State residency during residency

[EsTxDr]

So, strange question here. Curious if anyone has maintained their state residency while doing a medical residency in another state? I'm interested in maintaining my home state residency (could use any number of family addresses) but am doing things like purchasing a house in my state of medical residency. I will be returning to my home state to practice in three years.

Any experience with this? Ideas?

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[Chip N Sawbones]

I know Alaska lets you remain an Alaskan while doing a residency out of the state. I've checked and it's specifically mentioned in the rules. You'll probably need to look at the rules for your particular home state to see if the rules are the same for you. I kept Alaska residency when I was in college and I'll be keeping it for med school even though I bought a house in Louisiana. The difference in car insurance costs alone makes it worthwhile for me. Just don't forget to renew your drivers license when you're back home.

 

[Raryn]

A) I don't think it's very likely. You're a taxpaying employee in your new state, not a student. You will have to file tax returns based on where you work.

B) Why would you even care about wanting to? You're not exactly paying tuition anymore. It's not like you'll lose your California citizenship if you buy a house in Nevada. I suppose you can save a little bit of money on car registration, but meh.

 

[EsTxDr]

A) I don't think it's very likely. You're a taxpaying employee in your new state, not a student. You will have to file tax returns based on where you work.

B) Why would you even care about wanting to? You're not exactly paying tuition anymore. It's not like you'll lose your California citizenship if you buy a house in Nevada. I suppose you can save a little bit of money on car registration, but meh.

1) You can hold dual state residency and even pay taxes in two states legally. Fortunately my home state has no income taxes.
2) Its not about saving money for me, other reasons.

 

[Raryn]

1) You can hold dual state residency and even pay taxes in two states legally. Fortunately my home state has no income taxes.
2) Its not about saving money for me, other reasons.

Perhaps if you stated these reasons we might be able to answer your question regarding the logistics of implementing them.

 

[EsTxDr]

Perhaps if you stated these reasons we might be able to answer your question regarding the logistics of implementing them.

Not asking for logistics to implementing my reasons, just for experience and or thoughts, ideas on maintaining home state residency during medical residency. My reasons are irrelevant to the question. Just fishing for something I may have overlooked in my decision making. Doesn't seem like there is much experience with the situation out there.

 

[deleted109597]

Just for the record, in most states it is actually illegal to not move your driver's license and vehicle registration to the state you're living and working in after a set number of days. You should look up the specifics of the place you're moving to. This is different for military and certain other shortish term temporary employment.
You pay taxes in the state you earn the money. Not the state you pretend to reside in. Good news if you work in a state that doesn't have income tax.
For Alaskans, it's nice because you get pipeline money. For every other state, it basically isn't worth it IMO.

 

[Cooperd0g]

DrMcNinja is spot on. When you live and work somewhere pretty much every states requires you to become a resident - license, car registration, vote, income taxes (if applicable).

 

[EsTxDr]

That is incorrect actually. You can in fact legally hold residency in multiple states and even pay income tax in multiple states. When you add in owning a business, serving in the national guard, family ties to state government, etc all in your home state it requires some thought. Again this isn't about saving money or skirting taxes, I would be paying income tax in my medical residency state but dual income tax wouldn't be an issue because my home state has none (I wasn't clear enough on that earlier apparently).

Either way thank you all for the responses I appreciate the help. Seems my situation is pretty unique.

 

[deleted109597]

That is incorrect actually. You can in fact legally hold residency in multiple states and even pay income tax in multiple states. When you add in owning a business, serving in the national guard, family ties to state government, etc all in your home state it requires some thought. Again this isn't about saving money or skirting taxes, I would be paying income tax in my medical residency state but dual income tax wouldn't be an issue because my home state has none (I wasn't clear enough on that earlier apparently).

Either way thank you all for the responses I appreciate the help. Seems my situation is pretty unique.

So, just so you're clear on this, you can in fact pay income tax in multiple states. However, you only pay income tax in states you actually work in. IE, you don't pay tax to california for money earned in virginia. You do pay tax in virginia. If you work in both, then you pay income tax in both. But you can't claim to not pay taxes in, say, NC because you "declare residency" in TX. States aren't like countries, in that you don't declare which state you live in. However, if you spend the majority of your time working and living in a state, they require you to register your vehicle and drivers license. And you can only have 1 drivers license. It doesn't matter about your family ties, or even your national guard status. You can drill in states that you don't have a driver's license in, or you can ask to be transferred to a unit in the state you're doing residency in (or they may let you drill with a different unit and maintain ties to your old one).
Just because you don't know how it works and aren't listening to us doesn't make it not true.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

I know Alaska lets you remain an Alaskan while doing a residency out of the state. I've checked and it's specifically mentioned in the rules. You'll probably need to look at the rules for your particular home state to see if the rules are the same for you. I kept Alaska residency when I was in college and I'll be keeping it for med school even though I bought a house in Louisiana. The difference in car insurance costs alone makes it worthwhile for me. Just don't forget to renew your drivers license when you're back home.

Yup, that's what I did. I eventually lost the dividend at some point after being out of state 10+ years. College, med school, residency, military time.....

 

[The White Coat Investor]

You're a taxpaying employee in your new state, not a student.

This is true now but didn't use to be, thus the FICA refunds recently sent out. Although residents never got their federal income tax back, just the payroll taxes.

 

[Raryn]

This is true now but didn't use to be, thus the FICA refunds recently sent out. Although residents never got their federal income tax back, just the payroll taxes.

I presume that the situation being discussed is the present day, not some theoretical state residency prior to April 2005.

 

[EsTxDr]

Just because you don't know how it works and aren't listening to us doesn't make it not true.

I love the vitriol that comes out when individuals refuse to make the decisions anonymous internet posters wish them to. Its not strictly an SDN pathology but its certainly rampant here.

Speaking of listening, you should have seen that I own a business in my home state and thus your educational patronizing post becomes meaningless. I see that you hold yourself to be the authority here, duly noted. This is the entire reason I chose not to post my reasons, the SDN creep moves the responses from my OP and serious question to individual commentary on my motives, choices, and now knowledge/intelligence. lol Thank you for educating me that I can have only one DL's, of the rules of ARNG state transfer, and state vs federal governmental makeup. But no thanks for completely missing my OP, having nothing valuable to add, and continuing to post in such an aggressive manner. 🙄

I was simply asking for experiences with this issue (not commentary on my reasons or motives). Thanks for the posters who stayed on topic and posted. I appreciate it.

 

[Doctor Bob]

So, strange question here. Curious if anyone has maintained their state residency while doing a medical residency in another state? I'm interested in maintaining my home state residency (could use any number of family addresses) but am doing things like purchasing a house in my state of medical residency. I will be returning to my home state to practice in three years.

What benefit are you trying to keep by maintaining the home state residency? (the ones that pop to mind are in-state tuition for kids and the Alaska benefit, but beyond that most benefits I can think of that are tied to the state you live in are also tied to the location your income is generated or to some other asset-generating entity and as such it doesn't matter what you declare as your "state of residency")

As a military guy who moves around a lot I've changed my home state a few times, but it was always to keep some benefit that the home state offered that the new state didn't. Sometimes it turned out to be worth it, most times it didn't.

 

[EsTxDr]

What benefit are you trying to keep by maintaining the home state residency?

No real benefits per se. At first it was about avoiding hassles, then keeping my home state CHL, then avoiding vehicle registration twice in 3 years, etc. Then I had to check into some legal trust issues with my business, etc. Then it became about my tribal citizenship, etc. There are a lot of reasons I wanted to look into it. I just wanted to weigh the options and hear some experiences from others. I had no intention of getting into discussions of the merits of my reasons. If you add up all the registrations, changes of licenses, etc ... the money adds up as do the hassles.

 

[Doctor Bob]

No real benefits per se. At first it was about avoiding hassles,

Ha... good luck with that. Welcome to residency. 🙂

then keeping my home state CHL,

CHL doesn't have to be given up if you go to another state. But the CHL from one state does not cover you in another state if the second state lacks reciprocity with the first. The laws of the state where the gun is currently housed are the ones that apply.

then avoiding vehicle registration twice in 3 years, etc.

Like the gun, it doesn't matter where the owner's state of legal residence is. It's where the car is principally garaged. So even if you're a (let's say) Texas resident, but you keep a car in Missouri, you need to have the car registered in Missouri if it spends most of the year there.

Then I had to check into some legal trust issues with my business, etc.

I'm no help here

Then it became about my tribal citizenship, etc.

Or here

I had no intention of getting into discussions of the merits of my reasons. If you add up all the registrations, changes of licenses, etc ... the money adds up as do the hassles.

I think what most people are questioning are not the merits but the applicability. Saying "I am a resident of X state" confers very few benefits and even if you do maintain a state residency while living elsewhere it doesn't protect you from having to shoulder a lot of expenses of moving things and re-registering things to your new state, because the laws and requirements are based on where you and your assets actually are.

But...

I will say that not a tremendous amount of checking goes on. Driver's license is a great example. You're supposed to get a new license within... oh.. 3 months or so of moving to a new state. Even if you have a permanent residence in another state, if you are a resident of a new state by virtue of spending most of the year in that new state, you're supposed to get a new drivers license. But nobody checks. So if you have an address in an old state and can get your renewal notices at that address you can keep your old DL. A CHL permit would be different however... if you're in a situation where you need to show your CHL then it better be the one for the state you're currently in and not some other state... they get very touchy about that. Even if it's a state with reciprocity you had better have applied for that reciprocity or you'll have issues.

Things like voting can be whatever state you prefer; if you'd rather vote back in the state you moved from, then just keep your registration in your old state current and have them keep sending it to your out-of-state address. Even if you buy a house in your new state you can keep voting in your old state. But you've got to pick one state to be registered in.

Really state of residence for in-state tuition is really the only big reason I've come across to absolutely maintain an out-of-state residence of record (so you or your kids can go back to get good rates or preferential admission to the state school). Any other reasons beyond that are up to the individual, but are often immaterial because the state of residence has no bearing on much in particular. Not if you follow the letter of the law. But then again who does that every single time.

 

[deleted109597]

I will say that not a tremendous amount of checking goes on. Driver's license is a great example. You're supposed to get a new license within... oh.. 3 months or so of moving to a new state. Even if you have a permanent residence in another state, if you are a resident of a new state by virtue of spending most of the year in that new state, you're supposed to get a new drivers license. But nobody checks. So if you have an address in an old state and can get your renewal notices at that address you can keep your old DL. A CHL permit would be different however... if you're in a situation where you need to show your CHL then it better be the one for the state you're currently in and not some other state... they get very touchy about that. Even if it's a state with reciprocity you had better have applied for that reciprocity or you'll have issues.

Agree that they don't go out of their way, just like headlights that are out. Get in an accident or get a speeding ticket, and you're in the same situation as them looking at your CHL.

As much as I enjoy a good pissing contest, I wish you the best of luck.

 

[EsTxDr]

Ha... good luck with that. Welcome to residency. 🙂

Haha, thats what I hear.

CHL doesn't have to be given up if you go to another state. But the CHL from one state does not cover you in another state if the second state lacks reciprocity with the first. The laws of the state where the gun is currently housed are the ones that apply.

So reciprocity is a different issue actually, in case anyone else is ever looking into this situation. Reciprocity simply covers your states CHL while you are in the new state. However, if you become a resident of the new state, reciprocity doesn't apply anymore (in most states)(even though you can keep your old states CHL). States are requiring you to obtain their states CHL to legally carry. LA has done this but LA is also an open carry state so since hospitals are no-carry anyway, my day to day carry will change little even if I dont get a LA CHL. Its probably more about revenue than anything else really. Also, you dont have to apply for reciprocity, its a law already on the books, but again it doesn't apply if you are a resident of the new state (in most cases).

I think what most people are questioning are not the merits but the applicability. Saying "I am a resident of X state" confers very few benefits and even if you do maintain a state residency while living elsewhere it doesn't protect you from having to shoulder a lot of expenses of moving things and re-registering things to your new state, because the laws and requirements are based on where you and your assets actually are.

True but then again I never asked for commentary on the applicability of my reasons, just experiences with the situation. 🙂
But we SDN folk sure do love to put our $0.02 in. 🙂 It was never really about benefits to begin with. I just like to think through all my options (especially with my business and tribal affiliation) before making a decision. I was just asking for experience to help me think through and weigh the options. Not asking for help on my specific reasons as I wouldn't expect many legal tribal experts on here.

But...

I will say that not a tremendous amount of checking goes on. Driver's license is a great example. You're supposed to get a new license within... oh.. 3 months or so of moving to a new state. Even if you have a permanent residence in another state, if you are a resident of a new state by virtue of spending most of the year in that new state, you're supposed to get a new drivers license. But nobody checks. So if you have an address in an old state and can get your renewal notices at that address you can keep your old DL. A CHL permit would be different however... if you're in a situation where you need to show your CHL then it better be the one for the state you're currently in and not some other state... they get very touchy about that. Even if it's a state with reciprocity you had better have applied for that reciprocity or you'll have issues.

Things like voting can be whatever state you prefer; if you'd rather vote back in the state you moved from, then just keep your registration in your old state current and have them keep sending it to your out-of-state address. Even if you buy a house in your new state you can keep voting in your old state. But you've got to pick one state to be registered in.

Really state of residence for in-state tuition is really the only big reason I've come across to absolutely maintain an out-of-state residence of record (so you or your kids can go back to get good rates or preferential admission to the state school). Any other reasons beyond that are up to the individual, but are often immaterial because the state of residence has no bearing on much in particular. Not if you follow the letter of the law. But then again who does that every single time.

Yeah, the kids tuition thing was also an issue to think through for me as well. My wife is more than likely going to live in our home state more than our new state (our two homes are very close to the borders), possibly even give birth in our home state during residency. So you can see why I wanted to look through and think about the options. I appreciate the help. I just wanted to put time in to thinking through the options. Immaterial to one person is often not the same to another. 🙂

 

[Old_Mil]

I think you could do it pretty easily. 1. You will have to have a residence in the state you want to maintain residency in. Can be the house of a family member you trust, doesn't have to be a place you actually maintain a physical address. 2. Keep that state's drivers license. 3. Have a cell phone number with an area code consistent with your home state address. 4. Bank with a national bank and have your old state as your address of record for bank statements and credit cards (tell your card co to send you electronic bills and your bank to send you electronic statements). 5. Rent a place where you are doing residency. If you have to buy them don't claim a homestead exemption. One of the guys I did residency with did this. After he graduated he went somewhere else altogether....

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[akwho]

I am an Alaskan resident graduating medical school this year and going to residency outside of AK. I believe it would be a benefit for me to keep my Alaskan residency (~2k/yr in PFD money and no state income tax), plus I like being Alaskan. I will be able to keep my home bank in AK and my parents residency address. I believe I would be allowed to keep receiving my PFD as there is a specific allowable absence for medical internship and residency AAC 23.163 (c,1,D).

The trade offs to my understanding are... I wouldn't be able to purchase a house as it would jeopardize my Alaskan citizenship. I would be required to have dual state citizenship and pay taxes in the state I am working.

Anyone have any thoughts or comments. I would love to hear from people who have been through this before.

 

[Old_Mil]

Sounds like you have legitimate reasons to maintain Alaskan residency. You won't be able to escape any state taxes in the location you are training but I would say that there is no reason to make the change as you are on a year to year contract.