USC/OCI - R2I from Ohio: will I need to pay OH state tax every year?

[JS04]

Gurus,

I've searched a few times but wasn't able to find an answer to this question. I'm R2I'ing this year/early next year and currently stay in Ohio. Self and spouse are USC/OCI. I know I need to file US federal taxes from India every year, but how about Ohio state taxes?

If anyone has gone through this situation and could provide pointers, that would be much appreciated. Alternatively, any advice on where I should look to find out? I've checked the Ohio taxation site, and a few others, but the answer isn't clear to me yet.

thanks very much!

[sanjosedesi]

I've searched a few times but wasn't able to find an answer to this question. I'm R2I'ing this year/early next year and currently stay in Ohio. Self and spouse are USC/OCI. I know I need to file US federal taxes from India every year, but how about Ohio state taxes?

If anyone has gone through this situation and could provide pointers, that would be much appreciated. Alternatively, any advice on where I should look to find out? I've checked the Ohio taxation site, and a few others, but the answer isn't clear to me yet.

Depends on whether you want to file or not ... I guess the answer is that you prefer not to file to save some money.

At the simplest, you can just not file since you do not live there. In most cases, they will not bother you after your last filing.

However, check this http://www.tax.ohio.gov/divisions/ohio_individual/individual/residency_status.stm
At the outset it says you must file if you are a resident "temporarily away from Ohio"

Besides this, there is not a whole lot of information available on this topic, but based on what I read about California, you must take some active steps to get this off your back ... this will be required if you have substantial income and substantial taxes.
Just ignoring the filing may not be enough. There are cases when California has tried to come after non-resident expats and you can search for these.

In general, for you to avoid paying Ohio taxes when you do not even live there, you should cut off all your ties to it and create a perception that you have permanently moved away from Ohio. This will mean not having any Ohio source income (in case you rent out property, or bought Ohio bonds), sell off real estate in Ohio (if any), change addresses in all accounts (to avoid the perception that you intend to return there), and even going to the extent of not having their license.

Again, not everyone needs to do it ... and you need to think of these only if your income is high enough for Ohio to claim a part of it.

[JS04]

sanjosedesi, thanks very much for your thoughtful answer. Yes, I had come across the several postings on California going after expats and hence my concern about state tax liability in Ohio after I R2I. Not that my income is that high :p, but I probably should take whatever "active steps" I can. I won't have real estate left here so that wouldn't be an issue, but I'll change address on various accounts and figure out a way of returning my driving license. Couldn't figure one out on the the DMV site, maybe I'll try a change of address with them...