Do You Have to File State Taxes As A Member of the Military?

I'm stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and am wondering if I have to submit state income taxes as well? Or can I just put all my information from my W-2 into my federal tax return and be done with it? Thanks

Public Comments

1. Yes, for your permanent home state (home of record). If you are stationed in another state and your military pay is your only income, you don not have to pay state income tax to that state.
2. For the military, your home of record on file is used to base your liability for state taxes. In your case, since you are based in Texas but your home of record is another state, then you pay state taxes to the state you indicate as your home of record. ~
3. Being in the Military you have to claim a state of resident, and you only pay taxes in your home state no matter where you are.
4. When you entered the military, you claimed a state of residence. If you claimed some state without an income tax (like Texas, Florida, Alaska, Nevada, and a few others) you don't need to file. If you claimed a state that has an income tax but doesn't tax out of state military pay (New York, etc) you need to file but not pay. Choose your state wisely. Otherwise, yes, you need to file and pay state income taxes.
5. You have to file State taxes if your home state has income taxes. Some states exempt military income if you are stationed somewhere outside that state (Illinois, for example). Other states might tax it or a portion of it. See your Division JAG Office - surely they do income tax preparation for free.
6. Military personnel and their families have special rules for their state tax situation. They will pay taxes to their home state even they they are stationed at another state. That is why, many in military claim Washington, Texas, Tennessee and Florida as their home state because these state have NO state income tax. The family member of the military person MUST pay taxes on income earned within the state borders of the state where the family is stationed. Most states have them report as residents, but some have them report as non-residents. It varies from state to state. However, the family members are NOT normally obligated to report their other "world-wide" income on the state return where they are currently stationed, because the courts recognize that the family members also share the domicile status of the military member himself. Read http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/list-of-articles.html