Every winter a fresh batch of taxpayers decide they are suddenly Floridians. They pick up a condo, grab a voter card, slap on a tan, and assume their old country, or State in this case, will politely wave goodbye.
Spoiler. It didn't have a happy ending this time.
The Story
A recent case out of New York had a couple that had swapped snow for palm trees in late 2018. They said they were retired, living the Florida life, and therefore not on the hook for New York income tax anymore. They even brought receipts. They registered to vote in Florida, signed a statement saying Florida was home, got Florida drivers licenses, registered cars there, joined a Florida country club, and threw themselves into condo board politics. They also spent the winter months exactly where you would expect retired people to be. Florida.
The problem was everything they did not cut loose. They kept a place in New York. Actually, not just a place. A very nice place. They kept not one but two New York country club memberships. They spent most of the summer in New York. And one of them still owned and drew a salary from a New York business. So while they were tanning in Florida in January, they were right back in New York for a good chunk of the rest of the year.
The Day Count Problem
The day counts told the real story. In 2018 they logged 132 days in Florida, 195 in New York, and 38 somewhere else. The 195 in New York was comfortably above the 183 day statutory residency threshold. In 2019 they were a little better, but not by much. One hundred fifty five days in Florida, one hundred seventy in New York, forty elsewhere.
The Tax Appeals Tribunal took one look at this and sided with the state. Their view was simple. These people talked like Floridians but lived like New Yorkers. The Tribunal pointed out that voter registration, car registration, and similar declarations do not carry the weight they used to. Courts now see them for what they often are. Self serving paperwork you can fill out in an afternoon.
Domicile ≠ Aspirations
What mattered were the ties that never got cut. Their New York business interests. Their heavy time spent in New York. Their ongoing use of their substantial New York property which had been their main home for years. When the Tribunal stacked all of that against the Florida gestures, the conclusion was straightforward. The taxpayers did not prove, clearly and convincingly, that they changed their domicile during the years in question.
New York kept the assessment. And the taxpayers learned the hard way that moving to Florida is not the same thing as actually moving to Florida.
The Bigger Residency Lesson
Residency is always sold as a grey area, and sure, there is nuance. But cases like this make it painfully clear that it is not a choose your own adventure. Governments on both sides of the border care a lot less about what you claim and a lot more about how you actually live. You can file forms, swap licenses, and wave around a voter card, but if your real life still sits in the old jurisdiction, they will call your bluff every time. Whether you are a Canadian trying to shed tax residency or an American snowbird chasing sunshine, the lesson is the same. Residency is built on facts, patterns, and habits, not wishful paperwork. If you want a clean break, you have to sever ties in substance, not just style.
Usual Disclaimer: What is written here is not formal tax advice. I'm not a tax lawyer. I’m not your CPA. It’s possible, or dare I say even probable, that the comments and opinions expressed here contain material errors, are out of date, or that important stuff has been left out. Don’t use this info to make tax decisions. Hire a pro to help you.