So the states start the process of collecting those taxes, but One\u00a0problem is that <\/span>this process may not happen until two or three years later, and that\u2019s an issue for mobile military members, Kan said.\u00a0The state sends letters, but\u00a0the service members and\/or spouses\u00a0don\u2019t get the letters because they have\u00a0moved once or twice.\u00a0The state turns the matter over to debt collectors, Kan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Then the debt collectors go after the member, and it’s not a good situation,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re trying to work with states to minimize the problem,” Kan said, noting that officials from the Armed Forces Tax Council met in late February with the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, for example. “We’ve begun to identify points of contact [within states and other jurisdictions],” he said. “The issues are getting resolved fairly efficiently.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He advises service members not to ignore any letters they receive from states or debt collectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Even if you don’t think it’s a valid letter, engage,” he said. “Go to the tax center or legal assistance office, but don’t ignore it. Ask them how to proceed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kan declined to name all the states where the problem is happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Military Times reported on the problem in 2012, when some service members were receiving mistaken notices from the California tax board about taxes owed. One Air Force staff sergeant said at the time that she was notified that taxes from 2008 amounted to about $100, but with penalties, fees and interest, the amount had grown to about $500. The first notice she and her husband received was a notice that if they\u00a0didn’t pay the taxes, penalties and interest within a month, their account would be turned over to collections. She pays taxes in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although a California tax official said previous notices were sent, the staff sergeant said she had received none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Military officials have found that\u00a0spouses are having\u00a0similar issues. The 2009 Military Spouse Residency Relief Act allows eligible spouses to claim a state of legal residence. Most states have a form spouses must fill out to claim this right. The form notifies the state that the spouse\u2019s legal residence is another state, that the spouse is there with a service member on military orders, and is not subject to tax withholding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n But spouses can\u2019t just pick any state for the legal residence to qualify \u2014 it must be the same state of legal residence as the service member; they have to properly establish domicile in that state by <\/span>must actually have\u00a0lived there; and they need to maintain that domicile, for example,\u00a0by continuing to vote in that state, have property in the state, have a driver\u2019s license and perhaps a professional license in the state. “As many ties as possible to the state,” Kan said. Spouses and service members alike should “talk convincingly of their intent to return to the state.”<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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