Goffredo v. Director

9 N.J. Tax 135
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedApril 20, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 9 N.J. Tax 135 (Goffredo v. Director) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goffredo v. Director, 9 N.J. Tax 135 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1987).

Opinion

LARIO, J.T.C.

Plaintiffs, Daniel and Phyllis Goffredo, appealed from deficiencies assessed against them by the Director, Division of Taxation under the New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act, N.J.S.A. 54A:1-1, et seq. (act), for the tax years 1981, 1982 and 1983.

The primary question raised by this appeal is whether plaintiffs, who owned homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania but were employed and spent the majority of the time for the years [139]*139in question in Pennsylvania, were New Jersey “resident taxpayers” within the meaning of N.J.S.A. 54A:1-2 for those years.

In their returns for the years 1981 through 1983 the Goffredos reported only their New Jersey source income on the theory they were nonresidents of New Jersey during those years. The Director concluded they were “resident taxpayers” within the meaning of the act and assessed deficiencies related to income emanating from sources outside New Jersey. Additionally, a late filing fee was assessed for plaintiffs’ failure to file their 1981 return until April 2, 1986. When the deficiency assessment was made, plaintiffs were denied a resident credit; however, since then the error has been rectified by the Director.

Under N.J.S.A. 54A:5-5, a nonresident individual’s income subject to tax under the act is only “that part of his income derived from sources within this State”; hence, income derived from sources outside New Jersey are not taxable to a nonresident. N.J.S.A. 54A:1-2 defines residency as follows:

m. “Resident taxpayer” means an individual:
1. Who is domiciled in this State, unless he maintains no permanent place of abode in this State, maintains a permanent place of abode elsewhere, and spends in the aggregate no more than 30 days of the taxable year in this State; or
2. Who is not domiciled in this State but maintains a permanent place of abode in this State and spends in the aggregate more than 183 days of the taxable year in this State, unless such individual is in the Armed Forces of the United States.
n. “Nonresident taxpayer” means a taxpayer who is not a resident.

In levying the instant assessments against plaintiffs, the Director relied upon subparagraph (m)(1) contending that plaintiffs were domiciled in New Jersey during all years here involved and because they failed to meet the requirements of all three of the exceptions contained therein, they fall within the definition of “Resident taxpayer.”

The Director concedes that if the Goffredos were not domiciled in New Jersey in 1981 through 1983 then in that event they are “nonresidents” since he admits they maintained a permanent place of abode in Pennsylvania and did not spend in the aggregate more than 183 days of each taxable year in New [140]*140Jersey, thereby meeting the exception for nondomiciliaries as contained within subparagraph (m)(2).

The first issue to be determined is whether during 1981, 1982 and 1983 the Goffredos were New Jersey domiciliaries. If so, the next question to be resolved is whether subparagraph (m)(1) of N.J.S.A. 54A:1-2 requires all three exceptions contained therein to be met as contended by the Director. If this contention is concluded in the affirmative, next to be resolved is whether plaintiffs have failed to establish either the first exception of subparagraph (m)(1)—“unless he maintains no permanent plae of abode in this State” or the third exception therein —“and spends in the aggregate no more than 30 days of the taxable year in this State____”

“Domicile” and “residence” are related terms and although in certain contexts are used interchangeably, they are not legally identical. “Domicile” is defined as:

That place where a man has his true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment, and to which whenever he is absent he has the intention of returning. Smith v. Smith, 206 Pa.Super. 310, 213 A.2d 94 [1965]. The permanent residence of a person or the place to which he intends to return even though he may actually reside elsewhere. A person may have more than one residence but only one domicile. [Black’s Law Dictionary (5 ed. 1979) 435.]

Additionally, “domicile” is compared and distinguished from “residence” by Black as follows:

As “domicile” and "residence” are usually in the same place, they are frequently used as if they had the same meaning, but they are not identical terms, for a person may have two places of residence, as in the city and country, but only one domicile. Residence means living in a particular locality, but domicile means living in that locality with intent to make it a fixed and permanent home. Residence simply requires bodily presence as an inhabitant in a given place, while domicile requires bodily presence in that place and also an intention to make it one’s domicile. Fuller v. Hofferbert, C.A.Ohio, 204 F. 2d 592, 597 [C.A.6 1953]. “Residence” is not synonymous with “domicile,” though the two terms are closely related; a person may have only one legal domicile at one time, but he may have more than one residence. Fielding v. Casualty Reciprocal Exchange, La.App. 331 So.2d 186, 188 [1976], [Id. at 1176, 1177]

Our Supreme Court further expanded this definition in Lyon v. Glaser, 60 N.J. 259, 288 A.2d 12 (1972) stating:

Domicil[e] is very much a matter of the mind—of intention. One may be acquired, or changed to a new one, when there is a concurrence of certain [141]*141elements; i.e., an actual and physical taking up of an abode in a particular State, accompanied by an intention to make his home there permanently or at least indefinitely, and to abandon his old domicile], [at 264, 288 A.2d 12]

The determination of one’s domicile is a mixed one of law and fact with the factual elements predominating. Ferrara v. Ibach, 285 F.Supp. 1017, 1019 (D.S.C.1968), and each case must be evaluated and determined by its own facts and circumstances. Cromwell v. Neeld, 15 N.J.Super. 296, 301, 83 A.2d 337 (App.Div.1951); Wolff v. Taxation Div. Director, 9 N.J.Tax 11, 18 (Tax Ct.1986). Therefore, the facts and circumstances surrounding the residences of plaintiffs must first be established and evaluated.

In 1957, as a result of Mr. Goffredo’s change of employment to the South Jersey area, plaintiffs sold their Easton, Pennsylvania, homestead and purchased 104 Main Street, Riverton, New Jersey which they and their family established as their sole residence and domicile. Living with them at that time were their three daughters; Mary Louise, age 12; Phyllis, age 10; and Joan, age 8. All three children attended and eventually were graduated from Riverton Elementary School and Palmyra High School. Subsequent to their respective graduations from high school, each daughter attended and was graduated from Holy Family College, located in Torresdale, Pennsylvania. During their respective college matriculation each commuted daily from the Riverton home.

In 1969 Mr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tozour Energy Systems, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation
23 N.J. Tax 341 (New Jersey Tax Court, 2007)
Furmato v. State
16 N.J. Tax 10 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1996)
Dahyabhai S. v. Director
13 N.J. Tax 509 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1993)
Quick v. Director
9 N.J. Tax 288 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 N.J. Tax 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goffredo-v-director-njtaxct-1987.