The Foreign Service Journal, February 2009

54 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 Commission, Taxpayer Services Division, 210 North 1950 West, Salt Lake City UT 84134. Phone: toll-free 1 (800) 662-4335, or (801) 297-2200. E-mail: taxmaster@utah.gov Web site: tax.utah.gov VERMONT: Individuals domiciled in Vermont are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income re- gardless of their physical presence in the state. The 2008 tax rate ranges from 3.6 percent on taxable income under $32,550, to a maximum of 9.5 percent on taxable income over $357,700 for married filing jointly. Write: Vermont Department of Taxes, Taxpayer Services Division, 133 State Street, Montpelier VT 05633-1401. Phone: (802) 828-2865. E-mail: Link through the Web site’s “Contact Us” tab. Web site: www.state.vt.us/tax VIRGINIA: Individuals domiciled in Virginia are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income re- gardless of their physical presence in the state. 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 state for 183 days or more. These individ- uals should file using Form 760. In addi- tion, Virginia requires non-residents to file Form 763 if their Virginia Adjusted Gross Income in the 2008 or 2009 tax years (which includes any federal salary paid during time they are residing in Virginia) exceeds $11,250 for single filers, $22,500 for married filing jointly or $11,250 for married filing separately. (These amounts will increase to $11,650 and $23,300 in Tax Years 2010 and 2011, and to $11,950 and $23,900 for Tax Year 2012 and beyond.) Individual tax rates are: 2 percent if taxable income is less than $3,000; $60 plus 3 per- cent of excess over $3,000 if taxable income is between $3,000 and $5,000; $120 plus 5 percent of excess over $5,000 if taxable in- come is between $5,000 and $17,000; and $720 plus 5.75 percent of taxable income over $17,000. Write: Virginia Department of Taxation, Office of Customer Services, P.O. Box 1115, RichmondVA 23218-1115. Phone: (804) 367-8031. E-mail: Link through the Web site’s “Contact Us” tab. Web site: www.tax.virginia.gov WASHINGTON: There is no state in- come tax and no tax on intangibles such as bank accounts, stocks and bonds. Sales tax ranged from 7 to 9 percent, depending on the jurisdiction, in the last quarter of 2008; rates are updated quarterly. Residents may deduct Washington sales tax on their fed- eral tax returns if they itemize deductions. Write: Washington State Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services, P.O. Box 47478, OlympiaWA 98504-7478. Phone: toll-free 1 (800) 647-7706, or (360) 786-6100. E-mail: Link through the Web site’s “Contact Us” tab. Web site: www.dor.wa.gov WEST VIRGINIA: There is no tax lia- bility for out-of-state income if the indi- vidual has no permanent residence inWest Virginia, has a permanent residence else- where and spends nomore than 30 days of the tax year in West Virginia. However, non-resident domiciliaries are required to file a return on Form IT-140 for all income derived from West Virginia sources. Tax rates rise in four steps from $150 plus 4 percent of income over $5,000 for married filing separately, to $2,775 plus 6.5 percent of income over $60,000 for joint filers. Write: Department of Tax and Revenue, Taxpayer Services Division, P.O. Box 3784, CharlestonWV 25337-3784. Phone: toll-free 1 (800) 982-8297, or (304) 558-3333. E-mail: wvtaxaid@tax.state.wv.us Web site: www.wvtax.gov WISCONSIN: Individuals domiciled inWisconsin are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income re- gardless of where the income is earned. Wisconsin’s current tax rate ranges from 4.6 percent on income up to $9,510 for sin- gle filers, to amaximumof $12,078.35 plus 6.75 percent of income over $190,210 for joint filers. Write: Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Individual Income Tax Assis- tance, P.O. Box 59, Madison WI 53785- 0001. Phone: (608) 266-2486. E-mail: Use Web site “contact us” page and click on “Taxpayer Assistance.” Web site: www.dor.state.wi.us WYOMING: There is no state income tax and no tax on intangibles such as bank accounts, stocks or bonds. Sales tax ranges between 4 and 6 percent, depending on the jurisdiction. Write:WyomingDepartment of Revenue, Herschler Building, 122 West 25th St., CheyenneWY 82002-0110. Phone: (307) 777-7961. E-mail: DirectorOfRevenue@wy.gov Web site: revenue.state.wy.us State Pension & Annuity Tax The laws regarding the taxation of For- eign Service annuities vary greatly from state to state. In addition to those states that have no income tax or no tax on per- sonal income, there are several states that do not tax income derived from pensions and annuities. Idaho taxes Foreign Serv- ice annuities while exempting certain cat- egories of Civil Service employees. Several Web sites providemore information on in- dividual state taxes for retirees, but the Re- tirement Living Information Center at www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html is one of the more comprehensive. ALABAMA: Social Security and federal pensions are not taxable. The combined state, county and city sales tax rates average from 7 to 10 percent. ALASKA: No personal income tax. ARIZONA: Up to $2,500 of U.S. gov- ernment pension incomemay be excluded for each taxpayer. There is also a $2,100 exemption for each taxpayer age 65 or over. Arizona does not tax Social Security. ARKANSAS: Up to $6,000 of income from any retirement plan is exempt. So- cial Security is not taxed. CALIFORNIA: Fully taxable. COLORADO: Up to $24,000 of pen- sion income is exempt if individual is age 65 or over. Up to $20,000 is exempt if age 55 to 64. CONNECTICUT: Fully taxable for res- idents. DELAWARE: Pension exclusions per person: $2,000 is exempt under age 60; $12,500 if age 60 or over. There is an ad- ditional deduction of $2,500 if age 65 or over. Social Security income is exempt. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Pension or annuity exclusion of $3,000 is applicable if 62 years or older. Social Security is ex- cluded from taxable income. FLORIDA: There is no personal in- A F S A N E W S