A few months ago, Julian Robertson won a significant victory in the Tax Appeals Tribunal by proving that he spent exactly 183 days during a taxable year in New York City and was not, accordingly, a statutory resident of the city.1 That case warmed the hearts of many tax professionals who hoped that the case represented a loosening of the standards previously applied to residency cases. Three recent New York tax cases, however, throw cold water on these hopes and underscore the difficulties of contesting residency audits.2 Conveniently for the writers of this article, each of the three cases focuses on a different one of the three major issues underlying residency cases: domicile, maintenance of a permanent place of abode, and calculation of day counts.

For those who have been lucky enough to avoid these issues until now, a very brief explanation of the rules is helpful. New York State and City tax resident individuals on their worldwide income.3 Nonresidents are taxed only on certain categories of income sourced in New York.4 The state and city define the term “resident” similarly, with two alternative tests. An individual is a “resident” of New York if either (i) the individual is “domiciled” in New York, or (ii) the individual both (a) maintains a “permanent place of abode” in New York and (b) spends all or part of more than 183 days in New York (which is why Mr. Robertson was able to avoid New York City tax).

Domicile

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