Residency is where one chooses to live. Domicile is more permanent and is essentially somebody's home base.Nonresidents and PartYear Residents File a California tax return if you have any income from California sources and your gross income (which. Having a CA domicile makes a person a CA tax resident, until she acquires a new domicile or is "absent for a longterm purpose. Domiciled in California, but outside California for a temporary or transitory purpose. There are more factors for determining residency. Intent is primarily what the state is truly looking for, as a person seeks to change their domicile. Fill out the form to get your complimentary PDF guide. In this post, we explain the rules that govern residency in California and what you need to do to officially end your State of California residency. To change one's domicile from California to a new place of residence, a person must (i) effectively abandon their California domicile, with no intent to return.