Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA)

The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA) is a federal/state law that allows military spouses to declare the same state of legal residency as their spouse. Impacted employees are to be taxed for state withholding purposes as if they live and work in their military state of residency.

For detailed information about MSRRA, refer to this IRS resource.

  • The employee is treated as if they live and work in their military state of residency.

  • We calculate, withhold, and report state withholdings using the military state of residency, based on the worker's W-4 information for that state.

  • The employer should register for state withholding in the military state of residency if that state supports income tax.

MSRRA does not apply to the following taxes:

  • Unemployment taxes

  • Disability taxes

  • Payroll Expense Taxes

  • Transit taxes

  • FLI

  • Workers Compensation

  • Head taxes

  • Ensure that the worker has provided you with their DD 2058 form.

  • Ensure the worker has completed their state tax withholding elections and selected the filing status of Nonresident military spouse in the Tax info section of the Payroll Details panel.