I have a client who is considering buying a property in California and keeping his existing home in Illinois. He works in Illinois. His time will be split 55% Il and 45% CA. His wife will be in CA probably 90% of her time not working.

To which state will my male client pay his taxes? I advised Illinois - esp as only 3% as opposed to CA 9.3% but then suddenly became very doubtful and am looking for certainty... Of course I told him to check with his CPA!:rolleyes::rolleyes:

If you are present in a state, then any income earned during this period, must be reported to the state.

To your resident state, you must report your worldwide income for the year. Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Working or Living in Two or More states (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/06/working-in-two-or-more-states.html)

:)Thank you very much. The website you sent link to is awesome.

Given that the preponderance of the couple's time is spent in California, I believe that California will be the resident state tax return and Illinois will be part-year resident the first year, then non-resident for the following years.