'Good riddance': New York's governor responded to report that Trump, a lifelong New Yorker, declared himself a resident of Florida
- President Donald Trump, a lifelong New Yorker, has declared himself a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida.
- According to documents obtained by The New York Times, Trump and wife Melania filled out a "declaration of domicile" in recent weeks, declaring the president's Mar-a-Lago golf club their permanent home.
- A person close to the president told The Times that the reason the president changed his address was "primarily for tax purposes."
- Under New York State law, if a person spends more than 184 days in the state, the person needs to pay state income taxes. Florida, on the other hand, does not have a state income tax, making it an attractive residential prospect for the wealthy.
- New Yorkers paid the highest state and local income taxes of any state as of May 2019.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump, who grew up in Queens, New York, made millions from large-scale building projects in Manhattan, and shot the "The Apprentice" at his namesake Fifth Avenue skyscraper Trump Tower, has now declared himself a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida.
According to documents obtained by The New York Times, Trump and wife Melania filled out a "declaration of domicile" in recent weeks, declaring that the president's property in Florida will be their permanent residence.
According to the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, a person's domicile is the place that they intend to have as their permanent home. A person can only have one domicile and needs to demonstrate that they have abandoned their previous domicile in order to establish one outside of New York State.
Trump filed the documents with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court on September 27, while Melania filled hers out on October 3. According to the documents, the Trumps declared that they "reside in and a maintain a place of abode" at 1100 South Ocean Boulevard, the address of Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.
In their filings, the Trumps said that they "recognize and intend to maintain" Mar-a-Lago as their permanent home.
"I am, at the time of making this declaration, a bona fide resident of the State of Florida," both filings state.
Both documents list 721 Fifth Avenue, also known as Trump Tower, as their former residence. They also listed 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, the address of the White House, and an address in Bedminster, New Jersey, which is the site of his private golf club.
A person close to the president told The Times that the reason the president changed his address was "primarily for tax purposes."
Under New York State law, if a person spends more than 184 days in the state, the person needs to pay state income taxes. Florida, on the other hand, does not have a state income tax, making it an attractive residential prospect for the wealthy. New Yorkers paid the highest state and local income taxes of any state, as of May 2019.
As of October 23, Trump has spent 237 days at his golf properties since taking office, according to NBC News. The NBC News tracker also found that 99 days were spent at Mar-a-Lago and only 20 at Trump Tower.
Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo responded to news of the decision by tweeting, "good riddance."
"It's not like @realDonaldTrump paid taxes here anyway...," Cuomo said in the tweet. "He's all yours, Florida."