Originally Posted by
FlyingMaryJane
^^^^^^^ You hit it on the head... If you own property in let's say TX and have that as your primary residence for your tax returns and then you "commute" to HI and let's say buy a "vacation home" or rent a condo on the beach and use that as a secondary home or "crashpad" then you are a resident of TX. Your drivers license is TX, your tax returns are sent to TX then you are no different than a FL commuter based out of EWR that has a "vacation home" on the jersey shore to hangout at a few nights month before your trip starts. I will only recommend it if you OWN a property in those no-income states and list it as your primary and not make up any address to do this. Also beneficial to keep the driver's license of that state as well. But, the key is to have a "secondary, vacation, crashpad in HI. Gotta be smart about it.
If you're living in that second vacation home after you finish your trips at HNL, you're residing in Hawaii. As the poster above said, States are wising up. They'll audit you and get to the bottom of just exactly where you reside.
Pilots. Can make 200k+ but some will try to skirt and break the law so they can cheap skate their way out of ~ 3-4% total income tax on average. You realize poor people making minimum wage pay state income tax. But some prima dona making 200k with 16 days off has issues paying state income tax.