Want to Be a Florida Resident?

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Some of my older and not-so-old clients have asked about what is required to become a Florida resident for tax purposes.   While there are many relevant factors that determine where someone resides for tax purposes, the most important factor is where you spend most of your time.   Generally, a person is considered as resident of whichever state he or she spends more than half the year.
But many people travel on business and pleasure and may not spend half the year in any one place.  In these situations, the state of residency is determined by looking at where you spend the most time and by examining other factors.  To support your Florida residency you and your spouse should do the following:

1.  Complete and file a Florida Residency Declaration.

2.  Apply for a Florida driver’s license.

3.  Register to vote in Florida.

4.  Become a member of a church in Florida.

5.  Join the Rotary club, Lions Club, Elks club or similar organization in Florida

6.  Join a gym or YMCA or golf club in Florida.

7.  Get a library card from the local Florida library.

8.  Get a land line phone for your Florida house.

9.  Get a new cellphone with a Florida area code number

10.  Register your cars in Florida and get Florida license plates

11.  Change the billing address on all your credit cards to your Florida address

12.  Establish personal banks account in Florida

13.  If you are operating a Florida management company or other business that will provide services to a non-Florida operating company, set up a Florida bank account for the Florida management company.

14.  Set-up a website for the Florida management company and advertise it as providing sales and management consulting services.

15.  Do small Yellow Pages ad for the Florida management company and its business.

16.  Get some Florida management company business cards and stationary printed up.

17.  Develop a relationship with a Florida doctor and dentist

18.  Use credit cards to pay for everything so you have a record of all the days you are in Florida

19.  Consider having someone house sit your non-Florida house while you are in Florida (this is actually a good idea just for protection of the property, but it also makes it more credible that the non-Florida house is your vacation house and the Florida house is your principal residence).

20.   Consider putting the non-Florida house in a trust or family LLC to get it out of your name (this would negate the principal residence gain exclusion on sale of this house so need to think about this one).

Give me a cal if you are interested in moving to Florida and becoming a Florida resident.  We can help you with any questions you may have about the process.

AND ONE MORE THING.    It is that time of year when we need to be thinking about taxes.  Deferring income to next year or accelerating expenses to this year obviously reduces your taxes this year.  But depending on what happens in the upcoming election, you may end up paying tax at a higher tax rate in future years.  Year-end tax planning doesn't occur in a vacuum, and has to take account of your particular situation and goals.  Let me know if you have any questions on year-end tax planning in general or any particular issues.  Jsenney@pselaw.com or 937-223-1130.