The Foreign Service Journal, February 2005

FEBRUARY 2005 • AFSA NEWS 5 of the other seven states, but Foreign Service employees should be aware that states could challenge the status of gov- ernment housing in the future. Minnesota also has rules excusing its domiciliaries from filing a resident tax return while living outside the state. The following list gives a state-by-state overviewof the latest informationavailable on tax liability, with addresses provided to write for further informationor tax forms. Tax rates are provided where possible. For further information, please contact AFSA’s Labor Management Office or the individual state tax authorities. As always, members are advised todouble-checkwith their states’ tax authorities. To this end, we give theWeb sites for all states; all provide useful information for their taxpayers. James Yorke, who compiled the tax guide, would like to thank M. Bruce Hirshorn, Foreign Service tax counsel, for his help in preparing this article. State Overviews ALABAMA : Individuals domiciled in Alabama are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income regard- less of their physical presence in the state. Alabama’s tax rate is 5 percent of taxable income over $3,000 for single filers or over $6,000 for joint filers. Write: Alabama Department of Revenue, 50 N. Ripley, Montgomery, AL36132. Phone: (334) 242- 1170. Web site: www.ador.state.al.us ALASKA: Alaska does not tax individual income, or intangible or personal property. It has no sales and use, franchise or fiducia- ry tax. Write: State Office Building, 333 Willoughby Ave, 11th Floor, P.O. Box 110400, Juneau, AK 99811-0400. Phone: (907) 465-2300. Web site: www.state.ak.us ARIZONA: Individuals domiciled in Arizona are considered residents and are taxed on any income that is included in the federal AGI, regardless of their physical pres- ence inthe state. Arizona tax rate ranges from 2.87 to 5.04 percent depending on income andfilingstatus. Write: ArizonaDepartment of Revenue, Taxpayer Information & Assistance, 1600 W. Monroe, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2650. Phone: (602) 255-3381. E-mail: TaxpayerAssistance@revenue.state.az.us Web site: www.azdor.gov ARKANSAS: Individuals domiciled in Arkansas are considered residents and are taxed on their entire income regardless of their physical presence in the state. The Arkansas tax rate ranges from1 to 7percent depending on income and filing status. For 2004, there is also a surtax of 3 percent of computed tax. Write: Department of Finance andAdministration, 1509W. 7thSt., Little Rock, AR 72201. Phone: (501) 682- 1100. E-mail: Individual.Incom@rev.state.ar.us Web site: www.state.ar.us/dfa/taxes CALIFORNIA: Foreign Service employ- ees domiciled in California must establish non-residency to avoid being liable for California taxes (see FTBPublication1031). However, a “safe harbor” provision was introduced in1994,whichprovides that any- one who is domiciled in-state but is out of the state onanemployment-relatedcontract for at least 546 consecutive dayswill be con- sidered anon-resident. This applies tomost FS employees and their spouses, but California residents are advised to studyFTB Pub. 1031 for exceptions and exemptions. Non-residents use Form 540NR. Address: Franchise Tax Board, P.O. Box 942840, Sacramento, CA 94240-0040. For account information, phone: 1(800) 852-5711. Web site: www.ftb.ca.gov COLORADO: Individuals domiciled in Colorado are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income regard- less of their physical presence in the state. Colorado’s tax rate is a flat 4.63 percent of federal taxable income attributable to Colorado sources plus or minus allowable modifications. Write: Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Service Division, State Capitol Annex, 1375 Sherman St., Denver, CO 80261-0005. Phone: (303) 238-7378. E-mail: Revenue@spike.dor.state.co.us Web site: www.revenue.state.co.us CONNECTICUT: Connecticut domicil- iariesmay qualify for non-resident tax treat- ment under either of two exceptions as fol- lows: Group A: A domiciliary who satis- fies all three of the following will be treat- ed as a non-resident: 1) The individual did not maintain a permanent place of abode inside Conn. for the entire tax year; 2) The individual maintains a permanent place of abode outside Conn. for the entire tax year; and 3) The individual spends not more than 30 days in the aggregate inConn. dur- ing the tax year. Group B: A domiciliary who satisfies all three of the following will be treated as a non-resident: 1) In any peri- od of 548 consecutive days, the individual is present in a foreign country for at least 450 days; 2) During the 548-day period, the individual is not present inConn. formore than 90 days and does not maintain a per- manent place of abode in Conn. at which the individual’s spouse (unless the spouse is legally separated) or minor children are present for more than 90 days; and 3) During the non-resident portion of the tax- able year, the individual is present inConn. for a number of days that does not exceed an amount which bears the same ratio to 90 as the number of days contained in the nonresident portion of the taxable year bears to 548. For details of these exceptions, go to IP 2003(23) on the state taxWeb site. Write: Department of Revenue Services, 25 Sigourney St., Hartford, CT 06106. Phone: (860) 297-5962. Fax: (860) 297-4929. Web site: www.ct.gov/drs DELAWARE: Individuals domiciled in Delaware are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income regard- less of their physical presence in the state. Delaware’s tax rate ranges from 2.2 to 5.95 percent dependingon income and filing sta- tus. Write: Division of Revenue, Taxpayers Assistance Section, StateOfficeBuilding, 820 N. French St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Phone (302) 577-8200. E-mail: personaltax@state.de.us Web site: www.state.de.us/revenue/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Individuals domiciled in the District of Columbia are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income regardless of their physical presence there. Individuals domi- ciled elsewhere are also considered residents for tax purposes for the portion of any cal- endar year inwhich they are physically pre-