New York Yankees’ Shortstop Derek Jeter claims his legal residence in the State of Florida but, not surprisingly, has an apartment in New York City that he stays in when the Yankees are in town during the baseball season.
According to the State of New York, that means he’s a New York resident and owns millions of dollars in back taxes:
NEW YORK — New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter has landed in tax trouble with the state of New York. State officials say the shortstop owes the state back taxes for claiming to live in Florida when his actual residence is New York City.
The claim could cost Jeter millions of dollars.
Jeter’s agent, Casey Close, has said that his client has made his home in Tampa, Fla., since the mid-1990s, but state officials claim that between the years of 2001 and 2003 Jeter was in fact a New York state resident and should have been paying state income tax.
Florida residents do not pay state income tax.
Jeter has owned an apartment in Trump World Tower in New York City since October 2001. As part of its assertion of the player’s New York residency, the New York State Division of Taxation and Finance noted that Jeter has personal items that are “near and dear” in this apartment, according to The Associated Press.
Judge Timothy J. Alston, however, asked the department for more specifics with respect to its claim that Jeter has “immersed himself in the New York community,” and in a five-page order dated Nov. 7, Alston told the department it must provide Jeter with a more detailed document specifying his “community involvement in jurisdictions other than Florida” and “public statements regarding his desire to be in New York,” according to AP.
As Daniel Mitchell at Cato notes, if New York didn’t treat the rich like a public trough available to all, then maybe they wouldn’t be trying to fly the coop to begin with.
