NYC Income Tax - Loopholes?

Hi,

I am a man in my 20's and currently live in Jersey City. I work from my apartment every day. I would prefer to live directly in NYC (for lifestyle reasons), but do not currently do so in order to avoid the NYC resident income tax.

However, what if:

1) I share an apartment in NYC with a friend. However, only his name is on the lease. He pays the monthly rent in full to the landlord, and I pay my share to him in cash under the table.

2) My friend (who lives in NYC already) rents another apartment in NYC. Only his name is on the lease. He pays the monthly rent in full to the landlord, and I pay that full amount back to him under the table.

With both of these methods, my official domicile would be my parents' house located in another state within the US. My friend and I share no connections on any paperwork, so it should be difficult/impossible to link our names together (i.e. it's not like my parents are renting an apartment in NYC in their name for my to live in, in which case it would be obvious to tax regulators that I am trying to avoid paying NYC taxes with some loophole).

Are these viable methods of avoiding the NYC resident income tax?

I really appreciate any comments you may have. Thanks!

- John

 

Well, like I said, I would use my parents' address, which is located in another state within the US.

Has anyone heard of anyone else doing something along the lines of what I mentioned? Can you guys see any pitfalls?

 

I think you'd want a reasonable state address. Like if you're working in NYC you aren't going to really be able to put down Michigan residence for state taxes, etc. You could put CT, PA, NJ, those would be reasonable. Or you could say you lived in NY, but not NYC.

 

NYC tax code states that to be a resident you have to be in the city (any form of being in the city even if you just stop at a Starbucks to go to the bathroom; the only exception being if you are in a cab and just passing through I believe) for over 183 days. So, if you only were working from your apartment and went into the city 183 times or less during a calendar year, you aren't considered an NYC resident and aren't subject to the NYC resident tax.

 

Get a Stroudsburg, PA address. You'll avoid NYC tax and NYS tax. PA is about 4% or less, much better than NYS.

Or, since you work remotely, you could get a Florida address and have zero state taxes.

 
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