As times get harder for state and local governments, they will come after anyone they see as powerless for every penny they can.
For years, New York law stated that residents of another state who spend more than 183 days a year in New York have to pay taxes on any income they make in this state. But they generally haven’t had to pay New York taxes on income they make outside of the state or on their spouses’ income if they work elsewhere.
Under the recent ruling, this might change for many out-of-state residents who own vacation homes or apartments here. In effect, it reinterprets what counts as a permanent residence.
In defining a “permanent place of abode,” New York tax code specifically excludes “a mere camp or cottage, which is suitable and used only for vacations.” New York tax experts say the new ruling is the first they recall that counts summer homes as permanent residences.
[The judge] ruled that the couple’s Long Island vacation home qualifies under the law as a permanent abode because it was suitable for living year-round—whether or not the couple actually stayed in the home wasn’t relevant. Under the ruling, if an owner doesn’t spend a single a day in a home it could still count toward a permanent residence.
The state’s ineptitude at spending within their means is your pain.
That will be settled in Federal Tax Court, not New Yawk’s, because it steps on Federal Code dealing with that subject.
Or it will be settled by selling the property.