ID Tax Preparers - Grocery Credit

[krazykev]

Hello all - I am in Utah, but have a client who lives in Idaho (he is the father of another client, that is how I got into this). Anyway, I am working on his Idaho tax return and on the grocery credit the worksheet asks the number of qualified months for prorating the credit. The instructions only refer to incarceration, time on food stamps, and living illegally in the US as non-qualified time. However, this person is a snowbird who goes to Arizona during the winter. Per the ID instructions he qualifies as resident even if he is living in AZ during the winter. Sorry for the long story, but does he qualify for the full 12-months of grocery credit or does it have to be prorated? The instructions are not clear on this point.

Thanks!

[Koss]

Grocery Credit?

Wow, they've got some **** strange stuff out west, don't they?



What if this guy was incarcerated in Arizona? Would that make a difference?

LMAO

BMK

[Koss]

Idaho Resident?

You need to determine whether your client is a full-year resident of Idaho who happens to leave Idaho temporarily when it gets too cold, or whether your client is a part-year resident of Idaho.

If your client is a full-year resident who was temporarily absent for a few months, then that period of time will still be considered qualifying time, because he is still considered an Idaho resident during those months.

Idaho appears to offer some common-sense guidance on determining whether one is a resident, nonresident, or part-year resident:

Are you a resident, a nonresident, or a part-year resident?
The following will help you decide:
• You are an Idaho resident, even though you live outside Idaho,
if the following are true:
- You think of Idaho as your permanent home.
- Idaho is the center of your financial, social, and family life.
- Idaho is the place you intend to return to when you are
away.
• You are also an Idaho resident if the following are true:
- You maintained a home in Idaho the entire year.
- You spent more than 270 days in Idaho during the tax year.
• You are a nonresident if your permanent home is outside of
Idaho all year.
• You are a part-year resident if you moved into or out of Idaho
during the tax year. You are still a resident if:
- You temporarily moved outside of Idaho, or
- You moved back to Idaho after a temporary absence.

But make sure your client isn't a special-case nonresident:

SPECIAL-CASE IDAHO RESIDENTS
You are considered a nonresident if all of the following are true:
• You are an Idaho resident who lived outside of Idaho for at
least 445 days in a 15-month period.
• After satisfying the 15-month period, you spent less than 60
days in Idaho during the year.
• You didn't have a personal residence in Idaho for yourself or
your family during any part of 2008.
• You didn't claim Idaho as your federal tax home.
• You weren't employed on the staff of a U.S. senator or representative.
• You didn't hold an elective or appointive office of the U.S.
Government other than the armed forces or a career appointment
in the U.S. Foreign Service.

By the way, I've never actually done an Idaho return...

But I'm going to enjoy talking about the "grocery credit" tomorrow morning at the water cooler.



BMK