Snowbirds, do you want to take advantage of Florida’s favorable tax environment? Then you must prove Florida is your legal residence – beyond a shadow of a doubt. Faking it can have negative consequences.
Last October we told you about the legal controversy over whether the late mother of the heirs to the Barney’s retail fortune was really domiciled in Florida. Another case of contested residency was just decided in October 2025 by the New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal. The matter of Hoff & Ocorr-Hoff demonstrates the great lengths to which New York and other high-tax states will go to recoup taxes if it believes you remain a bona fide resident of that state.
Examining The Evidence
John and Kathleen Hoff , a married couple, owned a home in Poplar Beach, New York. They had been New York residents since the 1970s. Then in 2014, they purchased a condo in Naples, Florida. They completed paperwork suggesting they had changed their permanent residency to Florida: They revised their revocable trusts and wills to reflect that they lived in Florida; filed a Florida declaration of domicile; applied to vote in Florida; and secured Florida drivers licenses. They filed non-residency returns with New York State in 2018 and 2019, stating that Florida was their permanent home effective October 30, 2018.
New York rejected their claim. This meant the Hoffs owed $59,648 in back New York taxes, plus penalties and interest, for years 2018 and 2019. The Hoffs appealed. The matter went to the New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal, which drilled down on all the evidence.
To establish Florida residency, you must reside in Florida for 183 days each year, even if those are not consecutive days. When the Tribunal examined the couple’s Verizon phone records, they saw that in 2018 the Hoffs were in Florida 131 days, New York 186 days, and elsewhere, 48 days. In the year 2019, they spent 154.5 days in Florida, 164 days in New York, and 47.5 elsewhere. Turning its attention to the major holidays, the Tribunal noted that the Hoffs were in New York for the Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays both years, except in 2019 when they spent Thanksgiving in Florida.
Mr. Hoff owned a business in New York, and in 2018 and 2019 traveled for that business and took income from it. A review of his 2018 and 2019 federal tax returns showed that he listed his New York business address on his W2’s. Mrs. Hoff also owned a business in New York, which she claimed she had relocated to Florida. However, there was no proof of that. In fact, her tax returns showed she had drawn income from her New York-based business during that two-year period.
The Tribunal even examined the couple’s country club memberships. It found it noteworthy that the Hoffs did not give up their two country club memberships in New York, despite having purchased a country club membership in Florida.
New York rejected the Hoffs’ appeal, concluding that the couple had failed to prove Florida was their legal residence. Here are some interesting excerpts from the decision:
In examining each of the factors, we agree that while petitioners did intend at some point to change their domicile from New York to Florida, the manifestation of that intention is not evident during the period in issue. The record before us reflects that petitioners’ homes in both places were permanent, full-time residences. Indeed, prior to the years in issue, petitioners do not dispute that their New York residence was their domicile. In examining the home and time factors, nothing about the New York residence changed to make it less suitable as such, and, during the years in issue, petitioners continued to spend time in both residences, significantly, with more time in the New York residence.
So-called “formal declarations” of domicile, such as voter registration or motor vehicle registration, have lost their importance in recent years as courts have recognized their self-serving nature, while “informal declarations” and acts of the person have been given greater recognition in resolving the question of domicile” (Wilke v Wilke 73 AD2d 915, 917 [2dDept 1980]). Notably, even the sworn documents filed with the State of Florida, as formal declarations, are less significant than informal acts demonstrating an individual’s general habit of life (see Matter of Trowbridge, 266 NY 283 [1935]; Matter of Silverman, Tax Appeals Tribunal, June 8, 1989). Had other manifestations, such as a comparison of homes, business and social ties and the amount of time spent in each place been more consistent with a change of domicile, these offers of documentary proof might be more persuasive. Instead, they tend to only show the undisputed trend toward eventually relocating to Florida, while not negating the indicia that petitioners had yet to abandon New York as the place to which they intended to return, (i.e., their domicile).
You can read the decision in full here.
A Warning To Snowbirds
To summarize, the Hoff appeal is another case that makes it clear: you must live more than 183 days in Florida to establish residency. Not being in New York for 183 days is not sufficient proof. New York will carefully examine all the evidence in detail: your phone call history, charge card records, even EZ pass and Sun Pass. If you fail to meet the standards to prove Florida residency, you will owe not only back tax to New York, but quite possibly penalties and interest, too. Moreover, if Florida gets wind of the decision, it may claw back tax revenue from the tax breaks it awarded you – for example, your homestead exemption.
The New York Tax Appeals Tribunal’s decision is a warning to snowbirds: If you are coming from a high-tax state like New York, you must be ready to show that you have cut the strings to your former state – not just on paper, but in practice. Don’t fake it.
