MACRAO: Re: Residency and employment exception

It depends. J And, I’ll probably trap myself on something by answering… but here would be my logic:

I would look at all the factors… MT DL, Vehicle Reg, Voter Reg, Principle residence purchase, MT tax filing… first. Employment as the 12 month exception 2^nd.

I don’t believe we would consider someone who is a born/raised/never left MT; not a MT resident because they work for an out of state/international company and travel (if we do, there is a cowboy that lives at my address who would take serious exception!) J So although employment is a means around the 12 months; I would not use the location of the employment as a sole factor against their residency either.

· I would probably not even notice if they were not employed in MT because so many people are employed by national and/or international companies, it becomes difficult to discern who they work for/where they work. I would look for full time, permanent employment with a signed affidavit.

· If the benefit of ‘in-state’ residency is because the individual/family are contributing through the tax base and thus avail themselves of the benefit that being a ‘resident’ affords them from the taxpayers by way of state support … I think we may have a difficult ‘argument’ based solely on employment factors.

Cheri

From: MACRAO Listserv [mailto:MACRAO@LISTSERV.GFCMSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Charity Walters
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 1:41 PM
To: MACRAO@LISTSERV.GFCMSU.EDU
Subject: Re: Residency and employment exception

I haven’t had this situation come up yet, but from my understanding of the policy, I would probably key into where they are paying their state taxes and if it is FY or PY residency. Also look into their additional proof of residency to see if it balances their working statement. If the purpose of the policy is to verify that they did not come to Montana for education purposes only, the additional documentation (i.e. tax forms, letter of employment) should seek to verify their situation.

From: MACRAO Listserv [mailto:MACRAO@LISTSERV.GFCMSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Charity Walters
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 1:39 PM
To: MACRAO@LISTSERV.GFCMSU.EDU
Subject: Residency and employment exception

Hi everyone,

This question in the bottom half of this email is from Jessica Brubaker as MUS Legal. Please reply all so Jessica and Laurie receives the responses.

Charity

We recently had a question about the employment exception, specifically, whether it applies to individuals who are living in Montana but employed by companies that are located in other states and working either by telecommuting or travelling. The language in the exception is “employed full-time in a permanent job in Montana.” How are all of you handling this? Would it make a difference if the person who was telecommuting was paying income tax in Montana?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Jessica M. Brubaker

Associate Legal Counsel

Montana University System

2500 Broadway

Helena, MT 59601

406-444-0314

jbrubaker@montana.edu