Did a retiree who registered to vote in another state, inherited a home there, and later moved his license and vehicle successfully change his domicile out of Virginia for 2014?

Plain-English summary

Virginia taxes people who are domiciled here. Your domicile is your true, permanent home; you keep it until you both move to a new place and intend to make it your permanent home. This retiree asked the Department to reconsider P.D. 19-103, which had upheld a 2014 assessment, and this time he supplied the evidence.

What he did toward State A. After retiring in 2009, he moved to State A to care for a family member. He registered to vote in State A in 2011, inherited a personal residence there in 2013, and obtained a State A driver's license and vehicle registration in 2016. He spends roughly five to eight months a year in State A, with the rest split between another state and visiting daughters in Virginia.

What he kept in Virginia. He still owned a Virginia home (where a daughter lived), kept several vehicles registered in Virginia (used by the daughter, though he used them too), held a Virginia driver's license until 2016, and had mail sent to the Virginia address (the daughter handled his bills).

Why he won. Two principles carried the day:

• Voting is very strong evidence of intent. The Department treats registering to vote and voting as very strong evidence of domiciliary intent (Cooper's Adm'r v. Commonwealth, 121 Va. 338). He registered in State A back in 2011.
• A change of domicile is a process, dated to its start. Even when official steps like a license or vehicle registration come later, the change is generally treated as occurring at the beginning of the process (P.D. 16-138, 19-19). Getting the State A license and registration in 2016 was still some evidence of his earlier intent.

A retained Virginia driver's license is a strong indicator of Virginia domicile (P.D. 02-149), but a person can establish domicile elsewhere while keeping one (P.D. 00-151). Weighing everything, the Commissioner found he successfully changed his domicile as of 2014 and abated the assessment.

What this means for you

Voting where you claim to live is powerful evidence

Registering to vote -- and voting -- in your new state is treated as very strong evidence you intend to make it your permanent home. It cut decisively in this taxpayer's favor.

The change is dated to when the process began

You don't lose credit for an early move just because the DMV paperwork came years later. Document when the process started (here, the 2011 voter registration and the 2009 move).

Retained Virginia ties are not automatically fatal

A Virginia home, vehicles, and even a Virginia license can be explained -- here, a daughter lived in the home and used the vehicles. Explain each retained tie rather than assuming it sinks your case.

Common questions

Doesn't keeping a Virginia driver's license prove Virginia domicile? It is a strong indicator (P.D. 02-149), but not conclusive -- you can establish domicile elsewhere while holding one (P.D. 00-151), especially with strong contrary evidence like out-of-state voter registration.

Why did 2014 count when he didn't get the State A license until 2016? Because a change of domicile is dated to the start of the process. His 2011 voter registration and 2009 move placed the change before 2014.

Is this different from the failure-to-abandon cases? Yes. The same voting principle that makes out-of-state voting strong evidence of leaving Virginia also makes voting in Virginia strong evidence of staying -- the facts here pointed to State A.

Citations and references

• Cooper's Adm'r v. Commonwealth, 121 Va. 338 -- registering to vote and voting is very strong evidence of domiciliary intent.
• P.D. 16-138, 19-19 -- a change of domicile is a process dated to when it began.
• P.D. 02-149 / P.D. 00-151 -- a Virginia license is a strong indicator of Virginia domicile, but one can still change domicile while keeping it.
• Va. Code Sec. 46.2-323.1 -- a Virginia driver's license is limited to Virginia residents.
• P.D. 19-103 -- the prior determination reconsidered here.

Source

• Landing page: Virginia Laws, Rules & Decisions
• Ruling: P.D. 20-85

Original ruling text

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

Related Documents

19-103

00-151

02-149

16-138

19-19