Help Needed with scenario: Live in Florida / travel to New York what is my Tax Home, etc

Question

My profession is licensed by NYS and I own my own business (LLC in NY). I have been afforded the following opportunity:

Most of the money I earn are from municipal sources (1099) for services I provide. These services are legal in nature and usually takes the form of reviewing documents.

The scenario would work like this:

1. Relocate family to Florida
2. In new FL hope have a home office sufficient to maintain the work and working from Florida most work days.
3. Travel to NY 1-4 times per month for business related purposes.

Questions:

1. Do I pay NY Taxes?
2. Are my travel expenses to NY deductible?
3. If I maintained a studio apartment or the like in NY can I deduct the rent? (if maintained exclusively for the purposes of my business travel)

Answer 1

I suggest you talk to a New York-licensed tax adviser (EA or NY-licensed CPA). New York is very aggressive when it comes to residency determination, and given your facts and circumstances you may end up being considered NY resident despite relocating to Florida.

If you maintain a studio in NY, I'd say 99% chance is that you remain NY resident for the whole year (but verify with a professional).