{"id":99381,"date":"2025-12-29T23:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99381\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T23:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:28:08","slug":"nys-snowbirds-lose-bid-to-migrate-to-florida-and-dodge-state-tax-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99381\/","title":{"rendered":"NYS snowbirds lose bid to migrate to Florida and dodge state tax bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A pair of Empire State snowbirds just learned it\u2019s not easy to fly the coop.<\/p>\n<p>An upstate couple who relocated to Florida is still on the hook for a $60,000 New York tax bill because they didn\u2019t prove their Sunshine State pad was their main residence, the state tax panel ruled in a recent bombshell decision.<\/p>\n<p>John Hoff and his wife, Kathleen Ocorr-Hoff, kept cashing paychecks here and didn\u2019t give up their local country club memberships, the tax panel found in the decision \u2014 which could give pause to snowbirds splitting time between the Empire State and Florida.<\/p>\n<p>The couple decided to retire to the warmer climes of Naples, Florida, and plunked down money for a ritzy $1 million three-bedroom, three-bath condo in the Sunshine State \u2014 but kept too many ties to Canandaigua, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dta.ny.gov\/pdf\/decisions\/850209.dec.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Oct. 9 decision determined<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>John Hoff and Kathleen Ocorr-Hoff relocated to Florida, but New York said they\u2019re on the hook for a $60,000 tax bill. Facebook\/Kathleen Hoff<\/p>\n<p>Hoff and Ocorr-Hoff contended the proof of their move was they had registered vehicles in Florida and had bank accounts there, the 24-page ruling by the State of New York Tax Appeals Tribunal said. <\/p>\n<p>Hoff also got a hunting and fishing license while Ocorr-Hoff said she started a business with a Florida address, the ruling said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe disagree that any of these factors are persuasive here, as each is unsubstantiated, not established to have occurred during the period in issue or contrary to the record,\u201d the decision said.<\/p>\n<p>Hoff, the founder of Global Point Technology, a successful upstate tech import\/export company, and his graphic designer wife, married in 2008, according to the document.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, the couple bought the upstate home on Poplar Beach for $907,000 and settled in. <\/p>\n<p>The Hoffs fell in love with Naples, Florida, and plunked down for a luxury condo with this stellar view, a new ruling said. Facebook\/Kathleen Hoff<\/p>\n<p>But Hoff and Ocorr-Hoff later \u201cfell in love with the Naples area,\u201d and planned an \u201cexit strategy\u201d to relocate to Florida, including Hoff planning to turn over the business to his grown son.<\/p>\n<p>They bought the condo on Gulf Shore Boulevard in Naples in 2014 for $935,000 and even made another $200,000 in improvements, planning to make it their retirement home \u2014 and listed it as their primary residence in their 2018 and 2019 tax returns, the decision said. <\/p>\n<p>The Hoffs moved their ski equipment and a valuable Waterford crystal collection into the condo, and signed up to vote, drive and hunt in Florida, and opened bank accounts as they began the transition.<\/p>\n<p>They even joined a local country club, despite keeping two memberships in New York, with plans to spend winters down south and summer months back in their upstate \u2018burb.<\/p>\n<p>The Hoffs lived in upstate New York until deciding to move to Florida \u2014 but state officials said they still owe taxes. Google Maps<\/p>\n<p>John Hoff and Kathleen Ocorr-Hoff turned in upstate New York for the warmer climes of Naples, Florida.  Facebook\/Kathleen Hoff<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, they said they spent 186 days in New York, 131 in Florida and 48 days elsewhere, with the numbers going up to 164 days in New York, 153.5 in Naples and 47.5 somewhere else in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>New York State tax officials said it wasn\u2019t enough to make them legit Floridians. <\/p>\n<p>Hoff\u2019s plans to turn the business over to his son fizzled due to newly imposed tariffs on Chinese products, affecting the company\u2019s bottom line, and despite reducing his work load he continued to play a key role in the company, the tax tribunal said.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, the two continued to earn income from their New York companies, including Ocorr-Hoff\u2019s graphic design business, despite opening a new company in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, state tax officials hit the pair with a $59,648 tax bill for 2018 and 2019, with penalties.<\/p>\n<p>John Hoff and Kathleen Ocorr-Hoff have to pay off a New York tax bill despite moving to Florida, state officials said.. Facebook\/Kathleen Hoff<\/p>\n<p>The Hoffs challenged the bill, with the dispute ending up before an administrative judge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe administrative judge concluded that petitioners have not met their burden of proof to show that they changed their domicile for purposes of the tax law for the years at issue,\u201d the judge ruled.<\/p>\n<p>They appealed to the tribunal, which upheld the judge\u2019s ruling in the October decision.<\/p>\n<p>The couple could not be reached for comment Monday, and their attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pair of Empire State snowbirds just learned it\u2019s not easy to fly the coop. An upstate couple&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,24292,24680,12297,8527,29925,4278],"class_list":["post-99381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-income","tag-metro","tag-retirement","tag-taxes","tag-upstate-new-york","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}