@Mike9241 wrote:
some taxpayers spend every weekend at their vacation home. that would be about 104 days a year or 3.5 months. i would regard this as a temporary absence. so should there be a difference in "short absences" because some taxpayers spend only weekends away while others may spend the same 3.5 months away at one time? to me, the answer would be no.
I don't agree with that reasoning. For example, if somebody were to ask "where to you live"?, I think the first scenario would always say the home that they reside in for 5 days a week. In the second scenario, that seems questionable.
Although things depend on the specific facts-and-circumstances, the phrases "summer home" that they spend "4 month a year" would make me think that is their Principal Residence for that portion of the year (although as you stated, the other facts such as driver's license, etc. could turn that around).
