While residence refers to where you currently live, domicile is your fixed, permanent home where you intend to remain long-term. Domicile refers to the place you call home permanently.Your domicile is important for legal purposes such as paying taxes, voting, and claiming benefits. Residency is where one chooses to live. Domicile is more permanent and is essentially somebody's home base. For others, domicile is essentially defined as where the individual intends to make their permanent home. In law, domicile is the status or attribution of being a lawful permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction. A domicile is a place where you voluntarily establish yourself and your family. Domicile is the traditional way of defining residence. Under English law a party is generally domiciled in the country in which they have made their permanent home.