ISO Advice on Changing Permanent Residency to Texas

[Trelawny]

We have recently sold our business and permanent home in Michigan.  We now plan on spending more time in Texas than in Michigan (with a few months of RVing Travel in between).  It has occurred to us that we should move our permanent residency to Texas.  We own a Condo there so have an address we can use.  We were thinking it might be better because there is no State Income Tax in Texas and if we stay in  the Condo over time could sell it without capital gain taxes.

But we are from Michigan and have never relocated anywhere before.  Are there cons to this thought we don't see?

Has anyone done this?  Or have input to this idea?  

Thank you!

[Kirk W]

You bring up some interesting points. We moved from one state to another 3 times (after I was married) with the Navy, another 3 with states with my civilian career and then 3 more since retirement but all of those were TX domicile. While I have not lived in Michigan, I would expect that it would be less expensive to do so in TX because of the lack of a state income tax. Since you already own a condo, you are also familiar with TX property taxes. You would need to move your health and vehicle insurance policies to TX as well as driver's license, voter registration, and mailing address. I really can't think of any major issues that you would face.

Welcome to Texas! 

[Trelawny]

Thank you Kirk!

[RV_]

Trelawny.

Capital gains taxes are paid to the IRS even if the state charges no capital gains tax. I know I just paid them in a state where they do not have a state capital gains tax per se in 2018.

Please do yourself a favor and look up a good tax lawyer in Texas and ask.

[Barbaraok]

I believe  the statement was about capitol gains on a condo which they would use as their 'home' and live in for a number years before selling. 

[RV_]

28 minutes ago, Barbaraok said:

I believe  the statement was about capitol gains on a condo which they would use as their 'home' and live in for a number years before selling. 

Barb, I believe it was about capital gains, not capitol: While there are certain conditions where Capital gains tax is 0, other situations may be as much as 20% for 2021:

Excerpt:

"How much tax do you have to pay if you sell a property?

How much tax an individual pays when selling a property depends on the following factors.

• Was the house a primary residence?
• When was the house bought?
• The marital and tax filing status
• Your total income

These factors impact the amount of taxes that you have to pay when you sell your house.

Long-term versus short-term capital gains tax

Long-term capital gains come into the picture when you sell an asset, the house in this case, after one year. In that case, the long-term capital gains tax rates would be applicable. The long-term capital gains tax rate has three brackets — 0 percent, 15 percent, and 20 percent. However, which bracket you fall into depends on several factors."

Source: https://marketrealist.com/p/capital-gains-property-tax-home-sale/#:~:text=If you sell the house within one year%2C,follows. 10 percent for taxable income below %249%2C950

Again I recommend getting expert tax advice for both states before making possible mistakes.

Edited August 16, 2021 by RV_

[Barbaraok]

Derek, I have been involved with the purchase of 9 different homes over the years, I know all about capital gains on homes and how to avoid them, and I know about capital gains on investments and pay them which shows we are making money on our investment choices.   DO YOU really think I need a tutorial from you?

[RV_]

YW!