Experience matters.

Over the past several years, more taxpayers have moved (or claimed to have moved) from New York and other high tax states than ever before. And to curb the loss of revenue from this outward migration, states have increased and expanded their audit and enforcement against these former residents. Over the past few decades, the attorneys in the Hodgson Russ Tax Residency practice have defended taxpayers in more than 10,000 residency audits in New York and other states. Through vast and unparalleled experience, Hodgson Russ’ lawyers know what it takes to win, and they have the skills, contacts, and connections to bring the most difficult audits to successful conclusions.

With this experience, our lawyers also have exactly the kind of unique and specific experience needed to guide taxpayers through the moving process, long before the audit letter comes. Our team includes not only more than a dozen experienced lawyers with decades of experience, but also three former New York tax auditors with over 50 years of combined experience working for the New York tax department. Who better to advise you on a move than tax professionals who have been through thousands of residency audits on both sides of the aisle?

Nowhere is this experience more critical than in New York, where the State Department of Taxation and Finance conducts thousands of audits every year, employing the most sophisticated and aggressive residency audit program in the nation. Hodgson Russ handles more of these New York residency audits than any law firm in the country, and our attorneys are also on the front lines on residency and nonresident income allocation issues in other states, as more and more taxpayers are fleeing high tax states like California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc. With states employing many of the same tests to determine a taxpayer’s residency status, Hodgson Russ lawyers bring national expertise to this state-by-state issue.

Our attorneys are also leading technological changes in this area. As special legal advisors to the technology company Topia, Tim Noonan and Mark Klein assisted in the creation of a GPS-powered smartphone app and software service called MONAEO to help taxpayers track their time spent in various locations for tax purposes. Our team of professionals, including our experienced Audit Managers, also have vast experience with cell phone technologies, which are fast becoming the primary source of data to support a taxpayer’s day-to-day location, often one of the more critical aspects of any residency or allocation case.

Hodgson Russ attorneys are also among the most influential thought-leaders on state residency and income allocation issues for high-net worth taxpayers. Indeed, while many practitioners in this area need to read books and articles to understand how these residency cases work, our attorneys have literally written the book(s) on New York residency audits. Our attorneys authored the 2018 edition of the CCH New York Residency and Audit Allocation Handbook and have published What to Expect in a Residency Audit, a comprehensive guide to every aspect of the residency audit process. What’s more, our attorneys publish dozens of articles in national publications every year covering residency issues, including “Noonan’s Notes” in Tax Notes State, and they are some of the most sought-after presenters for seminars and webinars on state residency and income allocation issues in the country.

It's no wonder, then, why Hodgson Russ lawyers have been at the center of some of the consequential and important residency cases over the past few years, including Matter of Gaied, a watershed 2014 victory in New York’s highest court that redefined the standard for taxation under New York’s statutory residency test. Many of these cases have received extensive coverage in publications such as Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. It’s also no wonder that Hodgson Russ lawyers are sought out to handle some of the most complex residency matters for the world’s wealthiest taxpayers, including representation of more than 50 of the billionaires on the 2023 “Forbes Guide to the World’s Richest People.”

Experience

Matter of Blatt, DTA No. 826504 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. Feb. 2, 2017)
Matter of Sobotka, DTA No. 826286 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. Aug. 20, 2015)
Matter of Luizza, DTA No. 824932 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. Aug. 21, 2014)
Gaied v. New York State Tax App. Trib., 22 N.Y.3d 592 (Feb. 18, 2014)
Matter of Michaels, DTA No. 823370 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. Apr. 12, 2012)
Matter of Barker, DTA No. 822324 (N.Y. Tax App. Trib. June 23, 2011)
Matter of Reiner, DTA No. 820266 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. July 13, 2006)
Matter of Falberg, DTA No. 818960 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. Oct. 9, 2003)
Matter of Kaltenbacher-Ross, DTA No. 818499 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. May 29, 2003)

People

News & Insights

Multimedia

Podcasts

  • California Tax Residency Rules (Part 2): Temporary/Transitory Purpose & Closest Connections

    Joe and Dan continue their discussion on California’s tax residency rules, and they delve into the complexity and ambiguity of California’s temporary/transitory purpose test. They highlight the unique rules associated with the test, and they discuss how California leans on the objective factors in its “closest connections test” when the temporary/transitory analysis doesn’t result in a firm domicile determination.

  • California Tax Residency Rules (Part 1): Domicile

    In this episode of State Tax Talks, Joe brings in California tax professional and Hodgson Russ Partner, Daniel Kelly for a nuts and bolts overview of California’s rules on changing your residency for tax purposes. The two start at the top with a discussion on California’s law surrounding domicile as well as a few safe harbor provisions included in the California tax law. California, much like New York, utilizes a complex analysis for making a determination as to whether someone has successfully abandoned their California residency. Dan and Joe look to peel back the layers of the primary test for our listeners.

  • Moving Abroad: Challenges & The 548-Day Rule

    Changing your domicile can be a challenge. Changing your domicile to a foreign country is an even bigger challenge. Joe is joined by Tim Noonan and Diana Mathis for an in-depth discussion of the rules governing changes of residency out of New York to a foreign country. The panel also discusses the 548-Day Rule safe harbor within the New York tax law, which allows people to escape taxation as a resident if they spend enough time abroad and meet other requirements.

  • Obus and the Future of Statutory Residency

    A major win for taxpayers, the decision in Matter of Obus v. New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal is final! Joe is joined by guests Tim Noonan, Andrew Wright, and Emma Savino to discuss this landmark tax case, which will dramatically shift the rules for New York’s statutory residency test. We break down the cases that led up to this point, what actually happened in Obus, why the impact of the case is significant, and what the future may hold for legal interpretation of what constitutes a permanent place of abode in New York. A once purely mechanical test, the statutory residency test now looks to have a major subjective component as part of the analysis, as a result of the Obus decision. Joe and his guests also give their thoughts on whether the State will take action in response to this major change.

  • Residency Audits- Part 2

    In a continuation of their discussion on tax residency, Tim and Joe dive into the ins and outs of tax residency audits, including a high level discussion of audit procedure. The pair talk about what taxpayers can expect if they get an audit notice, and highlight some of the realities of a New York tax audit.

  • Residency Audits- Part 1

    In this episode, Joe sites down with Tim Noonan in the first part of our discussion on tax residency. Changing your tax residency is not as simple as spending six months and a day in a new state. Tim and Joe discuss the ins and outs of New York State’s tax residency tests, and share thoughts on what factors tend to trip up taxpayers looking to make a move out of state.

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Tax Residency / News & Insights