountant and this is basically what he told me, and I also checked the CA FTB to make sure:
The CA FTB takes a look at how "tied" you are to CA even if you are living in another State or even another country. So for example, if you are working in a foreign country, but your house, cars and perhaps wife is still living in CA, they will have reasonable believe that you are in fact, considered a CA resident and hence will have to pay CA taxes.
So for most people who have sold their house and buy a new one in another State, changed their voters registration and driver's license to a new State, you will not have any issues. CA FTB cannot tax you anymore because you have basically zero link to the State. Visiting family members in CA is not a problem.
See this PDF for more info: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2020/20...ublication.pdf
Some import notes in that document:
Example 1 –
You are a California resident. You agreed to work overseas for one year. You returned to California after the employment contract expired and stayed for
three months. Then, you signed another contract with the same employer to work overseas for another year. You cannot be considered a nonresident under the safe
harbor rule because your absence from California for employment reasons was not for an uninterrupted period of at least 546 consecutive days. You cannot combine the days you were overseas from the two separate contracts.
Example 2 –
You are a California resident. You transferred to your employer’s Germany office for a two-year work assignment. You visited California for a three week vacation. Under the safe harbor rule, you were a nonresident of California for the two years you were in Germany. Your three-week visit to California is considered
temporary.
Example 3 –
You and your spouse are California residents. You agreed to work overseas for 20 months under an employment contract. Your family remained in San Diego, CA. During those 20 months you visited your family in San Diego for a month. You can be considered a nonresident during your absence under the safe-harbor rule. Your
month-long visit to California is considered temporary. During the year, you earned $80,000 on your overseas assignment and your spouse earned $30,000 as a teacher in San Diego. You did not have any other income. The tables on the next page show how to report income if you filed a joint income tax return or separate income tax returns.
Guidelines for determining Residency Status:
• Amount of time you spend in California versus amount of time you spend outside California.
• Location of your spouse/RDP and children.
• Location of your principal residence.
• State that issued your driver’s license.
• State where your vehicles are registered.
• State where you maintain your professional licenses.
• State where you are registered to vote.
• Location of the banks where you maintain accounts.
• The origination point of your financial transactions.
• Location of your medical professionals and other healthcare providers (doctors, dentists etc.), accountants, and attorneys.
• Location of your social ties, such as your place of worship, professional associations, or social and country clubs of which you are a member.
• Location of your real property and investments.
• Permanence of your work assignments in California.
The CA FTB takes a look at how "tied" you are to CA even if you are living in another State or even another country. So for example, if you are working in a foreign country, but your house, cars and perhaps wife is still living in CA, they will have reasonable believe that you are in fact, considered a CA resident and hence will have to pay CA taxes.
So for most people who have sold their house and buy a new one in another State, changed their voters registration and driver's license to a new State, you will not have any issues. CA FTB cannot tax you anymore because you have basically zero link to the State. Visiting family members in CA is not a problem.
See this PDF for more info: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2020/20...ublication.pdf
Some import notes in that document:
Example 1 –
You are a California resident. You agreed to work overseas for one year. You returned to California after the employment contract expired and stayed for
three months. Then, you signed another contract with the same employer to work overseas for another year. You cannot be considered a nonresident under the safe
harbor rule because your absence from California for employment reasons was not for an uninterrupted period of at least 546 consecutive days. You cannot combine the days you were overseas from the two separate contracts.
Example 2 –
You are a California resident. You transferred to your employer’s Germany office for a two-year work assignment. You visited California for a three week vacation. Under the safe harbor rule, you were a nonresident of California for the two years you were in Germany. Your three-week visit to California is considered
temporary.
Example 3 –
You and your spouse are California residents. You agreed to work overseas for 20 months under an employment contract. Your family remained in San Diego, CA. During those 20 months you visited your family in San Diego for a month. You can be considered a nonresident during your absence under the safe-harbor rule. Your
month-long visit to California is considered temporary. During the year, you earned $80,000 on your overseas assignment and your spouse earned $30,000 as a teacher in San Diego. You did not have any other income. The tables on the next page show how to report income if you filed a joint income tax return or separate income tax returns.
Guidelines for determining Residency Status:
• Amount of time you spend in California versus amount of time you spend outside California.
• Location of your spouse/RDP and children.
• Location of your principal residence.
• State that issued your driver’s license.
• State where your vehicles are registered.
• State where you maintain your professional licenses.
• State where you are registered to vote.
• Location of the banks where you maintain accounts.
• The origination point of your financial transactions.
• Location of your medical professionals and other healthcare providers (doctors, dentists etc.), accountants, and attorneys.
• Location of your social ties, such as your place of worship, professional associations, or social and country clubs of which you are a member.
• Location of your real property and investments.
• Permanence of your work assignments in California.
Good luck in your move my man. I fear for Nevada, I hope you can do your part to keep it better than California.
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