How do I determine my Virginia residency status?

Residency Status and Choosing the Right Form to File

• There are two types of Virginia residents: domiciliary and actual.

• A domiciliary resident of another state may also be an actual resident of Virginia.

• Virginia residency may be either full-year or part-year.

• A nonresident of Virginia may be required to file a Virginia return.

• To determine which Virginia return you should file, first determine if you were a resident of Virginia at any time during the taxable year.

Step 1: Determine your residency status Domiciliary Resident You are a domiciliary (legal) resident if your permanent home is in Virginia. Your permanent home is where, whenever you are absent, you intend to return. Every person has one and only one domiciliary residence at a time. Most domiciliary residents actually live in Virginia; however, actual presence in Virginia is not required. If you have established legal domicile in Virginia, you are a domiciliary resident until you establish legal domicile in another state.

• Members of the armed forces who claim Virginia as their home of record are domiciliary residents, even if stationed outside of Virginia.

• A domiciliary resident who accepts employment outside of Virginia, but who does not abandon Virginia as his or her domiciliary residence, even if outside of Virginia for many years, remains a domiciliary resident of Virginia. This includes domiciliary residents who accept employment outside of the United States.

Actual Resident

You are an actual resident if: You maintained an abode in Virginia or were physically present in Virginia for more than 183 total days during the taxable year, even if you are a domiciliary resident of another state or country. If you are an actual resident of Virginia, you may be required to file as a resident in Virginia and in your domiciliary state.

In this situation, you should claim a credit on the return filed in the state of your legal domicile for taxes paid to Virginia.