Notifying employer of move to full-time RV live

[Blues]

20 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Why would the TX revenue department even care, since TX has no state income tax? I highly doubt that TX would do anything to defend them. On the other hand TX would not help CA collect either.

I guarantee you Texas would call a special session to pass its own income tax before it would allow California to assess its income tax against Texas citizens.  😀

[sheldons65]

Use the Escapees address with your employer. That’s what most do. Keep it simple. Whatever you do inside your RV home is nobody else’s business.

[Kirk W]

vlbrown86, if you don't mind, would you update us all on where you are in the move to working from the road?

[Blues]

14 hours ago, sheldons65 said:

Whatever you do inside your RV home is nobody else’s business.

Actually, it is other people's business.  If you read posts upthread by Payroll Person, you'll see how your employer can be affected by the location where you are when you're working.  And it could be that your employer is making a conscious effort not to be considered to be doing business in a particular state, only to have that upended by an employee working there, subjecting your employer (in addition to yourself) to taxes in that state.  That's not a surprise most companies would welcome.

[Payroll Person]

3 minutes ago, Blues said:

Actually, it is other people's business.  If you read posts upthread by Payroll Person, you'll see how your employer can be affected by the location where you are when you're working.  And it could be that your employer is making a conscious effort not to be considered to be doing business in a particular state, only to have that upended by an employee working there, subjecting your employer (in addition to yourself) to taxes in that state.  That's not a surprise most companies would welcome.

Besides the items I already mentioned, causing nexus may subject the employer to sales tax in the new state, even if they do not meet the sales limits from the Wayfair ruling.

Employers who are not already aware of the risks of remote working (usually by lack of knowledge) will likely be altering their policies shortly. States are never going to agree on a common set of remote work nexus triggers.

Not being honest with the place you depend on for income is not a great way to live. You are putting yourself and your employer at risk of financial harm. 

[sheldons65]

This makes me feel like some sort of a rebel. I like it   It is San Jacinto day after all. 🤠

I'm classified as a remote employee based in Texas. 

Travel all over the US and international. Never a problem with my company. I'm a remote employee based in Texas.

Until the revenuers come fast roping out of a helicopter asking me to drop my mouse and take 3 steps back with my hands raised, I plan to keep doing what I've been doing a few more years until retirement. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by sheldons65

[Case20hp]

I live in one state(MN) and work in the other(ND) as my full time job. I still pay taxes in my residence state. Not the state I work in. Even when I was on the road as a theatre gig worker I still only payed state tax to my home state(MN) and the company I worked for was in NY. The nice thing here is ND has an agreement with MN so my employer hold MN tax. When I was part time I forgot to fill out the reciprocity form for state tax and had to file both MN and ND. I was sent back every thing that was sent to ND.

[kb0zke]

We used to do construction work with Laborers For Christ before it went belly-up. Our pay was taxed at the local rate, so when we worked in Texas we paid no State income tax. When we worked in Wisconsin we did. Towards the end we would sign up for projects in States that had no income tax. As South Dakota residents, we paid no State income tax on any of our income, but if we worked in a State that did have income tax we had to pay that. Sometimes we could file to get at least some back, but sometimes it just wasn't worth it.

[Vladimir]

I don't see it mentioned. 

But when I was a forestry student in the early 70's I went to school and lived in California and worked in Idaho for the Forest Service.  Never paid Idaho income tax because I made so little money.  Below the minimum for filing taxes, so had NONE withheld. 

Not sure what the case is today.  But if your a traveling RV person working in the state, you could just limit your stay to be below the minimum income required for filing taxes and be just fine.  Basically, that is what happened to me.

By the mid-seventies, I was working as a professional and ended up paying taxes in California, Colorado, and Idaho.  My income was now high enough to trigger taxes in all those states.  Thank god, Nevada didn't have a income tax or I would have been filing FIVE returns.

Withholding is really the issue, I think.  Your employer doesn't have to withhold for all those states, or do they??

In my case, I had three different employers that year.  Really did not realize what happened, until all those states sent me their income tax forms!!

Anyway, not sure if I am right or wrong on this...but worth exploring.

[Blues]

22 hours ago, Vladimir said:

Not sure what the case is today.  But if your a traveling RV person working in the state, you could just limit your stay to be below the minimum income required for filing taxes and be just fine.  Basically, that is what happened to me.

Only seven states have a minimum income required for filing taxes, and some of those also have a minimum length-of-stay threshold.  On the other hand, 24 states have no minimum length-of-stay threshold or income threshold, which means people who did work in those states have to file tax returns no matter how briefly they worked in that state or how little income they earned in that state.

If you go to this link and scroll down to Table 3, you'll see a listing of the states and their thresholds.

https://taxfoundation.org/remote-work-tax-reform-mobility-modernization/#Thresholds

States' laws dictate when state income tax is owed (and must be withheld on the employee's behalf by the employer).  Those laws don't necessarily make sense (like answering a work email in an airport on a layover triggering income tax in that state), but that doesn't mean they don't exist.  And they're obviously not enforced in ticky-tack cases like the airport layover. 

But with so many more people working remotely, it's possible that states will start being more aggressive, especially because in most cases, it won't be difficult because the person works from his home in that state all the time.  He'll be responsible for state income taxes in the state where he lives and performs his work.  

The only difference between him and a traveling remote worker is that the traveler has a series of homes instead of just one.  But that's not the state's problem--it's the employee's problem and the employer's problem, as Payroll Person has pointed out in various posts upthread.  Which is why employees should at least tell their employer what they're doing, and let the employer decide how to handle it in accordance with its legal responsibilities--responsibilities to both the government and insurers and the like, as well as to the employee, who could get hit with an income tax bill for which he'll have to come up with the money because his employer didn't withhold any tax.

[Wanderbust]

I wouldn't think it would be too much of an issue if you're already working remotely, at least given that you're still able to get the work done and be contacted when needed - I'd definitely make reliable internet a priority, which you've obviously considered. Good to think about it from your employers perspective though. I might be inclined to describe it as a shorter term vacation at first, rather than admitting to being on the road full time. Then you can at least point to some evidence that you're still able to do the job just fine from that experience and explain that it's become a full time thing. Hope it all works out! sounds like a great way to live.

[Kirk W]

On 4/27/2022 at 10:17 PM, Vladimir said:

Not sure what the case is today.  But if your a traveling RV person working in the state, you could just limit your stay to be below the minimum income required for filing taxes and be just fine.  Basically, that is what happened to me.

I did that when in Kansas one summer with some paid work in a state park which we hosted in. But they did withhold from my pay but I got everything back by filing. 

3 hours ago, Wanderbust said:

I might be inclined to describe it as a shorter term vacation at first, rather than admitting to being on the road full time.

I would be very careful about that if your health insurance is from your employer. There might be other benefits that could be impacted. 

[Wanderbust]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:51 PM, Kirk W said:

I did that when in Kansas one summer with some paid work in a state park which we hosted in. But they did withhold from my pay but I got everything back by filing. 

I would be very careful about that if your health insurance is from your employer. There might be other benefits that could be impacted. 

Oh of course! I assumed you were contract - my mistake.