02-0347
Income Tax
Signed 8/12/02
BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
____________________________________
PETITIONER, ) ORDER
)
Petitioner, ) Appeal No. 02-0347
)
v. ) Account No. #####
)
AUDITING DIVISION OF ) Tax Type:
Income Tax
THE UTAH STATE TAX )
COMMISSION, ) Tax Year:
)
Respondent. ) Judge: Davis
_____________________________________
Presiding:
G. Blaine Davis,
Administrative Law Judge
Appearances:
For Petitioner: PETITIONER
For Respondent: Mr. Gale Francis, Assistant Attorney
General
Mr. Brent Taylor, from the Auditing
Division
STATEMENT
OF THE CASE
This matter came before
the Utah State Tax Commission for an Initial Hearing pursuant to the provisions
of Utah Code Ann. '59-1-502.5, on July 29,
2002.
Petitioner lived in Utah
from 1990 through 1998. Petitioner
filed Utah Resident Income Tax Returns for those years, including 1998. For 1999, Petitioner filed a Utah Non-Resident
Income Tax Return, and in 2001, Petitioner again filed a Utah Resident
Individual Income Tax Return.
Petitioner left Utah on
or about February 12, 1999 and was employed on CITY, in COUNTRY, which is a
dependency of COUNTRY. He was there
until October 15, 1999, when he returned to the United States. Petitioner spent some of that time after
October 15 travelling, including STATE, and also returned to Utah for part of
that time.
Petitioner again left
Utah and went to CITY in February 2000, and was there until October 2000. He did the same thing in 2001, i.e., went
there from Utah in February of 2001, and returned in October 2001. Petitioner now resides in CITY, STATE.
The years at issue in
this proceeding are 1999 and 2000.
During all of those times, Petitioner maintained a bank account in Utah,
his automobile was registered in Utah, and he had a Utah driver's license. In addition, he would return to Utah
whenever he was not working in COUNTRY.
His periods of employment were primarily the summer periods in that
area, and then he would return to Utah and the United States when winter came
to the southern hemisphere.
Petitioner is a single
man and does not have a wife or children in either location.
Petitioner maintained a
post office box in Utah through which his mail was sent, and was forwarded to
his aunt in STATE, and then she would forward important mail to him. His aunt in STATE took care of most of his
business matters in the United States.
Petitioner did not have
a bank account in COUNTRY, but maintained his BANK 1 account which started off
with BANK 2. BANK 1 did have an ATM
machine in COUNTRY from which Petitioner could obtain cash when it was needed.
Petitioner did not
register an automobile in COUNTRY, but he left his automobile with his aunt in
STATE. He continued to re-register the
car and drive on Utah license plates.
Petitioner maintained
his Utah driver's license, but was issued a separate card which allowed him to
drive in COUNTRY.
APPLICABLE
LAW
1. A resident individual means an individual
who is either domiciled in this state for any period of time during the taxable
year, or who is not domiciled in this state but maintains a permanent place of
abode in this state and spends in the aggregate 183 or more days of the taxable
year in this state. (Utah Code Ann.
§59-10-103(1)(j).)
2. "Domicile" means the place where
an individual has a true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment,
and to which place he has (whenever he is absent) the intention of returning. It is the place in which a person has
voluntarily fixed the habitation of himself and family, not for a mere special
purpose, but with the present intention of making a permanent home. After domicile has been established, two things
are necessary to create a new domicile: First, an abandonment of the old
domicile; and second, the intention and establishment of a new domicile. The mere intention to abandon a domicile
once established is not of itself sufficient to create a new domicile; for
before a person can be said to have changed his domicile, a new domicile must
be shown. Utah Administrative Code
R865-9I-2.D.
3. A person's intentions are determined by his or her actions, and not by verbal declarations.
DISCUSSION
Utah law requires
persons who are domiciled in Utah to file income tax returns and pay tax on
their income regardless of where it is earned.
Petitioner was admittedly domiciled in Utah from at least 1990 through
1998. Once he established his domicile
in Utah "two things are necessary to create a new domicile: First, an abandonment of the old domicile;
and second, the intention and establishment of a new domicile."
In this case, there is
no evidence that Petitioner took any steps to abandon his Utah domicile, but
instead, continued to return to Utah and continued to have more business
contacts with this state than with any other state. Petitioner also did not take any affirmative actions to establish
a domicile in any other state or location, including CITY or COUNTRY. Instead, it appears that his presence there
was for the temporary purpose of his employment. CITY was a temporary location, and it was not the place at which
he intended to establish his domicile or to which he intended to return
whenever he was absent.
DECISION
AND ORDER
Based upon the
foregoing, the Commission hereby determines that Petitioner's domicile
continued to be in Utah, and he was accordingly subject to income tax in this
state for the years 1999 and 2000.
Accordingly, the audit assessment made by Respondent is hereby sustained,
and the Petition for Redetermination is hereby denied. It is so ordered.
This decision does not
limit a party's right to a Formal Hearing.
However, this Decision and Order will become the Final Decision and
Order of the Commission unless any party to this case files a written request
within thirty (30) days of the date of this decision to proceed to a Formal
Hearing. Such a request shall be mailed
to the address listed below and must include the Petitioner's name, address,
and appeal number:
Utah
State Tax Commission
Appeals
Division
210
North 1950 West
Salt
Lake City, Utah 84134
Failure to request a
Formal Hearing will preclude any further appeal rights in this matter.
DATED this 12th day of August , 2002.
____________________________________
G. Blaine Davis
Administrative Law Judge
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION.
The Commission has
reviewed this case and the undersigned concur in this decision.
DATED this 12th day of August , 2002.
Pam Hendrickson R.
Bruce Johnson
Commission Chair Commissioner
Palmer DePaulis Marc
B. Johnson
Commissioner Commissioner