Sanchez v. Commissioner of Revenue

770 N.W.2d 523, 2009 Minn. LEXIS 544, 2009 WL 2525504
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 20, 2009
DocketA08-2281
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 770 N.W.2d 523 (Sanchez v. Commissioner of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanchez v. Commissioner of Revenue, 770 N.W.2d 523, 2009 Minn. LEXIS 544, 2009 WL 2525504 (Mich. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

MEYER, Justice.

Relators, Gerónimo and Kathleen Sanchez, appeal from a Minnesota Tax Court decision finding they were domiciled in Minnesota during the entire 2004 tax year and, thus, responsible for Minnesota income tax during that period. We affirm.

The Sanchezes became Minnesota residents in October 1998 when the United States Army transferred Gerónimo Sanchez from his former station overseas. In November 1998, they purchased a home in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Before coming to Minnesota, the Sanchezes had no connection to Minnesota.

Gerónimo Sanchez retired in 2000, and the couple began to make improvements to their home in Apple Valley in anticipation of selling it. The couple also purchased a motor home and began traveling extensively, spending winters in Texas. In the spring of 2003, they listed their home for sale, but took it off the market 6 months later because it did not sell. They again listed their home in the spring of 2004, and it sold. The closing date was set for June 18, 2004.

In May 2004, the Sanchezes traveled to South Dakota. The record is not clear as to how many days the Sanchezes actually spent in South Dakota, because they did not keep records, but in their brief the Sanchezes stated that they “took several trips to South Dakota.” The tax court found, based on the Sanchezes’ estimate, that the Sanchezes were present in South Dakota for approximately 10 days during 2004, and that all of their time spent in South Dakota preceded the June 18, 2004, closing on their home in Apple Valley.

The Sanchezes’ affidavit submitted to the tax court stated that during their visits to South Dakota, they retained a mailing address from My Home Address, Inc.,1 a [525]*525company in Emery, South Dakota. Then, using their South Dakota address, the San-chezes applied for and received South Dakota drivers’ licenses, opened a checking account, obtained credit cards, registered their vehicles, and registered to vote. They also notified their insurance providers of their new address. The Sanchezes did not rent or purchase property in South Dakota, as they planned to travel and wanted to avoid the expenses and obligations of home ownership. Their affidavit states that they intended to return to South Dakota to rent or buy a home.

After their visits to South Dakota, the Sanchezes returned to Minnesota and stayed here until closing on the sale of their home on June 18, 2004. They then moved from Minnesota and have not resided in the state since that date. For the remainder of 2004, the Sanchezes traveled in their motor home to 13 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, and did not return to either Minnesota or South Dakota. They did not seek medical services in 2004, but they received dental services in California. The Sanchezes filed their Minnesota 2004 tax return as “part-year residents,” believing that they were Minnesota residents until June 18, 2004, and South Dakota residents after that date.2 They also claimed Minnesota homestead status on their property tax filings through June 18, 2004.

The Commissioner of Revenue (the Commissioner) audited the Sanchezes’ 2004 tax return. Based on the legal presumption that the Sanchezes’ domicile continued to be Minnesota in the absence of proof establishing domicile in another state, the Commissioner treated the couple as full-year residents of Minnesota and assessed additional income tax, penalties, and interest for 2004. The Commissioner denied the Sanchezes’ administrative appeal, and the Sanchezes appealed to the Minnesota Tax Court. Both parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment and, after a hearing, the tax court granted the Commissioner’s motion. Applying the standards established in the administrative rules of the Department of Revenue for determination of domicile, the tax court concluded that the Sanchezes had not established domicile in South Dakota and were responsible for income taxes in Minnesota for the full year. This appeal followed.

We review an order granting summary judgment to determine if the lower court erred in applying the law and whether any material facts are disputed. Chapman v. Comm’r of Revenue, 651 N.W.2d 825, 830 (Minn.2002). The tax court’s conclusions of law and interpretation of statutes are reviewed de novo. Id. Decisions that involve questions of fact are reviewed “to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the decision.” Miller’s Estate v. Comm’r of Taxation, 240 Minn. 18, 20, 59 N.W.2d 925, 926 (1953). Whether departure from an established domicile and residence in a new state effects a change in domicile is “ordinarily a question of fact, depending ... upon the purpose and intent of the change.” Davidner v. Davidner, 304 Minn. 491, 494, 232 N.W.2d 5, 7 (1975).

The issue on appeal is whether the tax court correctly found that the Sanchezes’ actions failed to demonstrate either physical presence, or an intent to establish domicile, in South Dakota in 2004. In Minnesota, “[a]ll net income of a resident individual is subject to tax.” Minn.Stat. § 290.014, subd. 1 (2008). The definition [526]*526of “resident” applicable here is “any individual domiciled in Minnesota.” Minn. Stat. § 290.01, subd. 7(a) (2008); see Minn. R. 8001.0300, subp. 1 (2007). To establish “domicile,” one must have “bodily presence ... in a place coupled with an intent to make such a place one’s home.” Minn. R. 8001.0300, subp. 2 (2007). Domicile “is that place in which that person’s habitation is fixed, without any present intentions of removal therefrom, and to which, whenever absent, that person intends to return.” Id.

While individuals can be residents of more than one state, as residency only requires physical presence in a place, individuals can have only one domicile at any time. Minn. R. 8001.0300, subp. 2. Once domicile is established in Minnesota, it is presumed to continue until another domicile is actually established. Id. The taxpayer has the burden of proving a new domicile outside of Minnesota. See Sand-berg v. Comm’r of Revenue, 383 N.W.2d 277, 283 n. 7 (Minn.1986). We have “stressed that a party does not need to prove abandonment of present domicile, but, instead, rebutf ] the presumption that he or she has not changed domicile by proving establishment of domicile in another jurisdiction.” Id. (emphasis in original). “One must actually reside in the new state at the time the intent is formed to make the new state one’s permanent home.” Wolfv. Comm’r of Revenue, No. 7068,1999 WL 640030, at *2 (Minn. T.C. Aug. 17, 1999); see also Davidner, 304 Minn, at 493-94, 232 N.W.2d at 7. “[Residence without intention, or intention without residence” does not establish domicile. Da-vidner, 304 Minn, at 493, 232 N.W.2d at 7; see also Minn. R. 8001.0300, subp. 2.

When one announces an “intent to make a new abode one’s home, the trier of fact may consider the acts and circumstances of that person in evaluating the sincerity of the announced intent.” Comm’r of Revenue v. Stamp, 296 N.W.2d 867, 869 (Minn.1980).

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Sanchez v. Commissioner of Revenue
770 N.W.2d 523 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
770 N.W.2d 523, 2009 Minn. LEXIS 544, 2009 WL 2525504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanchez-v-commissioner-of-revenue-minn-2009.