There are two terms used by the military to define your state of residence:

Home of Record. Your home of record is the state recorded by the military as your home when you were enlisted, appointed, commissioned, inducted, or ordered in a tour of active duty. This is often the state you should continue to use as your tax home as you move from state to state (or overseas) on military orders.

State of Legal Residency. Your state of legal residency (SLR) is your “Home of Record,” unless you changed it to another state. Changing the state on your paycheck records does not change your SLR.

To change the SLR, a DD Form 2058 must be submitted to your local finance officer and accepted.

From a tax standpoint, your State of Legal Residency (SLR) is considered your “domicile” or “resident” state as long as you are on active duty. Even if you are stationed in another state, you’re still considered a resident of your SLR.

To find out if you need to file a state tax return when you aren't stationed in your resident state, check out Military Information on State Websites, which has links for active duty military and their spouses in each state. If you have non-military earnings, review Civilian Pay Earned by Active Duty Military.

IMPORTANT: The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA) describes where spouses of military service members can file state income taxes. For more information, see Military Spouses and State Taxes.

Residency Examples