Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I hate the city tax too. It is a huge additional expense when you're already paying the highest rents in the land (to landlords that are also paying property taxes). However, as much as I hate it, I do not break the law.
Designating an out of state address even though you truly live in NYC is pretty much the definition of tax fraud.
if you own a car and drive mostly in ny it is insurance fraud too.
Those are perhaps viable ways of unlawfully EVADING NYS/NYC tax. They aren't viable ways of legally avoiding them. The legal way of avoiding NY taxes is to not maintain an abode within the city, or to spend less than 183 days in NYC -- note that if you have an abode in NYC which you never use but are in NYC for 183 days (e.g. for work), you're still a "resident" for tax purposes.
if you own a car and drive mostly in ny it is insurance fraud too.
So I guess commuters commit insurance fraud?
Its called rate jumping and the insurance companies barely care. Ever notice all the out of state plates? Know how many people transfer their residence to friends/ relatives on long island or westchester.
My friend did it and kept his home insurance with tge same company for his house in queens while his car is suppose to be at my house on long island. They didnt even question it.
Of cousre his insurance dropped from $4,000 to $1,000.
Guess that is one of the benefits of living in nyc...you get to pay high insurance to drive on rotten roads with immigrant drivers who never drove until they arrived on the boat.
I am not a lawyer, but I believe this is pretty cut and dry:
1. Yes, legally, that is residency. See here: Income tax definitions
2. Although doing what you describe to avoid income tax is illegal, you could probably easily get away with. Obviously I'm not advocating that, just pointing it out.
In that link, I see:
Your domicile is:
the place you intend to have as your permanent home
where your permanent home is located
the place you intend to return to after being away (as on vacation, business assignments, educational leave, or military assignment)
How does taking an extended vacation at a friend's place fall into that definition? I would be taking an extended vacation and would not consider it a permanent home (as I said, I would only be taking a couple suitcases with me, no furniture or anything big like that, so I don't see how that would create an image of "permanence").
So you want to sleep in the city, walk the streets, use the transportation/amenities, yet lie about the whole thing in order to avoid a tax that works out to less than $100 per month for most people? Why?
It can get much higher for those with higher incomes. I am not rich, but for me, it works out to a substantial amount.
the place you intend to have as your permanent home
where your permanent home is located
the place you intend to return to after being away (as on vacation, business assignments, educational leave, or military assignment)
How does taking an extended vacation at a friend's place fall into that definition? I would be taking an extended vacation and would not consider it a permanent home (as I said, I would only be taking a couple suitcases with me, no furniture or anything big like that, so I don't see how that would create an image of "permanence").
??
In the original post you said you are working out of your apartment. I assume you would be living in this "friend's place" and working from there. How is that a vacation if you are working out of "his" apartment? If you go on an actual vacation (say, Puerto Rico for 4 days to get some sun), then wouldn't you be leaving from and returning to this friend's place that you are calling a non-permanent home?
Edit- sorry, just realized that Instagram story is a "hypothetical" offensive by the IRS. The IRS is not in fact coming after this guy. But he's preparing for them in case they decide to. Guess it was a slow news day.
In the original post you said you are working out of your apartment. I assume you would be living in this "friend's place" and working from there. How is that a vacation if you are working out of "his" apartment? If you go on an actual vacation (say, Puerto Rico for 4 days to get some sun), then wouldn't you be leaving from and returning to this friend's place that you are calling a non-permanent home?
Well, it is a matter of semantics. I can work there but also enjoy the city at the same time. My point was simply that the definition of "permanent" is rather vague and not well-defined in the aforementioned link.
Well, it is a matter of semantics. I can work there but also enjoy the city at the same time. My point was simply that the definition of "permanent" is rather vague and not well-defined in the aforementioned link.
Yes, it seems you're good at playing semantics games if you are able to call living and working out of a Manhattan apartment being on an "extended vacation" and not actually living there. I suspect if the IRS ever decides to investigate that you would find they would beat you at any game you had going on, semantics or otherwise. But carry on...
OP - what you're not realizing is that the extra New Jersey State taxes more than make up for the NY City taxes you're saving
What extra taxes you are referring to from NJ state? I lived and worked all over NYC and NJ. NYC income tax is a lot.
Base tax plus 2-4% exceeding X amount depending on your braceket. Look up the table.
My wife and I save 6k (NYC income tax) by living in Jersey City, we moved out from Brooklyn. As for state tax, you pay NY state and get credit with it for NJ, NJ state tax is about the same. It is no brainer.
Difference comes in if you own a property or not since prop taxes in NJ are high which you need to weigh against lower prop tax in NYC + NYC income tax. One upside is that prop tax is deductible. NYC instead of having high prop tax, have lower and rely more on income tax to fund.
Last edited by babo111; 03-25-2014 at 10:35 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
