USA CA resident for my husband or not

[Kittmag]

Hi,

I am moving from Germany to California next month with my 7 year old kid and will stay there 9 months a year. My husband will go back and forth (like staying 10 days in CA and 20 days in Germany on average monthly) but he will be more in Germany (8-9 months in a year) than in California. He is the main houshold income earner, having a business in Germany.

In that case, is it possible for just me and our kid to become CA residents for state tax purpose and my husband as non CA resident since he is just visiting us especially when he will not have any or just minor CA income.

Thanks for your advice.

Best regards,
Kittmag

 

[Cherie CPA @firm1040]

Hi,
Yes. If you have CA income living in CA, then you will need to file a State Resident return. He is a non-resident and can file a NR state return, provided he gets CA income.

 

[Kittmag]

Hi,
Yes. If you have CA income living in CA, then you will need to file a State Resident return. He is a non-resident and can file a NR state return, provided he gets CA income.

Thanks. But I read that CA is community property state. If my husband is non-resident and me CA-resident, is his income subject to CA state tax or not? Thanks a lot for your advice.

 

[Cherie CPA @firm1040]

If he's considered a non-resident, his income is subject to state tax if he earned it from US sources otherwise no, he's really just visiting the US for business purposes. As for community property state, this often relates to how assets are divided in an event there is a divorce or separation.

 

[Kittmag]

Thank you very much for quick feedback. So the key is if he can be considered as non -resident or not if he stays on and off in CA and what is the criteria to be considered as resident? Basically he stays more than 181 days in the year in Germany and less time in CA and his income mostly comes from Germany. Does it suffice to define him as a non-resident?

 

[Cherie CPA @firm1040]

He's a non-resident because of the amount of days yes, on the other hand he doesn't file if his income is only from Germany, he files non-resident return if he has US based income in the state of CA

 

[Drmdcpa]

Due to the amount of time he will be spending in US, he will more than likely not qualify as a non-resident. Also since his family will be full time residents, he will fail the non-resident tests. He more than likely will have to allocate income based on time spent.