Girlfriend wants to relocate to Orono, residency tax question (Minneapolis: leases, vehicle registration)

[Minnesota Spring]

There are many, MANY wealthy individuals with liberal views in the west metro who contribute to the betterment of society. There are also many wealthy conservatives in minnesota that live here and love it here and seem to get along just fine.
You're going to have to bite the bullet and tell your girlfriend that you just cant move to minnesota because of our tax structure and our politics.
I hear Mississippi a nice state. It seem to be more of what you are looking for.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by Lear45

Thank you for the replies.

Just two final questions:

The Twin Cities are a fairly liberal place.

I don't consider myself a liberal, but you probably weren't referring to me. Most of my family is fairly conservative (albeit, more of a working class New York City 1st or 2nd generation German-American conservative), and none of them are from Minnesota, and I'm sure they would all share these views, both on people avoiding taxes and on exotic cars.

[Lear45]

I'm thoroughly reading the MN Revenue website and the laws to determine where my income would be taxed based on my circumstances. I intend to confirm my findings and strategy with attorneys, but so far things look good.

Without doing anything illegal, and spending just a few thousand on legal fees to create pass-through entities for my income in a state like Nevada, I will legally be able to avoid all MN state income taxes, even as a MN resident from my present income flow and business.

However, of course if I buy investment property, which is something I plan to do, that income would be taxed in MN, unless I can legally find a way to pass the net of this income as well through shares in a Nevada corp setup as a "REIT" or "consulting firm". I did something similar with a business that primarily operated in NY with great success a few years back.

There are some additional limited hassles in doing this but the savings and piece of mind is well worth it.

The very sad part of finding these loop holes for MN is that if I was just offered a simple fair tax rate they could actually have a piece of my income. However, since some liberals think they can tax and spend my money more wisely than I can, the state ultimately won't get a single penny from me in the form of income taxes. lol

[Ghengis]

Doesn't really matter anyways as you won't be here very long.

[audadvnc]

It seems that cannibals are upset by Minnesota's anti-human flesh eating laws. That's a pretty good indication they should do their cannibalizing somewhere else.

[Glenfield]

Basically, the problem is you're asking us whether it is common for people to cheat on their taxes here and whether we'd condone that. The answer is it's not and we don't like tax cheats. This is not a discussion of the tax policies of Minnesota, which are not your concern since you don't live here. I don't think you'd much like it anyway so you're probably better off gracing some other state with the glory of your presence.

And don't make this a liberal vs conservative thing. I am very conservative and do not at all agree with your ideas about dodging our taxes. I don't like the rates as high as they are but that's where they are and, along with every other conservative I know, pay them.

[moving123456]

Talk to a good accountant. It is unlikely that you will get any decent answers on this forum.

I have already been looking at changing my residency to Florida, Texas, or maybe Washington if Mark Dayton's new state income tax proposal passes. I plan to actually spend 6 months out of state though so it will be legal. I know some people do manage to just do it on paper.

Mark Dayton is also trying to change the law so anybody in the state over 60 days per year will have to pay state income tax, but it will be very hard to enforce. Federal law also bans states from taxing certain incomes of other state residents, mostly retirement type stuff though.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by moving123456

Talk to a good accountant. It is unlikely that you will get any decent answers on this forum.

This is the only question in the original post:
Does MN audit individuals for income taxes?

I think we're quite capable of giving a decent answer to this question. I think we're also quite capable of saying whether or not we approve of what he originally proposed to do which is to fake his residency status. Only later did he add all the blah blah blah about special purpose Nevada corporations etc. I don't think anyone offered their opinion on his proposed methods of sheltering income this way.

[StilltheSame]

The MN income tax guidelines make it very clear that under the circumstances you describe you would be responsible to pay taxes here - oh and yes, they are very aggressive in pursuing those who enjoy the benefits of this lovely state without paying the price. As so many others have noted, perhaps this aint the spot for you.

[Monsieur Boston]

Originally Posted by Lear45

My post has nothing to do with real estate taxes. Only the income tax rate.

This, to me, is the smoking gun of the intent of this post. This is nothing more than another tired Democrat vs. Republican rant.

Most people who move do their due diligence on ALL taxes, not just one aspect of it. I've lived in NH (no income, no sales tax) and FL (no income tax, 6% sales tax) but have you ever seen the property taxes there?

You need to evaluate your total tax picture, not just one aspect. Aside from that to pin the blame on one party (as if Republicans have always cut spending and taxes - Federal government doubled under GWB) really doesn't make this sound as if you are truly interested in tax assistance.

Back to the point, your best interest would be to consult a tax accountant. I have no idea how much you make, but I'm sure as someone who doesn't receive a paycheck it would be in your best interest to consult a professional, not just for state tax liabilities, but for Federal as well.

I wish you luck.