New York state auditors are monitoring everything from people’s travel schedules to the whereabouts of their pets to prove they owe taxes even if they live out of state, according to a report. .
Wealthy Empire State residents who live in New York but spend most of their time elsewhere are still paying their taxes to the Albany tax office.
The State Auditor makes every effort to investigate claims of people who claim to be part-time or non-residents of New York. According to Bloomberg News.
Auditors peer into people’s private lives and apply the so-called “teddy bear test” to find out where individuals keep some of their most valuable possessions to support claims of principal residence. Masu.
The state also considers you to have spent the day within its jurisdiction, even if you were only there for a few hours.
If a transplanted New Yorker moves out of state and then returns for outpatient treatment at a hospital, that period is counted as a New York resident.
New York state audits may even consider someone who drives from New Jersey to Connecticut, gets off the highway in New York, and stops for lunch to have spent the day in New York.
“We always tell people that a New York tax audit is like the tax version of a colonoscopy,” Hodgson Russ tax attorney Mark Klein told Bloomberg News. he said.
“We’ve had cases that depended on one dog,” Klein said. “And we once had a lawsuit based on the fact that someone moved a Peloton bike to Florida.”
According to the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, a New York resident is someone who spends at least 184 days in the state during the tax year and maintains a permanent residence.
One of the most popular destinations for New Yorkers in recent years is Florida. But those who moved south can still expect an opinion from a tax assessor in Albany.
Jonathan Marriner, an investor who developed TaxDay, an app that tracks users’ locations to ensure they don’t overstay the 184-day threshold, said New Yorkers who moved to Florida and filed a partial tax return in Albany could face a tax return from their auditors. He said he looked forward to his opinions. .
“Even if you have a Florida driver’s license, even if you have a Florida voting record, even if you have a Florida hometown, it doesn’t matter,” said Marriner, himself a transplanted New Yorker who moved to Florida. told Bloomberg News.
“Even if you’re on vacation in New York, they’ll bring you back.”
Tax attorneys are advising wealthy clients to stick to spending time in New York to avoid paying hefty state income taxes.
Those who own private jets are making sure to take off or land within the state a few minutes before or a little after midnight to avoid exceeding the 184-day limit.
Others boarded cars near the George Washington Bridge just before midnight, waiting for the clock to strike 12 before crossing the Hudson River into Manhattan, according to Bloomberg News.
From 2013 to 2017, New York state auditors collected about $1 billion from 15,000 audits.
The state has accelerated the pace of tax audits in recent years. In the 2022-2023 tax year, the state conducted 756,344 levies, generating $3.22 billion in levies, according to the Department of Taxation and Finance.
Last year, the state conducted 826,577 audits, resulting in $2.21 billion in collections.
Residency checks are an important source of tax revenue for the state, which is experiencing an outmigration of high-income people to Florida.
According to TurboTax research, New York state’s income tax rate in 2023 was the third highest in the nation.
Florida is one of nine states that does not impose a state income tax.
More than 500,000 people have left New York since 2020, according to census data, an exodus spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp decline in quality of life across the Big Apple due to a spike in crime. Homelessness and the cost of living.
The New York metropolitan area lost 65,000 residents last year alone.
The Post has contacted the Ministry of Taxation and Finance for comment.
