Residency vs. primary residence

[suezeekai]

Arizona, Maine, New York

I retired in 1995 and sold my house in New York then. In 2000 I bought a home in Maine but I'm here less than 6 mos of the year (Maine's requirement for residency is greater than 6 mos). The other part of the year I live in California, New York and in Arizona. I file my taxes in New York because I consider that my "home" in that I lived there full-time for 9 years and part-time now for 21 years and I just feel like it's my home. I'm only in New York usually 30-40 days a year. IRS's definition of a primary residence is where you live the majority of your time so that would be the Maine house, but I'm not a resident of Maine. So, if I sell it I'm planning on excluding the gain for federal and New York but what about Maine? Since I'm a non-resident I'm wondering if they will consider it my primary residence or will want me to report a taxable gain. I keep getting confused about being a resident of the state and the house being a primary residence for gain exclusion.:confusedWhat is the name of your state?

 

[LdiJ]

Arizona, Maine, New York

I retired in 1995 and sold my house in New York then. In 2000 I bought a home in Maine but I'm here less than 6 mos of the year (Maine's requirement for residency is greater than 6 mos). The other part of the year I live in California, New York and in Arizona. I file my taxes in New York because I consider that my "home" in that I lived there full-time for 9 years and part-time now for 21 years and I just feel like it's my home. I'm only in New York usually 30-40 days a year. IRS's definition of a primary residence is where you live the majority of your time so that would be the Maine house, but I'm not a resident of Maine. So, if I sell it I'm planning on excluding the gain for federal and New York but what about Maine? Since I'm a non-resident I'm wondering if they will consider it my primary residence or will want me to report a taxable gain. I keep getting confused about being a resident of the state and the house being a primary residence for gain exclusion.:confusedWhat is the name of your state?

You are a part year resident of every state where you live and earn income. You are not a full year resident of any state at all for tax purposes. Therefore you should always be filing part year returns, for multiple states, rather than full year returns.

However, whether or not Maine would want capital gains tax on the house depends on the specific tax laws for Maine. I don't think anyone here practices in Maine, so you are really going to need to consult a tax pro there.