The Foreign Service Journal, February 2012

A F S A N E W S contact AFSA’s Labor Management Of- fice or the individual state tax authorities. As always, members are advised to dou- ble-check with their state’s tax authori- ties. To assist you in connecting with your state tax office, we provide the Web site address for each in the state-by-state guide, and an e-mail address or link where available. Some states do not offer e-mail customer service. The Federation of Tax Administrators’ Web site, www. taxadmin.org, also provides much use- ful 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 regardless of their physical presence in the state. Alabama’s individual income tax rates range from 2 to 5 percent on taxable income over $500 for single tax- payers or $6,000 for married 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,” then “Income Tax” Web site: www.ador.state.al.us ALASKA: Alaska does not tax indi- vidual income or intangible or personal property. It has no state sales and use, franchise or fiduciary tax. Somemunic- ipalities levy sales, property and use taxes. Write: State Office Building, 333 West Willoughby 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 Adjusted Gross Income, re- gardless of their physical presence in the state. Arizona’s tax rate ranges in five brackets from a minimum of 2.59 per- cent to a maximum of 4.54 percent of taxable income over $300,000 for mar- ried filing jointly or $150,000 for single filers. Write: Arizona Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Information&Assis- tance, P.O. Box 29086, Phoenix AZ 85038-9086. Phone: (602) 255-3381. E-mail: For general questions, taxpayerassistance@azdor.gov Web site: www.azdor.gov ARKANSAS: Individuals domiciled inArkansas are considered residents and are taxed on their entire income regard- less of their physical presence in the state. The Arkansas tax rate ranges in six brackets from a minimum of 1 percent to a maximum of 7 percent of net tax- able income over $32,700. Write: De- partment of Finance and Administra- tion, Income Tax Section, P.O. Box 3628, Little Rock AR 72203-3628. Phone: (501) 682-1100. E-mail: Individual.Income@dfa.arkansas.gov Web site: www.arkansas.gov/dfa CALIFORNIA: Foreign Service em- ployees domiciled in Californiamust es- tablish non-residency to avoid liability for California taxes (see FTB Publication 1031). However, a “safe harbor” provi- sion allows anyone who is domiciled in state but is out of the state on an em- ployment-related contract for at least 546 consecutive days to be considered a non-resident. This applies to most FS employees and their spouses, but mem- bers domiciled in California are advised to study FTB Publication 1031 for exceptions and exemptions. The Cali- fornia tax rate ranges in six brackets: from 1.25 percent to a maximum of $4,352, plus 9.55 percent of the excess over $93,532 for married filing jointly or $46,766 for singles. Non-resident domi- ciliaries are advised to file on Form 540NR. Write: Personal Income Taxes, 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 inColorado are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income regardless of their physical presence in the state. Colorado’s tax rate is a flat 4.63 percent of federal taxable income plus or minus allowable modifications. Write: Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Serv- ice Division, State Capitol Annex, 1375 Sherman St., Denver CO 80261-0005. Phone: (303) 238-7378. E-mail: Link through “Contact Us” tab on “Taxes” page, then click on “E-Mail and Telephone” for subject matter options. Web site: www.colorado.gov/revenue CONNECTICUT: Connecticut dom- iciliaries may qualify for non-resident tax treatment under either of two excep- tions as follows: Group A — the domi- ciliary 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 ag- gregate in the state during the tax year. Group B—the domiciliary 1) in any pe- riod of 548 consecutive days, is present in a foreign country for at least 450 days; and 2) during the 548-day period, is not present in Connecticut for more than 90 days; and 3) does not maintain a perma- nent place of abode in the state at which the domiciliary’s spouse or minor chil- dren are present for more than 90 days. Connecticut’s tax rate for married filing jointly ranges from3 percent on the first 38 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 1 2