State Tax After Moving to the UK: Are You Still a Resident?
Moving to the UK does not automatically end your US state tax residence. Here is how domicile works, why California, New York, Virginia, South Carolina and New Mexico are hard to leave, and how to file a final part-year return.
The weeks around a move are the best time to cut ties with your old state, because the records you keep now settle your state tax position later.
Written by the US UK Tax Experts team, cross-border tax specialists
State tax after moving to the UK: an introduction
Your state tax after moving to the UK depends on whether you have truly left your state, not just the country. Most states tax residents on worldwide income. Many treat you as a resident while you are domiciled there, even if you live abroad. Therefore, you usually need to break your domicile and file a final part-year return to stop state tax.
This article explains how states decide residence and what to do when you leave. Federal tax is a separate question, because the US taxes citizens wherever they live. For that side, read our guide to US and UK tax returns, which covers both returns together.
Why state tax after moving to the UK is easy to miss
Most people know they still file a federal return from the UK. Fewer realise that a state can also keep taxing them. Furthermore, state rules are not covered by the US-UK tax treaty, and some states give no credit for UK tax. Consequently, an unbroken state residence can mean real tax on UK income, not just extra paperwork.
How do states decide if you are still a resident?
Most states use two tests: domicile and statutory residence. Domicile is about where your permanent home is, while statutory residence usually counts days and homes.
Domicile
Domicile is your true, fixed and permanent home: the place you intend to return to. You have only one domicile at a time. Moreover, you keep it until you abandon it and establish a new one. Moving abroad for a set period, with a plan to return, often leaves your old domicile in place.
Statutory residence
Statutory residence is a test that treats you as resident if you keep a home in the state and spend enough days there. It mainly catches people domiciled elsewhere who spend long periods in the state. For someone living in the UK full time, domicile is usually the test that matters.
Ties that show where your home is
States look at the facts of your life to decide your domicile. These include where your family lives, where you own or rent a home, and where you vote. They also include your driving licence, car registration, bank accounts and business ties. Therefore, keeping many ties to your old state makes it harder to show that you have left.
Which states are hardest to leave?
California, New York, Virginia, South Carolina and New Mexico are often described as hard to leave. Each has rules that can keep you resident after you move abroad.
California
The California regulation on residence, 18 CCR 17014, says you can be resident without being domiciled there, and the reverse. A Californian who is away for a temporary or transitory purpose stays resident. The state with which you have the closest connection during the year is treated as your state of residence. The Franchise Tax Board's residency status page explains how it applies these rules.
California's safe harbour
The Franchise Tax Board's page for part-year residents and nonresidents describes a safe harbour. A California domiciliary working outside the state under an employment-related contract may qualify as a nonresident. However, the safe harbour has strict conditions on the length of the contract, return visits and investment income. FTB Publication 1031 sets them out, so check the current edition before you rely on it.
New York
The New York page on residency definitions says domicile does not change until you abandon it and set up a new one. A statutory resident keeps a permanent home in New York for substantially all of the year and spends 184 days or more there. Additionally, New York has a 548-day rule for domiciliaries abroad. It requires at least 450 days in a foreign country in any 548-day period, with strict limits on days in New York.
Virginia, South Carolina and New Mexico
The Virginia statute, Va. Code 58.1-302, treats anyone domiciled in Virginia at any time in the year as a resident. Similarly, the South Carolina Department of Revenue page for new residents bases residence on intention to return. New Mexico's residency regulation says a temporary absence, however long, does not change domicile.
What does staying a state resident cost you?
If you stay resident, your state can tax your UK salary and investment income. Some states also refuse the federal relief that usually removes US tax on UK income.
No foreign earned income exclusion in California
The foreign earned income exclusion lets you leave qualifying foreign earnings out of federal income, as the IRS foreign earned income exclusion page explains. California does not follow it. Its Schedule CA (540NR) instructions tell you to add the excluded amount back. Consequently, a California resident in London can owe California tax on a UK salary that is free of federal tax.
No credit for UK tax
California's other state tax credit does not cover foreign taxes. Its Schedule S instructions say taxes paid to any foreign country do not count. At federal level, the IRS foreign tax credit usually removes US tax on UK income. However, many states have no equivalent, so UK tax and state tax can both fall on the same income.
The treaty does not help
The US-UK tax treaty deals with federal income tax. It does not generally bind the states on income tax. Therefore, you cannot rely on the treaty to stop a state taxing you. Our guide to the US-UK double taxation treaty explains what it does cover.
Other states differ
Not every state follows California. Some start from federal income after the exclusion, and some offer partial relief. However, the details vary widely, and they change. Therefore, check your own state's current instructions rather than assuming the federal position carries over. State tax after moving to the UK is one area where a general answer is rarely enough.
How do you break state residence when you move?
You break state residence by abandoning your domicile and showing that the UK is your new permanent home. Then you file a final part-year return for the year you leave.
Cut the ties that matter
Close or move what you can: your home, voter registration, driving licence, car registration and local bank accounts. Update your address with banks, brokers and pension providers. Additionally, keep evidence of your UK life, such as a lease or purchase, a UK job and school places for children. The aim is a clear record that your state of residence for tax ended on a specific date.
When you keep a home in the state
Keeping a house in your old state is not fatal, but it weakens your case. If you rent it out on a long lease, that is easier to explain than a home left empty for your return. However, a home kept available for you to use can point to an intention to come back. In our experience, this is the most common reason state tax after moving to the UK continues.
Intention matters
Several states focus on whether you intend to return. A move for a fixed two-year posting, with your home kept ready, looks temporary. In contrast, an open-ended move with a UK home and family settled here points to a new domicile. Therefore, think about how your move will look to the state before you leave, not after.
Keep a moving file
Keep a simple file with the date you left, your flight, your UK lease or purchase and your UK employment contract. Add copies of letters closing accounts and cancelling registrations. If the state ever questions your move, that file is your evidence. Moreover, it helps whoever prepares your returns to fix the right date for state tax after moving to the UK.
What returns do you file in the year you move?
In the year you leave, you usually file a part-year resident return. In later years, you file a nonresident return only if you still have income from that state.
The part-year return
A part-year resident return covers the part of the year you were resident, plus any state-source income after that. California's form is Form 540NR, as its part-year page confirms. New York uses Form IT-203, described in its IT-203 instructions. As a part-year resident, you pay tax on worldwide income for the resident period only.
Splitting income in the year you move
In the year of the move, each item of income must be placed before or after your departure date. Salary is usually split by the dates it was earned. Similarly, interest and dividends follow the dates they were paid. Bonuses and share awards can be harder, because some states look at when the work was done. A bonus paid after you leave can still be taxed by your old state if it relates to work done there.
Nonresident returns in later years
Once you are a nonresident, a state usually taxes only income sourced there. That includes rent from property in the state, income from a business there and work done there. Consequently, if you keep a rental property in your old state, you will probably keep filing a nonresident return. State tax after moving to the UK then applies only to that income.
States with no income tax
Some states have no broad personal income tax, so leaving them raises no state income tax question. However, if you lived in one of them but kept ties to another state, check both. A past move between states can leave an older domicile in place. Our article on US tax deadlines for Americans abroad covers federal timing for both kinds of return.
A worked example of state tax after moving to the UK
Consider a typical case. Sarah is a US citizen who moves from California to London in July 2026 to take a permanent job. She sells her car, gives up her California driving licence and registers to vote from abroad in a way that reflects her move. She keeps a condo in California, which she lets on a twelve-month lease. This is an illustrative example, not a real client.
For 2026, Sarah files a California part-year return on Form 540NR. It covers her worldwide income from January to July, and the rent from the condo for the whole year. Her UK salary after July is outside California tax, because she is no longer resident. From 2027, she files a nonresident return each year, covering only the condo's rent.
What Sarah's case shows
Sarah's clean break meant her state tax after moving to the UK stopped at the date she left, apart from the rent. Had she left the condo empty for her return, California could argue that she remained domiciled there. In that case, her UK salary could have been taxed in California, with no exclusion and no credit for UK tax. Therefore, her records of the move are worth keeping for many years.
How US UK Tax Experts can help
US UK Tax Experts prepares your federal, state and UK returns together, from one file. In the year you move, we prepare the part-year state return and work out which income belongs where. In later years, we prepare any nonresident state return alongside your federal and UK returns. Our US federal returns service explains what we prepare, and our article on US expat taxes in the UK covers the federal side.
Conclusion
State tax after moving to the UK does not stop on its own. Most states keep taxing you while you remain domiciled there, and some, like California, give no relief for UK tax. Break your ties clearly, keep evidence of your new UK home and file a part-year return for the year you leave. If you keep property in the state, expect a nonresident return each year for that income.
Contact us
If you are unsure about your state tax after moving to the UK, email hello@usuktaxexperts.com or use our contact form. Tell us which state you left, when you moved and what you still own there. We reply within one working day.
Frequently asked questions
You may, if your state still treats you as a resident. Most states tax residents on worldwide income and treat you as resident while you are domiciled there. Breaking your domicile and filing a part-year return usually ends state tax on UK income.
Show that you have left for more than a temporary purpose and that your closest connections are now outside California. Close or move your home, licence, voter registration and accounts where you can. California also has a safe harbour for some people abroad under employment contracts, with strict conditions in FTB Publication 1031.
No. The California instructions tell you to add back income excluded on your federal return. California also gives no credit for taxes paid to a foreign country, so UK income can be taxed by California if you remain resident.
It lets a New York domiciliary be treated as a nonresident while abroad if strict conditions are met. You must be in a foreign country for at least 450 days in a 548-day period, with limits on days spent in New York by you and your family.
Usually a part-year resident return for the year you leave, such as Form 540NR in California or Form IT-203 in New York. In later years, you file a nonresident return only if you still have income from that state, such as rent.
Generally no. The treaty deals with federal income tax and does not generally bind the states. Your protection comes from breaking state residence, not from the treaty.
