BILL NUMBER:  S6860

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the
definition of a resident for the purposes of the personal income tax

 PURPOSE :

To clarify the definition of permanent place of abode for the purposes
of the residency rules under the personal income tax.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 1 of subsection (b) of Section 605 of
the tax law, as amended by Chapter 28 of the Laws of 1987, is amended
to clarify the definition of a permanent place of abode.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In February 2014, the New York State Court of Appeals issued its
decision in Gaied v. New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal interpreting
New York's "statutory residency" test for income tax purposes. It
clarified that in order for a person to be taxed as a statutory
resident in New York, that person must, at a minimum, have a
residential interest in New York living quarters. Since that time,
however, this decision has been construed by the Tax Department in a
way in which still subjects most vacation homes to the New York income
              

tax as a New York State resident.

This legislation clarifies the definition of "permanent place of
abode" for the purposes of personal income tax to meet the intent of
the Gaied decision. The usage or ownership of a vacation home will not
be sufficient to establish a permanent place of abode for personal
income tax purposes so long as the taxpayer spends less than 90 days a
year at the vacation home and the home is located more than 50 miles
from the taxpayer's primary place of employment in New York and is not
used as the principal residence. This proposal has the benefit of
being narrowly tailored to address usage and ownership of a dwelling
in vacation communities by non-residents.

Vacation-home communities heavily depend on out-of-state residents who
enjoy spending their precious free time and their hard-earned dollars
in New York. This amendment is necessary to clarify the existing law.
It was not the Legislature's intent to include or to classify as
'residents' those taxpayers who made limited use of vacation homes
located in New York State. Instead, the statutory provisions were
added to the Tax Law in the 1920's to ensure that only those people
with no transitory and abiding connections to New York State be
classified as residents under the Tax Law. Taxpayers with limited-use
vacation homes were never supposed to be taxed as 'residents' in New
York.

A clear definition of "permanent place of abode" in Section 605 of the
Tax Law will set in statute consistent policy guidelines with respect
to the rules for personal income tax purposes.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2013-14: A.4677-A/S.3642-A
2011-12: A.6266-C/S.3998-C

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately and shall be applicable to taxable years beginning on or
after January 1, 2018.