Changing his primary residence could carry significant tax implications for President Trump. Photo / Doug Mills, The New York Times
Changing his primary residence could carry significant tax implications for President Trump. Photo / Doug Mills, The New York Times
The president filed a "declaration of domicile" last month saying his property in Palm Beach will be his permanent residence.
He came of age in Queens, built Trump Tower, starred in The Apprentice, bankrupted his businesses six times, and drew cheering crowds and angry protesters to Fifth Avenue after hiselection. Through it all, President Donald Trump — rich, bombastic and to many Americans the epitome of a New Yorker — was intertwined with the city he called his lifelong home.
No longer.
In late September, Trump changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Florida, according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Melania Trump, the first lady, also changed her residence to Palm Beach in an identical document.
Each of the Trumps filed a "declaration of domicile" saying the Mar-a-Lago Club, Trump's resort in Palm Beach, will be their permanent residence.
"If I maintain another place or places of abode in some other state or states, I hereby declare that my above-described residence and abode in the state of Florida constitutes my predominant and principal home, and I intend to continue it permanently as such," reads the document President Trump filed.
"I formerly resided at 721 Fifth Avenue," the document says, referring to Trump Tower, which has been his primary residence since he moved into the skyscraper off 57th St in midtown Manhattan in 1983.
An attachment lists his "other places of abode" as 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, the address for the White House, and his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he spends warm-weather weekends and a few weeks every summer.
Since becoming president, Trump has spent 99 days at Mar-a-Lago compared with 20 days at Trump Tower, according to NBC News. Although Trump ran his presidential transition from Trump Tower and some aides had expected him to spend many weekends there in his Louis XIV-style triplex on the 58th floor, his presence created traffic headaches for New Yorkers and logistical and security challenges for the Secret Service.
White House officials declined to say why Trump changed his primary residence, but a person close to the president said the reasons were primarily for tax purposes.
The person also said that Trump, who is deeply unpopular in New York, was infuriated by a subpoena filed by Cyrus R Vance Jr, the Manhattan district attorney, seeking the president's tax returns, which Trump has not released. Changing his residence to Florida is not expected to have any effect on Vance's case, which Trump has sought to thwart with a federal lawsuit.
It was unclear how much time he would spend in New York in the future or if he would keep his triplex at the top of Trump Tower. Under New York law, if he spends more than 184 days a year there, he will have to pay state income taxes.
In a statement after The New York Times reported on Trump's move, Governor Andrew Cuomo, of New York, said: "Good riddance. It's not like Mr Trump paid taxes here anyway. He's all yours, Florida."
Florida, which does not have a state income tax or inheritance tax, has long been a place for the wealthy to escape the higher taxes of the Northeast.
Changing his primary residence could carry significant tax implications for Trump, although how much is unclear without seeing his returns. But in changing his residence to Florida, he would most likely be avoiding New York state's top tax rate of nearly 9 per cent and New York City's top rate of nearly 4 per cent.
President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo / Saul Martinez, The New York Times
Leaving New York could also save money for Trump's heirs at the time of his death. New York imposes a top estate tax rate of 16 per cent for estates larger than US$10.1 million.
In an article in the Florida Bar Journal in January 2019, three lawyers with Proskauer Rose wrote about the recent wave of people moving from New York to Florida in "large part" because of the repeal of the state and local tax deduction that was a byproduct of the tax bill Trump signed into law in 2017.
"While it may be easy enough for an individual to buy a home in Florida and move, the act of physically moving to Florida is only part of the battle," the three wrote.
"The real challenge is proving by clear and convincing evidence that the individual is no longer a New York domiciliary and does not qualify as a New York statutory resident for New York state income tax purposes," they said.
Beyond taxes, Trump has repeatedly signalled the importance of Florida to his 2020 re election effort and kicked off his campaign with a rally in Orlando. And he has often mentioned Mar-a-Lago when promoting his ties to the state.
In the longer term, the change could speak to Trump's plans after his presidency ends. It has been an open question whether he would ever return full time to New York City.
In addition, Secret Service protection for Trump after his presidency ends would continue to snarl traffic in midtown Manhattan — as would tourists and potential protests in front of Trump Tower — particularly if Trump chose to live there full time.
David Pratt, a partner at Proskauer Rose and one of the authors of the Florida Bar Journal piece, said Trump had probably changed his primary residence for the same reason other people have left New York.
"What he's doing is not any different than what a lot of individuals from New York are doing, and they're becoming Florida residents," Pratt said.
Trump is due to travel to New York City this weekend for an event at Madison Square Garden, the rare instance of him visiting when he has no fundraiser or official event scheduled. He is due to spend Saturday night at Trump Tower.
Since he became president, Mar-a-Lago remains Trump's favoured retreat. He has a residence on the grounds, enjoys easy access to one of his nearby golf clubs, entertains foreign visitors like Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and also plays host to a regular cast of visitors and members.
Still, Manhattan has been like Oz to him.
"I believed, perhaps to an irrational degree, that Manhattan was always going to be the best place to live — the centre of the world," Trump wrote in his book The Art of the Deal.
