Moving to Arizona: residency checklist

Your domicile is the place you treat as your permanent home, so the new home has to be the one you really live in. States compare your homes: California's FTB lists the location of your principal residence as a factor, New York's Tax Department reviews the homes you keep and how you use each, and Utah's code compares the living accommodations you have in each state.

Keep as proof: Signed lease or deed, move-in date, and a first utility bill at the new address

File IRS Form 8822 for your home mailing address (the form's instructions say a change generally takes 4 to 6 weeks). USPS says mailers such as banks and government agencies do not forward sensitive mail like driver's licenses, voter registration, credit cards, bank statements or insurance papers, so change your address with each sender directly. Utah's code counts the address you list on mail and tax returns.

Keep as proof: Copy of Form 8822 with proof of mailing, plus address-change confirmations from your bank and insurers

California's FTB lists the state where you are registered to vote as a residency factor, and New York's guidelines look at where you are registered and whether you vote there, including in primary and local elections. The federal National Mail Voter Registration Form can report a change of address and asks for the address where you were registered before; follow your own state's instructions on it, because each state runs registration differently.

Keep as proof: Voter registration confirmation (card or online confirmation page)

Applies if you have children

States look at where your family lives. California's FTB lists the location of your spouse/RDP and children, New York's Tax Department says where minor children attend school can be one of the most important factors, and Utah's code counts where a dependent is enrolled in school.

Keep as proof: School enrollment confirmation and the first report card or school record showing the new address

California's FTB lists where your banks are and where your doctors, dentists, accountants and attorneys are. Not every state weighs these: Minnesota's statute says the Commissioner and courts may not consider where your attorney, CPA or financial adviser is or where you open accounts, and New York's guidelines call the mere location of bank accounts a non-factor. Treat this as supporting evidence, not proof on its own.

Keep as proof: New-patient and account-opening confirmations showing the new address

New York's guidelines list legal documents that name a place as your domicile or primary residence, such as a will, as a factor (a secondary one), and Utah's code counts asserting residency in a document you file with a court or government body. Ask your attorney to review your will, trust and powers of attorney so they match your move.

Keep as proof: Signed copies of the updated documents

iReside logs where you are every day, so you have auditable proof of the day you moved and of the days you spend in your old state. Day counts matter: Minnesota's statute requires adequate records of days spent outside the state, and New York's guidelines treat a diary or calendar as support for where you spent your time. Keep the record for as many years as your old state can still check.

Keep as proof: iReside day report for the year

Deadline: The day you are in Arizona with intent to remain indefinitely; this starts your part-year residency

ADOR's procedure says residency depends on physical presence and an intent to abandon the former residence and remain in the new one for an indefinite time, and a new residence exists only when both coexist. Domicile, once established, is presumed to continue until a change is shown, with the burden on the person who says it changed.

Keep as proof: Lease or closing statement, arrival date record, proof of ending ties in the old state

Applies if you own a vehicle

Deadline: As soon as you become an Arizona resident (MVD's page gives no day count)

MVD says a vehicle brought from another state must be registered as soon as you become an Arizona resident, in person at an MVD office with the out-of-state title (or registration if a lienholder holds the title). Vehicles in the Phoenix and Tucson areas may need an emissions test first. Arizona liability insurance from an authorized company is required.

Keep as proof: Arizona registration and title

Applies if you drive

Deadline: No fixed number of days stated on MVD's new-resident page

MVD says to bring proof of authorized presence, your current out-of-state license and your Social Security number to an office with no appointment needed. It lists residency triggers: staying seven months or more in a calendar year, working in Arizona, being registered to vote in Arizona, and similar. MVD's page states no day limit.

Keep as proof: Copy of the Arizona license (front and back)

Deadline: Registration received by the county recorder before midnight of the 29th day before the election

ADOR's list of actions it weighs includes registering to vote in the new location and notifying voter-registration officials in the old locality of the change, plus consistent use of the new permanent address on all records. By statute you must have lived in Arizona 29 days before the election and your registration must reach the county recorder before midnight of the 29th day before it (A.R.S. 16-101, 16-120), and you must provide satisfactory evidence of citizenship. An individual has only one residence for voting.

Keep as proof: County voter registration confirmation

Deadline: April 15 after the tax year

If you moved into Arizona with the intent of becoming a resident, you are a part-year resident and file Form 140PY, Part-Year Resident Personal Income Tax Return. Arizona residents are taxed on all income no matter where it is earned.

Keep as proof: Filed Form 140PY

Under A.R.S. 43-104 as quoted in ADOR's procedure, spending more than nine months of the tax year in Arizona creates a presumption of residency that can be overcome only by evidence that your stay is temporary or transitory. A dated log is the evidence either way.

A home you keep is the first thing a state looks at. New York's guidelines weigh whether you made real efforts to sell it (for example by hiring a real estate firm) and moved your belongings out, and California's FTB lists the location of your principal residence. If you keep the old home, the old state may compare it with your new one, and keep a day log.

Keep as proof: Listing agreement, closing statement, lease termination or new rental lease for the old home

New York's guidelines treat the location of items you hold near and dear (family heirlooms, art, collections, photo albums, pets) as a primary factor, and note that a mover's bill of lading or an insurance statement can document the move. Items left behind in the old state can suggest you have not given it up.

Keep as proof: Mover's bill of lading or inventory, and an insurance policy showing the new address

File a permanent change of address at the Official USPS Change of Address site (identity verification required) or at a Post Office. USPS says to allow at least 7 to 10 business days after approval for it to start, so file before moving day.

Keep as proof: USPS confirmation email

Applies if you are a registered voter

California's FTB lists where you are registered to vote as a residency factor, New York's guidelines look at where you are registered and how you voted, and Utah's code treats voting in the state, without being registered in another state, as establishing domicile there. Register in your new state (the federal form asks for your previous registration address), then stop voting from the old one and ask your old election office how to cancel.

Keep as proof: Confirmation that the old registration was cancelled or moved

California's FTB lists where your social ties are, such as your place of worship, professional associations and clubs, and Utah's code counts membership in a church, club or similar group in the state. Resign, transfer or switch to non-resident status where you can, and join local groups in your new state.

Keep as proof: Resignation or transfer letters and new membership confirmations

Keep iReside running through the move year and after: it logs where you are every day, so you have auditable proof of when you left and of any days you spend back in the old state. Minnesota's statute requires adequate records of days spent outside the state, and New York's guidelines treat a diary or calendar as support for where you spent your time. Keep the record for the years your old state can still check.

Keep as proof: iReside day report for the year

ADOR says a new domicile is acquired only by the concurrence of an intention to establish it and acts evidencing that intention, and that domicile, once established, is presumed to continue until change is shown, with the burden on the person contending otherwise. An Arizona resident continues to be a resident while temporarily absent.

Keep as proof: New-state lease or deed, move date records, dated proof of ending Arizona ties

Applies if you drive, own a vehicle, own a home, are a registered voter

ADOR's list of acts considered includes registering your automobile and applying for, renewing or relinquishing a driver's license, location of bank accounts and business connections, buying a home and selling the old one, paying personal or real property taxes and state income taxes, registering to vote in the new place and notifying voter-registration officials in the old one, and using the new permanent address consistently.

Keep as proof: New-state license, registration, voter confirmation, bank and property records

Applies if you are a registered voter

A.R.S. 16-101(B) defines a resident for voting as someone with actual physical presence in Arizona combined with intent to remain, says a temporary absence does not end residence if you intend to return, and says an individual has only one residence. Once you move with no intent to return, register in your new state so Arizona records do not contradict your move.

Keep as proof: New-state voter registration confirmation

Deadline: April 15 after the tax year

If you moved out of Arizona with the intent of giving up your Arizona residency, you are a part-year resident and file Form 140PY. If you are a nonresident for the whole year, you file Form 140NR.

Keep as proof: Filed Form 140PY and the income split

Anyone who spends more than nine months of the tax year in Arizona is presumed a resident, and someone domiciled in Arizona who is away only for a temporary or transitory purpose stays a resident. If you keep an Arizona home, a dated day log is what rebuts the presumption.