According to Utah Publication 57, "All Utah income of the nonresident spouse of an active duty service member may be exempt from Utah tax if the following conditions apply:
- The service member and the spouse are both nonresidents of Utah,
- Not also a service member, and
- In Utah solely to be with the service member serving under military orders.
Also for income tax purposes, a service member's spouse may choose to:
- Use their original state of residency, or
- May use their service member spouse's state of residency.
The service member's spouse may choose the service member's state of residence even if they never lived there.
To claim tax-exempt from Utah withholding:
If the nonmilitary spouse qualifies for the exclusion of the income on the tax return, the spouse should provide the employer with a Federal W-4 Form marked "Utah only - Exempt military spouse" to claim exempt from Utah withholding taxes.
To claim a refund of taxes withheld from your Utah income, follow these steps in the program:
- State Section
- Edit Nonresident Utah Return
- Begin on Subtractions from Income
- Begin on Subtractions from Income (again)
- Enter the income that was taxed in Utah and choose Nonresident military spouse earned income from the drop-down menu
- Continue to save
Military Spouse income may be taxable on your state return where you file as a resident.