Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the
Knowing what Counts podcast, the
place where expert guidancemeets smart financial decisions.
Whether you're a high net worthindividual or a thriving
business, the experts at MPCPAsare here to help you protect and
optimize your wealth.
Let's get started, becausesuccess begins with knowing what
(00:25):
counts.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Navigating tax
residency rules can feel like a
game of musical chairs.
Get caught in the wrong stateand your finances might suffer.
The experts at MPCPA share howresidency issues can trigger
audits and what strategies canhelp you stay compliant while
minimizing risk.
Welcome back everyone.
(00:52):
I'm Sophia Yvette, co-hostslash producer, back in the
studio with Jeff LeBeau, taxmanager at MPCPA.
Jeff, how's it going?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
It's going great.
Sophia, Thanks for having me.
I like that little teaser.
That was a great little teaserthere.
If anybody's not already divinghead first into listening to
what we got to say today, shameon them.
I've been a tax manager herefor four or five years, but I've
been at the firm for almost 15.
Yeah, I know it doesn't looklike it, but I'm getting up
(01:25):
there in age.
But with age comes experience,and these days residency is a
big question for a lot of ourclients and something everybody
seems to be talking about atcocktail parties, other podcasts
and on social media.
Hopefully we can have a littleconversation today and give
people just enough ammo to bedangerous or just enough
(01:48):
interest to give us a call andwe can work with you and help
you through really figuring thisout best for your situation.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Most definitely, and
I'm with you there, jeff.
So, jeff, how can tax residencyissues impact your financial
situation and what should youknow about audits?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
That's a loaded
question too.
I mean today in our podcast isgive you a little background on
what residency is, what thetaxing authorities look at, as
well as how it plays into whatan audit looks like and what you
can plan on Everything we hiton.
I think we're going to try to.
We could have a three-hourtraining on this if we wanted to
(02:31):
, but that's not what we're hereto do today.
So we'll try again.
Give you enough ammo to be alittle dangerous when you're
talking or thinking throughthings, but ideally, we want you
to reach out to us and we canhelp you through this.
Residency is not a black andwhite situation, as some make it
sound, or one would think it is.
I think, to start off, we justwant to really hit on.
(02:53):
Every state is a little bitdifferent.
Every state has different rulesand regulations, but for the
most part, they all follow atwo-prong approach.
There's two tests you reallyhave to think through or go
through when determining andfiguring out what your state of
residency is.
There's the statutory residencyaspect where 183 days
(03:19):
everybody's heard of thesix-month or 183-day rule.
You have to be in that statefor 183 days or more and then
you have to have a permanentplace of abode or you have to
have a house that you live in.
Whether it's renting or owning,that doesn't necessarily matter
.
The statutory residency aspectis 183 days.
(03:42):
Have a place of abode in thestate, and that's pretty
objective.
You're either in the state morethan 183 days or you're not.
Or you have a place of abode ornot.
That's pretty objective.
It is what it is.
Then there's the second prongto this the domicile or legal
residence side of the equation.
(04:03):
That is really the one thatcomes into play, the one that
auditors look at, the one thatevery state's talking about.
Every article, everylegislation really comes down to
this domicile test, and that'sthe one that I think we'll focus
on most today.
Again, it's not the onlyend-all be-all, neither is the
(04:24):
statutory residence one, butthose are the two tests the
statutory residence test and thedomicile test that are in
consideration when trying tofigure out your residency for
income tax purposes.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Now, Jeff, you did
mention that this isn't exactly
black and white.
So what factors determine taxresidency and how can they vary
between states?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, I mean, that's
the big thing.
I think everybody's probablywell aware that pretty much
every state is not pulling inenough tax revenue.
So they're trying to find waysto increase that revenue and not
necessarily increase taxes,because nobody likes to see that
on a ballot, but the way theyis to better monitor and have
(05:13):
better compliance on if you're aresident or a non-resident in
that state and what income issourced to that state for tax
purposes.
So they're not increasing taxes, they're just increasing the
collection and the compliance,more so to making sure that
people are abiding by the rules.
And the big impact in thestates is when states do
(05:38):
increase taxes or forMassachusetts purposes.
You know, last year theyimplemented the millionaire's
tax or the 4% surtax onresidents in the state.
That's just an example of whatsome of these states are doing
to help increase that taxrevenue.
And the big thing we see on thestates is that people the
(06:00):
states you're moving to love tohave you.
They're not making any stinksabout it.
Come on in, we'll tax you onwhatever we can.
You're a new resident to ourstate.
It's the state that really comesinto play when you're getting
into state audits and how itreally impacts you, and the
biggest factor or the biggestkind of cheat you can have here
(06:22):
is the state you're leaving.
You have to leave.
Not only leave that state, butland somewhere else, right there
.
That's the key here.
People just think, well, I'mgoing somewhere else for more
than 183 days I'm not inMassachusetts, or I'm selling my
house, but I've got a house inthree other states that I'm
spending time in.
(06:42):
That's great, but if you're notestablishing a residence or
domicile somewhere else, that'swhere you're going to get into
trouble with that state you'resupposedly leaving.
I'm not sure if that reallyanswers your question, sophia,
but I think that's the thing weneed to consider here.
(07:02):
When talking about residency,it's just not getting out of
your state, but establishingyourself somewhere else.
Otherwise, that state is goingto continue to come after you
that state is going to continueto come after you.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I would say it most
definitely shines light on the
question, for sure.
Now it's hard to coveranswering the question fully,
because we would probably behere till tomorrow if we did.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I'm sorry to cut you
off, sophia, but I think that's
where although Massachusetts iskind of our focus here today
because that's where our mainoffice is, here in Springfield
but all the states are startingto look at things pretty much in
the same factor they want toget that as much sourced income.
And if you're not showing usthat you're really moving out
(07:48):
and changing your lifestyle,you're still here and you're
still subject to those residencyrules, and every state's pretty
much the same on that front.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Now, how do state
residency rules impact tax
liabilities for individuals withmultiple properties?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yeah.
So when it comes to theresidency is that you have your
home domicile, your residence,and then you have other
properties that could be inother states where you might
have to file what we call anon-resident income tax return.
The way the taxes work on thatis pretty straightforward your
resident state, your domiciledstate, gets taxed on all your
(08:29):
income and the non-residentstate is only taxed on the
sourced income to that state.
The argument, the discussion,the debate always is what's my
resident state versus mynon-resident state?
And that kind of dictates whogets the bulk of the tax or who
gets the first dib at that taxliability.
(08:52):
And so when dealing withresidency again, if you're not
establishing a resident in adifferent state, you still are
considered a resident of the oldstate, of which they might get
first dibs, or they have thefirst right to all that income
or they'll tax all that income,whereas the non-resident state
(09:12):
only taxes that sourced income.
So that's where the play comesis where's your resident state?
What are you a non-resident?
Should you be a resident?
Should you be a non-resident?
Those are the things you haveto think through when not only
moving your life and changingyour lifestyle, but starting
businesses in other states,owning rental properties in
(09:33):
other states, all those otherthings that come in when you're
doing those activities in anon-resident state that you
really have to think through.
And that's where we at MPCPAscan really help you navigate
those changes.
It's not as simple as oh hey,you know what, I want to retire
and I want to move to Florida.
Well, that's great, we want tohelp you do that.
(09:55):
But there's several things yougot to think of both before you
move.
After you move that, go intothat to really determining where
that tax is going to be right.
These states, almost all ofthem.
You know there's still a fewstates out there that don't tax
you on personal income, but forthe most part states do and they
all want their part right.
(10:23):
So it's our job to hopefullyhelp you kind of really
determine how the best go aboutthat to avoid those audits.
I know we're going to get intothat here in a little bit, but
there's no one right way to moveyour residency or change your
residency.
It's a situational basis andyou just never know what you're
going to get out of these audits.
But, fortunately, or or changeyour residency it's a
situational basis and you justnever know what you're going to
get out of these audits, butfortunately or unfortunately,
we've been through a lot of themand we're here to help.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
And what proactive
steps can individuals take to
reduce the likelihood of anaudit?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
up there in age and
you're thinking about retiring,
or your family's grown up now,they're all off starting their
own families and you're ready tomove to sunny Arizona or the
nice warm weather of Florida,reach out to your tax
professional.
Hopefully that can be us.
A couple of things we can giveyou here to everybody.
The total audience here is onemake a plan, have a plan of when
you want to do it and startearly.
(11:29):
Right.
If you just all of a suddenwake up one day and say I want
to move tomorrow, well itdoesn't give you a good chance
to plan.
But most people whether that'sage, job, family, you know,
maybe they're thinking aboutselling their business, things
like that that you know of aheadof time.
And as soon as you start tothink about it, that's when you
(11:49):
need to start thinking aboutplanning and what you need to do
to make that move.
It can't be just I'm retiringtomorrow and then the next day I
want to move.
You really need to startthinking about it months, years
in advance if that's somethingthat's of interest to you.
Most people, most of ourclients, know, or most of our
clients maybe already havehouses in other states, in other
(12:12):
regions, in other countriesthat they own, that they
vacation at, that could be apossible moving place.
A lot of people do think aboutit, but not just thinking about
it for lifestyle changes.
But when you're looking at thatand thinking through, well,
maybe I am, my kid's grown up,they're going to college, maybe
I do want to move and do somemore stuff for me, for my you
(12:35):
know, for me and my spouse,those are the times you need to
start thinking through, and acouple of those things are is
clearly planning to move, right,all the expenses that go with
to that into moving, all theexpenses and thought process
that goes into.
Well, what am I going to donext?
You know, if I'm retiring frommy job, what am I going to do
(12:55):
with my time?
Right, that could dictate whereyou want to move and that could
dictate a lot of the residencyissues we see in audits.
Right, in audits, a thing we seea lot of is the auditors will
ask you and say show me howyou've moved, how you've moved
to Florida from Massachusetts orTexas or whatever it is, and to
do that, you're going to haveto show them receipts for paying
(13:18):
movers.
You're going to need to showthem, hey, I've changed my
license and registration, bothpersonally, for my vehicles.
I've changed insurancecompanies.
I've changed doctors.
I've changed you know whereI've changed insurance companies
.
I've changed doctors I'vechanged.
You know where I rent my moviesfrom.
I've changed where my bills getpaid from.
All these little things thatyou know.
(13:39):
There are checklists out there.
We have checklists that we canwork with you on, and those are
all little things that you'llneed to do to establish that new
residency in a new state.
Those are things you can startthinking through before you move
, like, okay, I got to changeutilities or okay, I should
probably be looking at newdoctors in the area I want to
move to.
So things like that are whatthe auditors and if someone was
(14:02):
to go through a state residencyaudit like this that you'd
really have to think through andhave documentation and support
for.
I think that's one thing we seea lot of in state audits is
that people do the behaviors orchange their lifestyle and do
some of the things that we wouldrecommend, but they don't have
(14:22):
good documentation on it right.
Get those receipts, make thosenotes, keep that calendar right,
those things to meet thestatutory residency tests as
well as the domicile test, andthat's where we see the states
being very strict on and whatcan turn out to be a long,
lengthy process is if you don'thave that support but you feel
(14:48):
and we've done everything youneed to do if that support isn't
there, you're going to have ahard time negotiating with the
state that you've moved andestablished residency elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Love it, Jeff.
We'll catch you on the nextepisode.
Have a fantastic rest of yourday.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
No problem, thanks,
sophia fantastic rest of your
day, no problem.
Thanks, sophia.
Thanks for listening to theKnowing what Counts podcast.
Ready to optimize your wealthand protect your future, visit
thempgroupcpacom or call413-739-1800 to connect with our
(15:28):
team of experts.
Remember, success is aboutknowing what counts.