The Foreign Service Journal, February 2009

48 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9 state-by-state guide, and an e-mail address or link where available. Some states do not offer e-mail customer service. The Feder- ation of Tax Administrators Web site, at www.taxadmin.org, also provides much useful information on individual state in- come taxes. State Overviews ALABAMA: Individuals domiciled in Alabama are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income re- gardless of their physical presence in the state. Alabama’s individual income tax rates range from2 to 5 percent on gross in- come over $5,250 for individuals filing sep- arately or $10,500 for individuals filing jointly. Write: Alabama Department of Revenue, 50 N. Ripley, Montgomery AL 36132. Phone: (334) 242-1170. E-mail: Link through the Web site, “About Us” then “Contacts.” Web site: www.ador.state.al.us ALASKA: Alaska does not tax individ- ual income or intangible or personal prop- erty. It has no sales and use, franchise or fiduciary tax. Some, but not all, munici- palities levy sales and property taxes. Write: State Office Building, 333Willough- by Ave., 11th Floor, P.O. Box 110420, Juneau AK 99811-0420. Phone: (907) 465-2320. Web site: www.tax.state.ak.us ARIZONA: Individuals domiciled in Arizona are considered residents and are taxed on any income that is included in the Federal AdjustedGross Income, regardless of their physical presence in the state. Ari- zona’s tax rate ranges in five brackets from a minimum of 2.59 per cent to a maxi- mum of 4.54 percent of taxable income over $300,000 for married filing jointly or $150,000 for single filers. Write: Arizona Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Infor- mation & Assistance, P.O. Box 29086, Phoenix AZ 85038-9086. Phone: (602) 255-3381. E-mail: taxpayerassistance@azdor.gov 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 in six brackets from a minimum of 1 percent of net tax- able income to a maximumof $1,341 plus 7 percent of net taxable income over $31,000 for married filing jointly. Write: Department of Finance and Administra- tion, Individual Income Tax, 1816 West Seventh Street, Room 2300, Ledbetter Building, Little Rock AR 72201. Phone: (501) 682-7225. E-mail: Individual.Income@ rev.state.ar.us Web site: www.state.ar.us/dfa/ CALIFORNIA: Foreign Service em- ployees domiciled in California must es- tablish non-residency to avoid liability for California taxes (see FTB Publication 1031). “Safe harbor”provision allows any- one who is domiciled in state but is out of the state on an employment-related con- tract for at least 546 consecutive days to be considered a non-resident. This applies to most FS employees and their spouses, but members domiciled in California are ad- vised to study FTB Publication 1031 for exceptions and exemptions. The Califor- nia tax rate for 2008 ranges in six brackets from1 percent to amaximumof $4,143.52 plus 9.3 percent of the excess over $94,110 for married filing jointly. Non-resident domiciliaries are advised to file on Form 540NR. Write: Franchise Tax Board, P.O. Box 1468, Sacramento CA 95812-1468. Phone: toll-free 1 (800) 852-5711 (inside the U.S.); (916) 845-6500 (outside the U.S.). E-mail: Link through the Web site’s “Contact Us” tab. Web site: www.ftb.ca.gov COLORADO: Individuals domiciled in Colorado are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income re- gardless of their physical presence in the state. Colorado’s tax rate is a flat 4.63 per- cent of federal taxable income plus or minus allowablemodifications. Write: De- partment of Revenue, Taxpayer Service Di- vision, State Capitol Annex, 1375 Sherman St., Denver CO 80261-0005. Phone: (303) 238-7378. E-mail: Link through “Contact Us” tab on “Taxation” page, then click on any of the categories in “Online Answers and Customer Support” for e-mail option. Web site: www.revenue.state.co.us CONNECTICUT: Connecticut domi- ciliaries may qualify for non-resident tax treatment under either of two exceptions as follows: Group A — The domiciliary 1) did not maintain a permanent place of abode inside Connecticut for the entire tax year; and 2) maintains a permanent place of abode outside the state for the entire tax year; and 3) spends not more than 30 days in the aggregate in the state during the tax year. Group B — The domiciliary 1) in any period of 548 con- secutive days, is present in a foreign coun- try for at least 450 days; and 2) during the 548-day period, is not present in Con- necticut for more than 90 days; and 3) does not maintain a permanent place of abode in the state at which the domicil- iary’s spouse or minor children are pres- ent for more than 90 days. For 2008, Connecticut’s tax rate for married filing jointly ranges from 3 percent of income less than $20,000, to $600 plus 5 percent of income over $20,000. Write: Depart- ment of Revenue Services, Taxpayer Serv- ices Division, 25 Sigourney St., Hartford CT 06106-5032. Phone: (860) 297-5962. E-mail: drs@po.state.ct.us Web site: www.ct.gov/drs DELAWARE: Individuals domiciled in Delaware are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income re- gardless of their physical presence in the state. Delaware’s graduated tax rate ranges from 2.2 percent to 5.55 percent for in- come under $60,000, to a maximum of $2,943.50 plus 5.95 percent of any taxable income over $60,000. Write: Division of Revenue, Taxpayers Assistance Section, State Office Building, 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: Individ- uals 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 domiciled elsewhere are also considered residents for tax purposes for the portion of any calendar year in which they are physically present in the District for 183 days or more. The District’s tax rate is 4 percent if income is less than $10,000; $400 plus 6 percent of excess over $10,000 if be- A F S A N E W S