Friday, June 10, 2011

Uniform State Nonresident Taxation Rule Reintroduced in Congress

Federal legislation has been reintroduced in Congress that would allow all states to tax the wages earned by nonresident employees who are present and performing employment duties in the state for more than 30 days in a year [H.R. 1864].

Nonresident taxation rules are not currently uniform across states. Some states tax nonresidents if they perform one day of service in the state. Hawaii, on the other hand, doesn't require withholding if services aren't performed in the State for more than 60 days during the year. The new legislation would reduce some of the complexity in these rules.

The legislation is called the “Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2011.” The bill would allow a nonresident state to tax all of the wages and remuneration earned by the employee in that state from day one once the employee reaches the “more than 30 day threshold.” The employee's earnings would also be subject to taxation in his resident state. The provisions of the bill would not apply to professional athletes and entertainers, and to “certain public figures,” who are defined as “persons of prominence who perform services for wages or other remuneration on a per-event basis, provided that the wages or other remuneration are paid to such person for services provided at a discrete event in the form of a speech, similar presentation or personal appearance.”

The mechanics of the bill are identical to a bill issued in 2009 that never came to a vote in the House or Senate.

The bill would take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, if it is signed into law.

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