I lived and worked in Washington state for five years. During that time I did not claim income in Idaho where my wife lived and worked. I made no income in the state of ID. The ID state tax commission now claims I owe tax on 1/2 of my wages earned in Washington State during that period of time. I had a residence in the state of Washington, my vehicles were registered in the state of WA, I was employed by a Washington company. I considered myself a resident of the state of Washington. ID and WA are community property states, and the claim is half of my income earned in WA is taxable by the state of ID.

I am inclined to contest this if I can find supportive documentation. They have told me I cannot contest the finding unless I can provide documentation in the form of legal cases that have been won by plaintifs in the state of ID contesting such findings.

You need to revew the Idaho tax statutes to see what basis, if any, there is for Idaho to claim that you owe income tax. I don't see any. In fact, on the basis of the facts you have written, it is questionable whether Idaho even has ("long arm" statute) personal jurisdiction over you. Did you file an Idaho tax return?

The fact that both states are community property states is not significant. We are talking about income, not property. Did you file as married filing jointly?

Actually, the fact that they are community property states IS relevant. Community of property means that all income and assets acquired during the marriage are assets of the community and as such - yes, Idaho can tax half your income, because your spouse owns half your income even if you never set foot in the state in your life.

Actually, the fact that they are community property states IS relevant. Community of property means that all income and assets acquired during the marriage are assets of the community and as such - yes, Idaho can tax half your income, because your spouse owns half your income even if you never set foot in the state in your life.


Would you post where you're reading this - I can't find it.

Actually, the fact that they are community property states IS relevant. Community of property means that all income and assets acquired during the marriage are assets of the community and as such - yes, Idaho can tax half your income, because your spouse owns half your income even if you never set foot in the state in your life.

Depending on how much money you are talking about, many states are well known for making claims for tax money that are totally false and of course you can appeal, they have not proven the case of you owing the money. If you can't prove they are wrong, you will lose, but you have a right to appeal.

Again cost, you hire a tax attorney and have them fight this for you. Thus the reason they exist.

Would you post where you're reading this - I can't find it.

I am guessing that Soarwitheagles is pulling this out of thin air. In my opinion, it comes from a misunderstanding of basic accounting principles. Assets and income are fundamentally different concepts.

Community property laws are central to your question. The Idaho State Tax Commission has published the following Residency Pub. The last few pages address your situation specifically.

http://tax.idaho.gov/pubs/EPB00671_11-25-2002.pdf

Barring case law to the contrary, it appears the position taken by the Idaho State Tax Commission is the same postulated in the referenced publication.

Community property laws are central to your question. The Idaho State Tax Commission has published the following Residency Pub. The last few pages address your situation specifically.

http://tax.idaho.gov/pubs/EPB00671_11-25-2002.pdf

Barring case law to the contrary, it appears the position taken by the Idaho State Tax Commission is the same postulated in the referenced publication.

The first example given on page 8 of the pubication seems to be remarkably similar to OP's situation, except that we don't know if they are filing jointly or if he has separate, non-Idaho income, which would tend to take it out of that example.