@anonymous283 wrote:
Thank you for this information. I guess you could say I lived in MA out of convenience even though I couldn't care for myself for a few weeks after my accident and covid broke out and my office was closed down. I don't care about paying NY state income tax. What I only care about is paying local city tax to NYC for an entire year I wasn't there. Forget I said I planned to move back to NYC next year - I have no idea what my plans are. I continue to live in MA. The only proof I have that I left NYC on paper is my bank account statements which had their addresses changed in August and my lease which was not renewed in August. I also have bank transactions that show I lived in MA. So should I continue with awaiting NY's response and arguing my case based on the previous information or should I hire an accountant over what may amount to $1k in taxes. I will have to prove this again in 2021...
You have to make a strategic decision here.
One position you could defend is that you abandoned your NYC domicile in December 2019 (or whatever date you moved to MA). Because you failed to change your car registration, drivers license and did not surrender your lease, this will be very hard to prove.
Another position you could defend is that you abandoned your NYC domicile no later than August 2020 when your lease was up and you did not renew it. This would result in you owing NYC tax for 8/12th the year, but not the whole year.
If you defend the first position and lose, you might not be able to go back to the second position, and you either have to pay the tax or go to court. If you defend the second option, I think you have a good chance of proving your case.
You also have to consider the consequences in MA. If you take position 1 and lose, then you are a double resident of NYC and MA for all of 2020 and owe full tax in both states. If you take position 2 and win, then you are a half-year resident of NY and a half-year resident of MA, and you can probably file an amended MA tax return to get some of your MA tax back (depending on how you filed originally). Also, if you take position 2 and win, then there is no question that you are not an NYS or NYC resident for 2021, unless you move back later this year.
Personally, I would go for option 2 as this is probably the lowest tax overall (your MA refund should offset your NYC tax) and the easiest to defend. But it's really up to you. But I am not your hired expert, so you should review your options with a real tax expert, look for an enrolled agent, not a seasonal storefront person.
It would have been much different if you surrendered your lease when you moved out and changed your car registration and drivers license.
