Florida has no income tax, so Florida doesn't audit new residents. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and California do audit former residents, and they decide the case on two separate questions: domicile (where your permanent home truly is) and statutory residency (whether you kept a home there and spent more than 183 days there).
Domicile: the test that matters most
Domicile is your one permanent home, the place you intend to return to. You can have several residences but only one domicile. Auditors in high-tax states look at a familiar set of factors, often summarized as the "five primary factors" from New York's audit guidelines:
- Home: the size, value and use of your Florida home compared with any home you kept up north.
- Active business involvement: where you work and run your businesses.
- Time: where you actually spend your days, documented.
- Near and dear items: where the art, family heirlooms, safe-deposit boxes and pets live.
- Family: where your spouse and minor children live and attend school.
Secondary factors include driver's license, voter registration, vehicle registrations, where you see doctors, club memberships, religious affiliations, and the address on your tax returns and estate documents.
The 183-day rule, correctly understood
Most high-tax states say that if you keep a permanent place of abode in the state and spend more than 183 days there, you're a statutory resident regardless of domicile. Two things trip people up:
- Any part of a day usually counts as a day (New York counts a day if you're in the state at any time, with narrow exceptions for travel through).
- Keeping the apartment or the house is what triggers the test. Families who keep a Northeast home must document days carefully; apps and travel records are the norm.
The Florida residency checklist
- Close on your Florida home (or sign a long-term lease).
- File a Declaration of Domicile with the Palm Beach County Clerk of Court. It's a short sworn statement and a strong piece of evidence.
- Get a Florida driver's license (state law expects this within 30 days of establishing residency) and register your vehicles in Florida.
- Register to vote in Palm Beach County and cancel your prior registration.
- Apply for homestead exemption with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after you own and occupy the home as of January 1. See the homestead guide.
- Move the "near and dear": art, heirlooms, safe-deposit boxes, pets.
- Update everything: estate documents (a Florida will and trust), bank and brokerage addresses, insurance, passports, Global Entry, professional licenses, club memberships, doctors, dentists, accountants.
- File a part-year return in your former state for the year of the move and a final one if needed; some states, including New York, respond to a change of address with a residency questionnaire, and your CPA should prepare for it.
- Keep a day log for at least the first few years if you retain any property in your former state.
What Florida gives you in return
- No state income tax, no estate tax, no inheritance tax, no gift tax.
- Homestead exemption on your primary residence and the Save Our Homes cap that limits annual assessment increases to 3%.
- Strong constitutional protection of homestead property from most creditors.
- Portability of your accumulated Save Our Homes savings if you later move within Florida.
Why Boca Raton, specifically
South Florida has a dozen luxury markets. Relocating families keep choosing Boca Raton because it combines things the others split up: a real downtown (Mizner Park, Royal Palm Place, the Boca Raton Museum of Art and The Boca Raton resort), five miles of mostly uncrowded beach, a dense cluster of private golf and yacht clubs, strong public and private schools, two international airports within about 30 minutes, a Brightline station for Miami and Orlando, and an executive airport for private aviation right in the city.
East Boca Raton, east of I-95 and especially east of Federal Highway, is where most relocating buyers at the top of the market settle: the deep-water estates of Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, the Intracoastal homes of Lake Rogers Isle, the walkable Golden Triangle, the private-club life at St Andrews Country Club, and the oceanfront and Intracoastal condominiums along A1A and downtown.
This page is general information for people considering a move to Boca Raton. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. Rates, exemptions and deadlines change; verify current figures with a CPA or attorney licensed in the states involved.
