Discussion:Foreign residency - CA state return, non resident?
From TaxAlmanac
Discussion Forum Index --> Advanced Tax Questions --> Foreign residency - CA state return, non resident?
Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Foreign residency - CA state return, non resident?
| 6 September 2008 | |
| Hello all,
I need a little bit of help with a client that lives in London (for the past two years) and he is coming back the next one. We are filing form 2555 for federal. My question is, Is he considered a non resident for CA purposes? He owns a home in CA, and he is coming back. He has both W2 and self-employment income but none of them from CA. I know that there is a provision where people that live outside CA for 546 days with a work contract will be considered non resident, but he moved to London because his domestic partner got a work contract, not him. Thank you for your help and guidance! | |
| 7 September 2008 | |
| I see no problem here since domestic partners are elevated to the status of spouses for CA tax purposes. Yes, I would claim the safe-harbor exclusion for your client. | |
| 12 September 2008 | |
| Lalva, sorry I'm late chiming in here. Are the clients Registered Domestic Partners (RDPs) in California? If so, I agree with Riley. If not, I'm afraid you may have a problem. | |
| 23 September 2008 | |
| Yes, I just found out that my clients, even though just got married in the UK, have never registered in CA as domestic partners. Well, it's not my fault :-(
Thank you Katie, you guys are great! | |
| 23 September 2008 | |
| Lalva, I wouldn't throw in the towel without looking at whether the partner could be a nonresident under the general rules, i.e., because he was absent for a purpose that was not temporary or transitory. If the couple pulled up their stakes in California and behaved as if they expected to be gone for a long or indefinite period of time, both may be nonresidents under the general rules without reference to the safe harbor. | |
| 23 September 2008 | |
| Also, if legally married in UK, marriage may be recognized in CA. I believe CA was reconginzing anything that was 'substantially similar'; now that gay marriage is legal in CA, legal marriages from other states or countries should be recognized in CA. | |
| 23 September 2008 | |
| That could be good news for next year, since they just got married a few weeks ago. | |
| 23 September 2008 | |
| Just for clarity - the UK does not have legal gay marriage so unless they "married a few weeks ago" to different partners of the opposite gender they could not be married in the UK. The UK has legal "civil partnerships" which are not marriages although for UK legal purposes they grant several of the same characteristics as marriages - you might need an opinion from a California attorney if this is "substantially similar". | |
| 23 September 2008 | |
| Right, Guya, they are "civil partners". Thanks for clarifying it. | |
| 24 September 2008 | |
| Unfortunately I don't see anything in the Family Code or the Rev & Tax Code that would extend the tax treatment of RDPs registered in California to domestic partners registered or qualified elsewhere. See Calif. Family Code Sec. 297; CRTC Sec. 18521(d). | |
| 24 September 2008 | |
| Thank you all for your postings.
My client and partner are coming next month and they are going to register so this doesn't happen again the next year. Thank you! | |
