Vermont — Tax Residency Rule
Summary
- Day threshold
- More than 183 days
- Window
- Taxable year
- Also requires
- A permanent place of abode in VT
- Resident for
- The portion of the year the test is met
- Leaving a VT domicile
- Clear and convincing evidence
- Basis
- 32 V.S.A. § 5811(11)
Vermont treats you as a resident for the part of the year in which you are domiciled in Vermont, or in which you maintain a permanent place of abode there and are present in Vermont for more than 183 days of the taxable year. Keep your Vermont days at 183 or fewer, or keep no permanent abode, and the statutory test does not apply — but a Vermont domicile makes you a resident regardless of days.
Who it applies to
This matters most if you are:
- A Massachusetts, Connecticut or New York domiciliary with a ski house or lake home in Vermont.
- A remote worker spending long stretches in Vermont without formally moving there.
- A Vermonter who has moved across the river to New Hampshire, which has no wage income tax, and kept ties.
The test turns on domicile, presence and a maintained home, not on citizenship or visa status.
The rule — and why it exists
32 V.S.A. § 5811(11)(A) says an individual qualifies for residency for that portion of the taxable year during which:
- Domicile. The individual is domiciled in Vermont. The Department of Taxes' regulation defines domicile as the place of your true, fixed, permanent home, to which you intend to return whenever absent; you can have several abodes but only one domicile, and it is lost only by an actual change of residence together with steps showing an intent to abandon the old home.
- Statutory residency. The individual maintains a permanent place of abode in Vermont and is present in the state for more than an aggregate of 183 days of the taxable year.
Why it exists: the statutory limb reaches second-home owners who effectively live in Vermont most of the year, while the domicile limb keeps Vermonters in the tax base when they work or live elsewhere for a time. In Formal Ruling 2022-06, a Vermonter working in New Hampshire who kept her Vermont house and husband had not changed domicile, so her New Hampshire salary stayed taxable in Vermont.
Counting the days
- 1Add up the days you are present in Vermont during the taxable year — for most individuals, 1 January to 31 December.
- 2Separate visits are added together; they do not need to be one continuous stay.
- 3Vermont has not published a partial-day rule, so plan on any day of presence counting.
- 4More than 183 days (184 or more) plus a permanent place of abode makes you a statutory resident for the portion of the year you kept that abode.
Because the window is the taxable year, a long stay split across a year-end is counted separately in each year.
Examples
Example 1 — the ski house that tipped over
You are domiciled in Massachusetts and own a winterised house in Stowe. Ski weekends, a long summer and remote work add up to 190 Vermont days this year. You maintain a permanent place of abode and exceed 183 days, so you are a Vermont statutory resident and Vermont taxes all your income, with Massachusetts also claiming you as a domiciliary.
Example 2 — over 183 days but no Vermont home
You spend 190 days in Vermont on a series of contracts, staying in hotels and short-term rentals and keeping no home there. Without a permanent place of abode, the statutory test is not met; your Vermont wages are taxable as nonresident income.
Example 3 — resident by domicile with few days
Vermont is your permanent home, but you take a job in Hanover, New Hampshire, rent a room there and spend only about 120 nights in Vermont. Unless you can show by clear and convincing evidence that you moved your domicile, you remain a Vermont resident and your New Hampshire salary is taxable in Vermont.
Exceptions & edge cases
- Changing domicile is hard to prove. The Department applies a clear-and-convincing-evidence standard to a claimed change of domicile (citing Quazzo v. Department of Taxes, 2014 VT 81).
- Part of the year only. Residency runs for the portion of the year you are domiciled in Vermont, or keep the abode while meeting the day test — so moving in or out mid-year makes you a part-year resident.
- Dual-state residency. Another state may treat you as a resident for the same year. Credits for taxes paid to the other state can reduce, but do not always eliminate, double taxation.
- Low filing threshold. A resident who is required to file a federal return must file a Vermont return if Vermont income, after the allowed subtractions, is more than $100, and anyone with a Vermont tax liability must file (32 V.S.A. § 5861).
Common misconceptions
- "Staying 183 days or fewer means I'm safe." Not if Vermont is your domicile.
- "A vacation home can't be a permanent place of abode." Vermont has no published vacation-home carve-out; assume a house you keep available counts.
- "Working in New Hampshire makes me a New Hampshire resident." Not if your Vermont domicile has not changed — and that change must be shown by clear and convincing evidence.
- "The 183 days have to be one continuous stay." No — it is a running tally across the year.
Frequently asked questions
It keeps you out of the statutory-resident test, but not out of residency altogether. If Vermont is your domicile you are a resident however few days you spend there, and the Department of Taxes requires clear and convincing evidence before it accepts that a Vermont domicile has changed.
It can. The statute uses the term without a detailed definition and the Department has not published a narrower test, so a house you keep available in Vermont should be assumed to count. If you own one, the day count is what keeps you outside the statutory test.
Vermont's statute and published guidance do not say how a partial day is counted. Because the burden of proof is on you, the safe planning assumption is that any day you are present in Vermont can count.
It is counted within the taxable year — 1 January to 31 December for most individuals — and resets each year. It is not a rolling 12-month window.
Vermont taxes all the income of a resident and only the Vermont-source income of a nonresident. Residency applies for the portion of the year you meet the test, so a statutory resident who kept the Vermont home for only part of the year is a resident for that part.
Yes. A Massachusetts or New York domiciliary with a Vermont home and more than 183 Vermont days can be claimed by both states. Credits for tax paid to the other state reduce, but do not always remove, the overlap.
This rule is tracked automaticallyin
Bounded
- Automatically tracks your days for this rule
- Alerts you before you cross the limit
- Records border-crossing days in both countries
- Runs alongside your other visa, tax, and residency rules
Sources
Related rules
For information only. This page is a plain-English summary of publicly available rules, not tax, legal, or immigration advice. Rules change and depend on your personal circumstances — always confirm with the official source above and a qualified professional before acting.