On June 30, 2022, the New York State Court of Appeals, Third Judicial Department, in Obus vs. New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal, determined that the petitioner’s vacation residence did not constitute a permanent place of abode for purposes of the New York State statutory residence test. In the case, the petitioners were domiciled in New Jersey, but owned a vacation home in the Village of Northville in New York. The petitioner husband commuted from New Jersey to New York City for work and hence spent more than 183 days in New York during the years at issue. As such, if he had a “permanent place of abode” in New York, he would be a statutory resident of New York and subject to tax in New York on all of his income.
Here, the facts showed that the vacation home was 4 hours away from the petitioner’s job in New York City and was not suitable then for associated overnight stays. The facts also showed that the petitioners only used the vacation home for about 3 weeks per year. Based on these facts, the court determined that the vacation home, although available all year for the petitioners, did not constitute a permanent place of abode and consequently, they were not statutory residents of New York.