May 14, 2020
Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Individual Income Tax
Dear *****:
This will reply to your letter in which you seek reconsideration of the Department’s determination letter, issued as Public Document (P.D) 19-103 (9/18/2019), for the taxable year ended December 31, 2014.
In P.D. 19-103, the Department determined that the Taxpayer had not presented sufficient evidence to overturn the assessment for the taxable year at issue. The Department afforded the Taxpayer one final opportunity to respond to the Department’s information request or file a Virginia individual income tax return. In response, the Taxpayer submitted the information requested, contending that he was not a domiciliary resident of Virginia during the 2014 taxable year.
The Taxpayer performed a number of actions indicating his intent to establish domiciliary residency in State A. The Taxpayer states that after his retirement in 2009, he moved to State A to care for a family member. He explains that he was transitioning to becoming what he describes as an “official” resident of State A by 2013. He registered to vote in State A in 2011. He inherited a personal residence in State A from the family member in 2013 and later obtained a State A driver’s license and registered a vehicle there in 2016. The Taxpayer explains that he spends approximately five to eight months out of the year residing in State A. The other time he generally spends at another residence in ***** (State B) or visiting his daughters who still live in Virginia.
The Taxpayer also retained some connections with Virginia. He continued to own a personal residence in Virginia. He also owned several vehicles that were registered in Virginia and retained a Virginia driver’s license until 2016. In addition, he had information returns and other mail sent to the Virginia address.
Virginia Code § 46.2-323.1 states, “No driver’s license ... shall be issued to any person who is not a Virginia resident.” In fact, this section states that every person applying for a driver’s license must execute and furnish to the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) a statement that certifies that the applicant is a Virginia resident. The Department has found that an individual may successfully establish a domicile outside Virginia even if he retains a Virginia driver’s license. See P.D. 00-151 (8/18/2000). However, obtaining or renewing a Virginia driver’s license is considered to be a strong indicator of intent to retain domiciliary residency in Virginia. See P.D. 02-149 (12/9/2002).
The Taxpayer has provided information explaining his ongoing connections with Virginia. One of his daughters resided at the Virginia residence. She also used the vehicles that remained registered in Virginia, although the Taxpayer concedes that he used the vehicles as well during his stays in State B. In addition, the Taxpayer explains that because of the amount of time he spent travelling every year, mail was often delivered to the Virginia address because his daughter handled his bills.
In addition, the Department considers a change of domicile to be part of a process and the change is generally considered to have occurred at the beginning of that process even when official connections such as driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations and voter’s registrations were not obtained until later. See P.D. 16-138 (6/24/2016) and P.D. 19-19 (3/26/2019). In this case, the Taxpayer obtained a State A voter’s registration earlier in the process than the State A driver’s license and vehicle registration. The Department considers registering to vote in a state and voting in elections to be very strong evidence domiciliary intent, consistent with Cooper’s Adm’r v. Commonwealth, 121 Va. 338, 93 S.E. 680 (1917). Even though the Taxpayer did not immediately obtain a State A driver’s license and vehicle registration, the fact that he eventually did so is also some evidence of his initial intent.
After carefully considering all of the evidence presented, I find that the Taxpayer successfully changed his domicile as of the 2014 taxable year. Accordingly, the assessment will be abated.
The Code of Virginia sections and public documents cited are available on-line at www.tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules & Decisions section of the Department’s web site. If you have any questions regarding this determination, you may contact ***** in the Office of Tax Policy, Appeals and Rulings, at *****.
Sincerely,
Craig M. Burns
Tax Commissioner
AR/3295.M