A pair of Empire State snowbirds just learned it’s not easy to fly the coop.
An upstate couple who relocated to Florida is still on the hook for a $60,000 New York tax bill because they didn’t prove their Sunshine State pad was their main residence, state tax panel ruled in recent bombshell decision.
John Hoff and his wife kept cashing paychecks here and didn’t give up their local country club memberships, the tax panel found in the decision — which could give pause to snowbirds splitting time before the Empire State and Florida.
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 — but kept too many ties to Canandaigua, the Oct. 9 decision determined.
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.
Hoff also got a hunting and fishing license while Ocorr-Hoff said she started a business with a Florida address, the ruling said.
“We 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,” the decision said.
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.
In 2011, the couple bought the upstate home on Poplar Beach for $907,000 and settled in.
But Hoff and Ocorr-Hoff later “fell in love with the Naples area,” and planned an “exit strategy” to relocate to Florida, including Hoff planning to turn over the business to his grown son.
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 — and listed it as their primary residence in their 2018 and 2019 tax returns, the decision said.
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.
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 ‘burb.
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.
New York State tax officials said it wasn’t enough to make them legit Floridians.
Hoff’s plans to turn the business over to his son fizzled due to newly imposed tariffs on Chinese products, affecting the company’s bottom line, and despite reducing his work load he continued to play a key role in the company, the tax tribunal said.
More importantly, the two continued to earn income from their New York companies, including Ocorr-Hoff’s graphic design business, despite opening a new company in Florida.
In 2021, state tax officials hit the pair with a $59,648 tax bill for 2018 and 2019, with penalties.
The Hoffs challenged the bill, with the dispute ending up before an administrative judge.
“The 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,” the judge ruled.
They appealed to the tribunal, which upheld the judge’s ruling in the October decision.
The couple could not be reached for comment Monday, and their attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
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