22 Jan I’m thinking of moving around and traveling. Where will I be a resident?

Q. A friend who made the move to Florida from New York told me that along with all the other things that you have to do is spend more days in Florida than you do in New Jersey. Is this true? I was thinking of spending three months in Florida, five months in New Jersey and the rest in other states or abroad. Will this formula work?
— Traveler

A. Determining where you really live, for tax purposes, is important.

And the timing does matter.

New Jersey and New York have a personal income tax, while Florida has no income tax, said Bernie Kiely, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant with Kiely Capital Management in Morristown.

“That is one of the reasons both New Jersey and New York are seeing affluent citizens relocating to Florida. But, some of these people keep their old homes up north and buy a second residence in Florida,” he said. “If you live in the north in the summer and live in Florida in the winter you are called a snow bird. But if you have two residences in two states, which state are you a resident of?”

States would look at many items to see where you are domiciled, that is, which state is your permanent residence. Those include which state’s license plates are on your car or which driver’s license you have, where you vote and what address is on your bank accounts, life insurance contracts, Social Security accounts and the like.

“Your question states you want to stay in Florida for three months, New Jersey for five months and to travel for four months,” Kiely said. “If five of the eight months that you are not traveling you are in New Jersey, I think it would be hard to say you weren’t a New Jersey resident.”

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This story was originally published in January 2025. 

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