Taxpayer concludes that because he did not live or work in
Indiana during 2010, his employer "erroneously reported Indiana wages and
withheld Indiana tax during 2010 due to the fact he worked in Indiana in 2009
and [employer's] pay is headquartered in Indiana."
…
45 IAC
3.1-1-21(a) defines the term "resident" and states that an
Indiana resident is "Any (a) individual who was domiciled in Indiana
during the taxable year, or [] Any individual who (b) maintains a permanent
place of residence in this state and spends more than 183 days of the taxable
year within this state...." See also IC § 6-3-1-12 ("The term
'resident' includes [] any individual who was domiciled in this state during
the taxable year, or [] any individual who maintains a permanent place of
residence in this state and spends more than one hundred eighty-three (183)
days of the taxable year within this state....")
45 IAC
3.1-1-22 states:
For the purposes of this Act, a person has only one domicile
at a given time even though that person maintains more than one residence at
that time. Once a domicile has been established, it remains until the conditions
necessary for a change of domicile occur.
…
Taxpayer moved from Arizona, to Indiana, to foreign country,
to Virginia. Taxpayer's position is that he never established
"residency" in either Indiana or foreign country. While living in
those two locations, he regarded Arizona as his last permanent
"residency" and that this did not change until he finally moved to
Virginia. However, "A self-serving statement of intent is not sufficient
to find that a new residence has been established." State Election Bd. v.
Bayh, 521 N.E.2d 1313, 1317 (Ind. 1988).
At the end of the day, Taxpayer had to have a 2010 residency
somewhere. "Once acquired, domicile is presumed to continue 'because every
man has a residence somewhere, and he... does not lose the one until he has
gained one in another place.'" Id. (Internal citations omitted). Taxpayer
did not have an Arizona residency in 2010 because Taxpayer had left Arizona in
2008 with no intention of returning there. Taxpayer did not have a residency in
foreign country because Taxpayer admits there was never any intention of
remaining there. Taxpayer did not have a Virginia residency in 2010 because
Taxpayer had yet to move to Virginia in 2010. "Establishing a new
residence or domicile terminates the former domicile." Id. So where was
Taxpayer's 2010 residency? It's not in Arizona; it's not in foreign country;
it's not in Virginia. Based on the evidence presented, Taxpayer's 2010
residency was in Indiana. The Department's decision to deny Taxpayer a refund
of taxes withheld on his behalf was correct.
