Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Why didn't they leave already?
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Maybe they did.
I've tried to make this point before but I will again. Most wealthy people own multiple homes and it's not so much where they live but how much time they spend at each home and where they vote, register cars, have professional or business licenses and so forth. State tax authorities can be very picky about contesting residencies but ultimately if somebody has a house in NYC, a house in Florida or the Bahamas or the Virgin Islands, maybe a ranch out west somewhere, all they may have to do to cease being a New Yorker is spend a few days or weeks less time there and maybe switch voting registration or a business license. It certainly doesn't mean they can't spend any time living in New York.
I spend about half my time in California and half in Arizona, own property in both and almost none of my income is "earned" in either state ("earned" income--wages or pay for some business activity, is taxed where it is earned) so I can be a resident of either state I choose if I do certain simple things like register to vote, designate one or the other as my tax home for the IRS and so on.
If somebody like I described above decides not to be a New Yorker any more, they can probably expect the NY tax authority to contest them and, if the amount of money is large enough, take them to court. But the very wealthy can get good lawyers to advise them and usually win these cases without abandoning a place like NY completely. And the good news is that you can only be a "resident" of one state at a time so sometimes the states will fight over you while you stand aside a watch.