Delaware — Tax Residency Rule

Summary

Day threshold

More than 183 days

Window

Calendar year

Also requires

A permanent place of abode in DE

Effect

Worldwide income taxed

Authority

Delaware Division of Revenue

Delaware treats you as a statutory resident for income tax if both are true in the same year: you spend more than 183 days in the state, and you maintain a permanent place of abode there. Meet both and Delaware taxes your worldwide income for that year. To stay outside this rule, keep your Delaware days at 183 or fewer, or avoid keeping a permanent home there — but note that being domiciled in Delaware makes you a resident regardless of the count.

Who it applies to

This matters most if you are:

• A remote worker or frequent traveler spending long stretches in Delaware across the year.
• Someone who keeps a house or apartment in Delaware while living or working elsewhere.
• A part-year mover into or out of Delaware whose presence and housing overlap.
• Anyone whose true, permanent home (domicile) is arguably in Delaware, even with few days there.

It applies to individuals regardless of citizenship or visa status — this is a state income-tax residency test about presence and available housing, not immigration.

The rule — and why it exists

Delaware reaches residency two independent ways:

• Statutory residency. More than 183 days of presence in the calendar year plus a permanent place of abode maintained in Delaware for substantially the whole year. Both conditions must be met in the same year.
• Domicile. If Delaware is your true, fixed, permanent home, you are a resident no matter how many days you spend there — the day count is irrelevant under this separate test.

Why it exists: states use physical presence and a maintained home as proxies for where your economic life really sits. Pairing the day count with an abode requirement stops people escaping tax purely by counting days while still keeping a base in the state, and stops a brief visitor being swept in just for exceeding a day total.

Counting the days

1. 1Count each day, or part of a day, you are physically present in Delaware during the calendar year (1 January to 31 December).
2. 2The count resets to zero at the start of each new calendar year — it is a fresh annual tally, not a rolling window.
3. 3Any part of a day generally counts as a full day, including arrival and departure days, unless you are only passing through in transit.
4. 4You become a statutory resident once you exceed 183 days while also maintaining a permanent place of abode in the state.

Because the window is the calendar year, a stay split across a year-end can leave you under the threshold in each individual year even if the trip itself is longer.

Examples

Example 1 — statutory resident by days plus a home

You rent a Wilmington apartment year-round and are physically in Delaware for about 200 days during the calendar year. You exceed 183 days and hold a permanent abode, so you are a statutory resident and Delaware taxes your worldwide income for that year.

Example 2 — over 183 days but no permanent abode

You work a long contract in Delaware for roughly 190 days but stay in short-term hotels and keep no year-round dwelling there. You exceed the day threshold, but without a permanent place of abode the statutory-resident rule is not met on these facts.

Example 3 — resident despite few days (domicile)

Delaware is your true permanent home, but this year you travelled and spent only 90 days there. The 183-day test is not met, yet you can still be taxed as a resident under the separate domicile test because your fixed home remains in Delaware.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Domicile overrides the day count. If you are domiciled in Delaware you are a resident below 183 days; if you have abandoned Delaware domicile, exceeding 183 days without a permanent abode does not make you a statutory resident.
• The abode must be genuinely permanent. A place kept only briefly, or a property not suited to year-round living, generally does not count as a permanent place of abode.
• Part-year residents. Moving into or out of Delaware mid-year can create part-year resident status, with income split between resident and non-resident periods.
• Non-residents still file on DE-source income. Falling outside residency does not exempt Delaware-source income — wages earned or property held in the state can still be taxable.

Common misconceptions

• "Under 183 days means I'm safe." False — Delaware domicile makes you a resident with any number of days.
• "Over 183 days automatically makes me a resident." Not alone — the statutory rule also requires a permanent place of abode in the same year.
• "Only Delaware income is taxed." A resident is taxed on worldwide income for the year, not just Delaware-source income.
• "The 183 days must be one continuous stay." No — it is a total of days present across the whole calendar year, however scattered.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Delaware Division of Revenue — Personal income tax
• Delaware Code — Title 30, Chapter 11 (Income Tax)