Legal Question in Tax Law in Alaska

Re: Do I need to Pay Oregon Income tax.

Several major points I want to cover. 1) I

believe you must pay OR tax. More later. 2) You

COULD also have to pay AK tax but it is unlikely; what

I am sure of is that it is possible to have to pay two

different state's taxes, but again I don't think you

will have to. 3) Federal law probably don't say explicitly

that you don't have to pay OR tax, but you must have

had a reason for thinking that in my opinion.

4) Get the opinion of a competent Oregon lawyer!

1) States require taxes to be paid by their DOMICILIARIES.

States then define who is and is not a domiciliary; often

references are made to residency, but it's not exactly the

same thing. As you can imagine, someone who resides 1/3

year in Hawaii, 1/3 in Maine, and 1/3 in OR, doesn't pay

taxes in all three places necessarily. (But if they hold

separate jobs in each place, they might pay local taxes in

each place, with each state using a partial year calculation

to ratchet up the rate to reflect the full year's total income

level. But that doesn't seem to be the issue here.) So it

usually comes down to a simple concept: home is where the heart

is, believe me or not. The terms used in the law refer to

intent instead of the heart, and sometimes refer to indicia of

intent (clues) such as where you're registered to

vote, where your kids go to school, where you have a home

(and family!), where your drivers license is, etc.

Based on these, you are an OR resident, period, right?

I hope and assume that Alaska isn't going to claim part

of your pay check.

2) There was a Supreme Court ruling that allowed two different

states to grab big pieces of a dead man's estate, each claiming

that he had homes there when he was alive, and both were allowed

to take their chunks! The laws of one state need not coordinate

with the laws of another! But I don't think it's a problem for you.

3) I could be flat wrong; there may be some tax break intended for

Indians, and perhaps then there is Federal law which says you don't

have to pay ANY state income taxes to any state ... ???? Let me know.

If you send me the statute number, I'd like to look up the law and read

it myself.

4) This isn't really an area I know that much about, believe it or not.

My suggestion: get another opinion.

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.