New York Tax Department’s Response to Gaied Misses the Mark by Timothy P. Noonan The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance recently issued a revised version of its nonresident audit guidelines, which are used by auditors and practitioners during the many residency audits that take place across the state — ordinarily not something to get all that excited about. But considering that the revised guidelines are the tax department’s first truly public reaction to the landmark decision on residency by New York’s highest court in Gaied v. New York Tax Appeals Tribunal, 22 N.Y.3d 592 (N.Y. 2014), it’s a big deal to New York practitioners, many of whom deal address residency questions daily.

I know what you’re thinking: ‘‘Tim, I know this was your case, but didn’t you already write an article about Gaied? ’’Indeed I did, but I’m compelled to jump in again because, quite surprisingly — and despite all the fanfare and publicity regarding the game-changing nature of the decision — the department’s view is essentially ‘‘business as usual.’’ 1 In attempting to reconcile Gaied and assimilate the decision into department audit policy, the revised guidelines instead seem to treat the case as consistent with policy already being applied by the department.

Originally Published in Tax Analysts - 2014