Florida Residency Rules

[Free2Roam]

Does anyone know what are the rules are for claiming Florida as residence for state income tax purposes? We've owned our home in the Bonita village since 2009 but have only visited irregularly. However, starting this winter we're planning to snowbird (possibly for one or two seasons). So what we're trying to determine is whether we can claim Florida as our residence for state income tax exemption purposes while still owning our home in Virginia and living there part of the year. I would assume our regular snowbirds know all about this. We would appreciate any advice/insight on this subject.

[logdog]

To be a Florida resident, your Florida home must be your principal residence (more than 6 months a year). You also have to have a Florida drivers license and tags. See: State of Florida.com - Florida Residency (http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=38)

By the way, there is no Florida state income tax but you will probably have to file a Virginia tax return as a non or partial resident for any income earned in that state.

[asianthree]

reside 6 mos 1 day...and if you don't have a DL you get a FL resident card

[Bizdoc]

You need to also change voting to FL. you will lose any sort of homestead exemption in your previous state.

You should be aware that some states are more aggressive than others in challenging where you are a resident. If you mix and match (license/tags in one state, vote in another). you could find yourself paying taxes in both (at best) and facing criminal charges at worst. In other words, pick one or the other, but not both.

[marlinguy]

Florida takes residency very seriously including checking water and electric usage and comparing to residency requirements. Best advice ever! Choose one or the other and don't try to cheat. It may come back to bite you....hard.

[ajbrown]

I have been procrastinating this for years. The link already provided is a nice summary. I still work for a company in MA. I know I will continue to have to pay MA state taxes for my employment, but as a non MA resident. I have yet to take the time to understand what I need to do from the MA side.

One question: I would be interested in where folks get the reside in home for 183 days part of the law in FL. In my research I easily could have missed that. Logically I will be doing that, but I could not find it in the law.

Another checklist....

http://wills.about.com/library/Florida-Domicile-Checklist-2013.pdf