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Tax season support at Scott AFB

  • Published
  • By John Berosky
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Judge Advocate
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Your "residency" can have far reaching effects, such as determining where you file and pay taxes, where your will is probated, and where you can vote. Below is a brief overview of the residency rules and requirements. This is not a complete and comprehensive guide. If you are uncertain about you or your spouse's state of residency, please come by the Tax Center or visit the legal office on Tuesdays between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. during walk-in legal assistance hours.

Residency vs. duty station

Servicemembers are generally taxed by their state of legal residence and not the state of their duty station.

State residency

While standards for residency may vary by state, the following generally establish connections with a state that may be sufficient to establish residency:

· Driver's license

· Vehicle registration

· State taxes (income or property)

· Voter registration

· Property/home ownership

Military Spouses Residency Relief Act

· Allows military spouses to be taxed like the servicemember.

· Spouses can maintain their legal state of residence even as their family moves between duty stations.

· This means that the military spouse's earned income and property will not be taxed by the state where the duty station is located. Rather, the spouse's taxes will be determined by his or her home state (as with the servicemember).

Requirements:

· The spouse shares the same state residence as the military member.

· The spouse is at the duty station solely to be with the servicemember.

· The spouse accompanies the servicemember outside of their shared home state while on the member's orders.

For more information, go to: http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/Staff/osja/repository/legal_residence.pdf.

The Scott Tax Center will be open March 13 and 20 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to prepare returns for E-1 through E-5 Airmen by appointment. You can schedule an appointment by calling 256-1040 or by sending an email to scott.taxcenter@us.af.mil. If you are not eligible for an appointment, you can still come by to ask specific tax questions.

This article is a part of a series of advice columns from the 375th AMW Legal Office to assist the Scott Air Force Base community during tax season.