Changing state I claim for taxes--Active Duty Army

I am in the Army. My parents live in Minnesota and I established residency in Iowa (voted, full-time job, residence, etc) before I enlisted. I currently do not have a physical residence in Iowa but claim Iowa for taxes and am registered to vote in Iowa. I do both and it is quite legal. I've already researched it.

I have recently learned that a simple piece of paper submitted to my Finance office where I am stationed can change my state of residency. The only physical permanant address that I can claim is in Minnesota and Minnesota does not assess state taxes from Active Duty servicemembers stationed outside the state of Minnesota. I would save about $1450/year by doing this at my current income tax bracket. The only drawback is that I would not be able to pursue my life passion of hunting deer in Iowa which I do annually without paying significant non-resident fees and would not have the hunting priviledges that I have as an Iowan.

Does this sound legal/legit? I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone I talk to. My finance office and personnel office say "go for it" but I don't trust military HR or finance folks. I've seen to much typical government error, inefficiency and lack of expertise in both of those areas to feel comfortable.

I feel a bit of a drawback because I won't be able to hunt in Iowa anymore and I'm not quite sure if I want to retire in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota or Nebraska 10 years from now. It will certainly be one of those.

Would this be legal/moral? I'm interested in opinions and anyone with the expertise or knowledge that might direct me to the correct Minnesota government office to get the straight scoop.

it is both legal and moral to change your state of residency (for tax or any other purposes).

if you are enlisted, you need 2 of the following three issues to be true to change your state of residency.

1. a driver's license in the state you want to claim residency.
2. registered to vote in the state you want to claim residency.
3. a residence in the state in which you want to claim residency.

if you are an officer, you just file a form at your personnel office or administration center.

as for the financial wisdom of it, how much is it to pay for non-resident licenses for each year for all the hunting and fishing you want to do? if it is significantly beneficial to do so, there is your answer.

by the way, if you are on or near a large military installation where you want to enjoy the great outdoors, i think they give you a break regardless of your state of residency ... though it has been a while since i looked into that, so check yourself prior to making a decision.

good luck.

I can hunt in Missouri under typical resident hunting laws and I can hunt in Iowa because that's where I claim residency. However, Missouri can't touch Iowa and I'm never going to hunt on an Army installation. The red tape isn't worth it and it's crawling with hunters--even more than typical prime public hunting land. It's dangerous IMHO and it isn't fun. I don't go hunting to see a bunch of other blaze orange dots walking around out in the woods.

I would like to respectfully question what you said about the difference between officer and enlisted. There's no way in my mind we could be held to a different standard with regards to the tax code. My Batallion personnel officer called down to the Finance office and confirmed that I only have to file that piece of paper to get my withholding changed from Minnesota to Iowa. Now you have me wondering and I think I'm going to go ahead and register to vote in Minnesota and get my Minnesota driver's license when I go home in December.

I can get a non-resident deer tag for Iowa for $80 which is a pittance compared to my tax savings which isn't HUGE but it's enough. I figure I can save an extra $10K between now and when I retire from the Army.

i was both enlisted and officer. the operative word here being "was". of course things change but they dont usually change that much or that fast and i havent been gone all that long.