• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Pridgeon & Zoss, PLLC

Just another WordPress site

  • Home
  • Firm Overview
    • Review Us
  • Meet Our Attorneys
  • Tax Law Services
    • CP504 Notice in MN
  • Professional Referrals
  • Our Required Retainer Deposit & Fees
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
Home / Tax Controversy / The State of Minnesota requires your presence …
  • Home
  • Firm Overview
    • Review Us
  • Meet Our Attorneys
  • Tax Law Services
    • CP504 Notice in MN
  • Professional Referrals
  • Our Required Retainer Deposit & Fees
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
Call
Contact
Blog

The State of Minnesota requires your presence …

A recent decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court illustrates a few important aspects of tax law. First, the statutes can be ambiguous. Second, the Department of Revenue’s attempts to clarify a statute may not reflect legislative intent. Third, sometimes, a court can just confuse things even further.

Unfortunately for the taxpayers involved in this case, that confusion could cost them more than $650,000 in taxes, penalties and interest. The question now is whether other residents in their position will suffer a similar fate. 

The issue is residency. For the Revenue Department, everyone falls into one of three categories: resident, part-time resident or nonresident. Nonresidents, of course, are not obligated to pay income tax to the state. Part-time residents and residents are. The problem is that the statute, according to this decision, is not clear about the definition of “resident.”

The couple found themselves in this predicament in 2010 as the result of a state tax audit. They had moved from Minnesota to Florida but held on to and occasionally visited their home in Minnetonka. They decided to move back to Minnesota in 2007 and re-established full-time residency that August. Were they full-time residents, part-time residents or nonresidents?

The DOR uses a three-pronged test to determine if a taxpayer is a resident under these circumstances. If a taxpayer is domiciled outside of the state but maintains an abode in the state and was physically present in the state for more than half of the year (183 days), he must pay taxes for the full year. The department has a long laundry list of what makes an address a domicile, but, generally, a person’s domicile is his permanent residence, where he gets his mail, maintains a driver’s license — the place he generally holds out to be “home.” An abode is a dwelling that is not a domicile.

They lived here full-time for part of the year, so they were not nonresidents. They were domiciled both in Florida and in Minnesota in 2007, but they owned a house here the whole time. So, they are either part-time or full-time residents.

The couple said one thing, the department said another. We’ll explain more in our next post.

Source: Minnesota Public Radio, “MN Supreme Court deals financial blow to part-year residents,” Bob Collins, Feb. 17, 2016

On Behalf of Pridgeon & Zoss, PLLC Feb 23 2016 Tax Controversy

Primary Sidebar

Do Not Delay Responding to a Tax Notice

Name(Required)

Practice Areas

Tax Disputes

  • Tax Litigation
  • Audits
  • Tax Appeals
    • Appealing a Levy Action

Business & Payroll Taxes

  • Trust Fund Assessments
  • Complying with Sales and Use Tax Laws

Self-Employed

  • No Taxes Withheld

Outstanding Balances

  • IRS Collections and Currently Not Collectible Status
  • Settlement Options
    • Offers in Compromise
    • Installment Agreements

Latest Blogs

5 Things to Do if You Get Audited in Minnesota

March 27, 2023

What is a Trust Fund Recovery Penalty?

January 31, 2023

A Guide to the Minnesota Tax Appeal Process

January 27, 2023

The Secret to Successful Self-Employment

October 19, 2022

Things You Should Expect Being Self-Employed in Minnesota

October 13, 2022

Footer

Edina Tax Law Office

4951 W 77th Street, Box 11
Edina, MN 55435

Telephone: 952-835-8320

Fax: 612-682-4711

Roseville Tax Law Office:

1915 Hwy 36 West, Box 3
Roseville, MN 55113

Telephone: 612-455-8948

Pridgeon & Zoss, PLLC provides legal counsel for clients in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin

© 2025 Pridgeon & Zoss, PLLC. All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer | Site Map | Privacy Policy