The Oregon Tax Court held a taxpayer did not have sufficient ties to the state of Nevada, and was an Oregon resident liable for Oregon state tax on his personal income.  Charles W. Dane and Louise A. Dane v. Department of Revenue, State of Oregon.  TC-MD 100440D, 02/02/2011.

Charles and Louise Dane were a married couple with a jointly owned principal residence and several jointly owned investment properties in Oregon.  In 1999, Charles moved to Nevada to take care of his daughter, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  He lived in his daughter's personal residence; obtained a Nevada driver's license and a Nevada library card, and registered one of his motor vehicles in Nevada.  Charles also surrendered his Oregon land surveyor's license and professional engineer's license.  Charles received his mail, Social Security benefits, property tax statements in Oregon and Nevada.  For the tax years 2006 and 2007, Charles was physically in Oregon 192 days and 167 days, respectively.

For tax years 2006 and 2007, Charles and Louise filed their federal tax return with their Oregon address and claimed both their incomes.  Claiming herself a full time Oregon resident, Louise filed an Oregon state tax return in 2006 and 2007 and included only her income.  Claiming himself a full time Nevada resident, Charles was not required to file a state tax return as Nevada has no personal state income tax. 

Oregon defines a "resident" as "[a]n individual who is domiciled in this state." ORS 316.027(1)(a)(A) . While an individual can have more than one residence, he can only have one domicile.  For Charles to change his domicile from Oregon to Nevada, the Tax Court found three elements were necessary.  Charles must have 1) established a residence in Nevada, 2) intended to abandon his domicile in Oregon, and 3) intended to acquire a new domicile in Nevada.

By sharing his daughter's home, Charles established residence in Nevada.  Though Charles had established some ties to Nevada, he also still had strong ties to Oregon.  In Oregon he managed investment property, had a joint checking account, and availed himself of medical services, so he did not intentionally abandon his Oregon domicile.  Charles also did not acquire a new domicile in Nevada until he and Louise jointly purchased a home in Nevada in 2009. 

The Oregon Tax Court held two of the three elements necessary to establish a change in domicile were not present and the decision of the State of Oregon to impose a tax liability on Charles' 2006 and 2007 personal income was upheld.

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