Trader’s De Facto Separation Doesn’t Dissolve NY Tax Obligations

A couple can’t use their de facto separation while the husband was working in London as an excuse to avoid paying $282,000 in New York taxes, a state tribunal ruled in an opinion posted Thursday.

Under the state’s tax law, a taxpayer must be legally separated from his or her spouse to qualify for the exclusion to the taxation of those domiciled in New York. The couple’s request to read the statute to include the phrase “or proof of separation by fact” isn’t supported by the law’s language or any other legal authority, the New York Tax Appeals Tribunal held ...