Califorrnia tax treatment of income for military person who ceased active duty

[FEDUKE404]

Client has been living in California for several years while on active duty with the USAF. Person separated from the military in July of this year. Person is unmarried but likely can qualify as head of household. The qualifying individual will be a member of the household for all twelve months of 2024.

Home of record of the client has (conveniently) been Florida, so no state income taxes have ever been paid while on active duty in various states.

Person has no residence in Florida, and possesses valid Florida and California driver licenses. Intent of client is to live in California for the foreseeable future.

My basic question is WHEN does / did the cloak of not paying any California state income tax disappear? Am I dealing with a PART-YEAR California tax return scenario with the usual pro-rated calculations based on "California income / time"? I feel certain that any / all income (wages or Sch C) earned from July through December of this year will likely be fully taxed by California.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can steer me in the proper direction. (I am several thousand miles away from California.)

FE

[Rapid Robert]

Our host TheTaxBook has six pages about military servicemembers and California in the California Edition tab 3 (online Weblibrary Plus). I don't know the answer myself having never had a client like this.

[terryats]

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act provides for active duty military personal, no matter where they currently live their home state is where they joined, unless they change it. Once discharged they no longer fall under active military on the date of discharge. I would file your client a part year resident of CA as of the date he became a resident of CA., and would prorate income. Just an opinion.

[FEDUKE404]

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act provides for active duty military personal, no matter where they currently live their home state is where they joined, unless they change it. Once discharged they no longer fall under active military on the date of discharge. I would file your client a part year resident of CA as of the date he became a resident of CA., and would prorate income. Just an opinion.

Thank you for responding.

My likely action will be to file a California PART-YEAR RESIDENT tax return. All income received while on active duty will be excluded. All income received after being discharged from the military (roughly July through December) will be reported as taxable to CA. The individual has lived in the same CA residence for several years. I hope that does not create unexpected issues.

FWIW: I did try to call the CA tax folks for an explanation. The regular line said they were not accepting calls due to high volume. I called the CA tax pro number, and it had a wait time of three hours (click!).

Thanks again!

FE