Tax Type
Individual Income Tax
Description
Residency; Nursing home patient
Topic
Residency
Date Issued
03-23-1989
March 23, 1989
Re: Ruling Request
Individual Income Tax
Dear******************
This is in reply to your letter dated December 5, 1988, in which you request a ruling regarding the determination of your mother's domicile for tax purposes.
FACTS
During calendar year 1988 you moved your mother from New York to a nursing home in Virginia. You stated in your letter that your mother intends to become a resident of Virginia. She will register to vote in Virginia and will move her bank and trust accounts here. Specifically, you ask how her status is effected by Virginia Code §64.1-76.
RULING
Virginia Code §64.1-76 provides:
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- Where any person has because of advanced age or impaired health either voluntarily or involuntarily become a patient in a nursing home, a convalescent home, or a similar institution, the place of legal residence of such person shall be presumed to be the same as it was before he became such a patient; provided, however, that such a presumption may be rebutted by competent evidence. (Emphasis added.)
- Where any person has because of advanced age or impaired health either voluntarily or involuntarily become a patient in a nursing home, a convalescent home, or a similar institution, the place of legal residence of such person shall be presumed to be the same as it was before he became such a patient; provided, however, that such a presumption may be rebutted by competent evidence. (Emphasis added.)
For purposes of taxation, the terms residence and domicile are not synonymous. While a person may have many residences, he may have but one domicile. Virginia Code §58.1-302 provides:
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- "Domicile" means the permanent place of residence of a taxpayer and the place to which he intends to return even though he may actually reside elsewhere. In determining domicile, consideration may be given to the applicant's expressed intent, conduct, and all attendant circumstances including, but not limited to, financial independence, business pursuits, employment, income sources, residence for federal income tax purposes, marital status, residence of parents, spouse and children, if any, leasehold, sites of personal and real property owned by the applicant, motor vehicle and other personal property registration, residence for purposes of voting as proven by registration to vote, if any, and such other factors as may reasonably be deemed necessary to determine the person's domicile.
- "Domicile" means the permanent place of residence of a taxpayer and the place to which he intends to return even though he may actually reside elsewhere. In determining domicile, consideration may be given to the applicant's expressed intent, conduct, and all attendant circumstances including, but not limited to, financial independence, business pursuits, employment, income sources, residence for federal income tax purposes, marital status, residence of parents, spouse and children, if any, leasehold, sites of personal and real property owned by the applicant, motor vehicle and other personal property registration, residence for purposes of voting as proven by registration to vote, if any, and such other factors as may reasonably be deemed necessary to determine the person's domicile.
Sincerely,
W. H. Forst
Tax Commissioner
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner