If you have your name on a lease in one state & a utility bill in?
A2A. Many states have what is called domiciliary residency, and in those states you are a resident if you have an established domicile there - even if you never set foot in that state during the year. If your name is on a lease for a place of residence in the state, it is a virtual certainty that it will qualify you for having a domicile in that state, and therefore you are a resident of that state. A utility bill, by itself, generally will not be taken as evidence of intent to establish a domicile, nor will the formation of an LLC (which is not restricted to residents in most states). While the final answer to your question depends on the residency requirements of the specific states involved, I would suggest that if you have your name on a lease in state A, and have taken no steps to remove your name from that lease, almost all states will interpret that as strong evidence that you are maintaining a domicile there and will determine that you are a resident of that state - certainly if it has domicilary residency, and likely even if it does not given that you have a place you can live and are not showing any intent to dispose of it. Ill note that this is a fairly common maneuver in California (given the proximity of Nevada, considered a tax haven), and the FTB is very aggressive in going after residents who try it.