Nonresident or part-year resident of NYC?

[er_1917]

In Nov 2022 I moved from NYC to England and lived there until mid-Feb 2024 (did not maintain a residence in NYC during this time). Then I returned to the US. 

• From mid-Feb to early June 2024, I worked remotely for an NY-based company but had no permanent residence. 
• For two separate periods of 30 days each I stayed in different Airbnbs in NYC
• Otherwise, I traveled around to visit different friends and family outside of NY state (but did 30 days of remote work for my NY-based company over that time)
• During this whole period I was deciding whether I would be staying in NY permanently or not.
• In early June I moved permanently to Virginia and began working for a VA-based company, which is where I still am.

 I am trying to figure out if my time in NY would count as a "nonresident" or a "part-year resident" of NY. I know the form to submit is the same (IT-203) but the difference in refund is huge: $450 if I put down "part-time resident" and $2750 if I put down "nonresident." I think this is because nonresidents don't have to pay NYC taxes? I read everything here: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/nonresident-faqs.htm, but I am still confused as to whether I would be considered "domiciled" during my time in NYC or not.

I would greatly appreciate any insight!

[MaryK4]

The question will be if you abandoned your New York state domicile when you moved from NYC to England in 2022.  If you did, you will have a stronger case for being a nonresident when you returned in 2024.  If the issue is brought up by the state, thy will look at things like your driver's license, voter registration, bank etc. so if you did keep those current to New York you would have to be very careful claiming nonresident.  

It seems that on your return you did not establish enough ties to e a New York resident.  You are correct that most of your tax would be New York City tax.  

[er_1917]

Thanks so much for the input, I appreciate it. When I moved to England, I changed my permanent address on all official US accounts (e.g. banks) to my parents home address in Texas. But I did keep my NY drivers license until I moved to VA in 2024. I guess it’s hard to know exactly what proof they would want that I truly “renounced” my NY domicile but it sounds like it may be safer to say part-year resident.

[MaryK4]

It sounds like you would have a strong case, but New York is notoriously difficult so it may just be easier to do the part-year return and not have to worry.  @er_1917