domicile confused

[shannon62]

Hell again we were reading some articles on getting a domicile address, we will be hopefully moving out early 2023, but how far in advance can we get one. Also the articles keep saying you need to prove that you live there, like going to doctors, dentist, banks, etc. Is this really true? We were planning on using our doctor's that we have had for 10 years.

Well any info is welcome, Thanks again

[valhalla360]

ferndaleflyer wrote:
I have maintained my primary address in another state for over 20 years without any problems. Pay income taxes, vote, drivers license, vehicle registration, etc. yet I haven't lived there. I own homes in 2 other states + my DP which might be anywhere. Don't make it complicated as it don't have to be.

If you haven't lived there in 20yrs, you likely are no longer legally domiciled there but because nothing changed, there was no trigger for anyone to question it and the original state is happy to look the other way so as to keep taking your income tax money.

If the income tax is low, that may not be a big deal but depending on your income and the state, it can be worth several thousand dollars per year to move the domicile if you can do so legitimately.

[valhalla360]

It's not do A, B & C and your domicile is officially changed.

It's establishing a pattern consistent with having a new domicile.
- Traditionally, you sell your house in NY, buy a house in Idaho, live 10-12months of the year in Idaho, all your bills, doctors, etc are now from Idaho, you license, voter registration, etc... is from Idaho...Work tends to be connected to Idaho. It's a very strong pattern that is hard to argue against. It's also very familiar to the authorities and no one is likely to question it.
- Full timing in your RV, you lose many of those obvious triggers that show a traditional pattern of domiciling in Idaho. You may only spend 2-3 months in Idaho (not the majority of your time). You may not have any utility bills or other ongoing links you can point to that say Idaho. You may keep your NY doctors because you like them. You may spend similar time in NY to visit friends and family. You may still have some work connection (if not retired) in NY. It basically creates an inconsistent pattern that doesn't clearly break from being domiciled in NY.

Now if you are moving from Florida to Texas. Neither state really cares as they don't have income taxes or other large taxes associated with being domiciled there. It doesn't cost them anything if you leave. They simply won't care and if no one challenges your assertion that you have changed your domicile, it's changed for all practical purposes.

If you move away from NY, California, Illinois on the other hand, they have substantial income taxes and if you leave, they lose that money. If you are really spending 8-10month each year in NY and you have NY drivers license and NY doctors, there is a good chance, NY comes back and challenges your assertion that you have changed your domicile because they want their proverbial "pound of flesh" come tax time.

Probably worse now is with remote working, you face a new situation. Lots of people don't really want to move but they may be tempted to skirt the rules and change their domicile even though they are in fact still living in the same state. This makes state officials suspicious and the response is often guilty until proven innocent. They will send a big bill for unpaid income tax and you have to prove you aren't domiciled. These people often use the same mail forwarding services in low tax states, so when these addresses come up, the assumption is you may be doing the same thing.

So there is nothing illegal about moving your domicile but the more you can demonstrate a pattern of not living in your old state, the better your case if they challenge it.

[ferndaleflyer]

I have maintained my primary address in another state for over 20 years without any problems. Pay income taxes, vote, drivers license, vehicle registration, etc. yet I haven't lived there. I own homes in 2 other states + my DP which might be anywhere. Don't make it complicated as it don't have to be.

[curt12914]

Some friends of ours went through this a few years ago. It wasn't an RV, but they bought a winter residence in a park in Florida and wanted to become Florida residents to avoid NY income taxes.

They told me they had to stay in Florida for one day more than 6 months (receiving mail). They also had to change their drivers licenses and vehicle registrations to Florida and change their voter registrations to Florida. (If I remember right, I think they had have their vehicles appraised and pay sales tax on them to register them in Florida.)

I would assume this would be true of whatever state you are planning to claim as your residence.

I think there was also something about social security direct deposit going to a bank with a Florida branch, too, but I am not sure about that.

They said nothing about doctor/dentist.

[TenOC]

Domicile and Resident are different. Think of a collage student. They may RESIDE in one state for 4 years and be DOMICILE in a different state. The domicile is the place you plan to return to after residing a short time in a different state.

To establish domicile you do things that you would do in you HOME state like open a bank account, register to vote, and title you car.

[agesilaus]

Also remember there are states that are high tax and will do their worst to extract every cent they can from you. CA, NY and IL are often mentioned in that context, I do not know about PA. If you take up, say FL, residence/domicile but keep a lot of contacts like doctors and banking back in your original residence you -may- have a problem. That's when you may want to discuss this with a lawyer especially if your wealth level is such to attract the tax vultures attention.

States like Florida and Texas don't care, they are low tax, no income tax and there isn't any money in it for them to harass you.

But if you think there will be an issue, then talk to a lawyer who can give you good advice. Not the info you get here which may not be, myself included.

[arhayes]

Just remember that the domicile issue is a legal thing as much as anything. Depending on what state you are in and where you think you want to domicile may make it easier or more complicated. If you are not going to be on Medicare when you retire, insurance may be a critical issue too and impact your decision. Looks like you live in PA now. Where are you thinking you want to claim as your permanent address?

Disclaimer….I am not an attorney but I did consult one when we decided. Ours was easier as we were Texans and decided to maintain domicile in TX using Escapees as our address.