Minnesota Tax Residence: the rule, how days are counted, examples

Summary

Minnesota treats you as a resident for income tax if your permanent home in law is outside the state, but you maintain a place of abode in Minnesota and spend more than one-half of the tax year there. In a normal year that means 183 days or more. In a leap year it means 184. Any part of a calendar day in Minnesota counts as a full day. A resident is taxed on income from all sources. The rule is in Minnesota Statutes section 290.01, subdivision 7, and the Minnesota Department of Revenue applies it.

Limit: More than half the year: 183 days, or 184 in a leap year
Period: The tax year, for most people 1 January to 31 December
A day counts when: You are in Minnesota for any part of the calendar day
Second condition: You maintain an abode in Minnesota, owned or rented
Law: Minn. Stat. 290.01, subd. 7(b), and Minn. Rule 8001.0300
Run by: Minnesota Department of Revenue

Who it applies to

People who moved their legal home to Florida, Arizona or Texas and kept a house or lake home in Minnesota.
People from other states who keep a flat in the Twin Cities for work.
People who divide the year between two homes and are close to half the year in Minnesota.
People who fly through Minneapolis often and want to know which days count.

The rule

Minnesota Statutes section 290.01, subdivision 7, has two kinds of resident. Paragraph (a) covers any individual domiciled in Minnesota. Paragraph (b) covers any individual domiciled outside the state who maintains a place of abode in the state and spends in the aggregate more than one-half of the tax year in Minnesota. People call paragraph (b) the 183-day rule or the physical presence test.

The statute itself says how to count: a day spent in the state includes any part of a calendar day. It also says that you must keep adequate records to prove the days you spent outside the state. Minnesota Rule 8001.0300, subpart 5, describes adequate records as records kept at the time, such as calendars, diaries, cancelled cheques, card receipts and airline tickets.

The statute defines 'abode' as a dwelling maintained by an individual, whether or not owned and whether or not occupied, and it includes a dwelling owned or leased by your spouse. Rule 8001.0300, subpart 6, adds limits. A cabin or cottage that is not suitable for use all year and is used only for holidays is not an abode. Sleeping quarters without cooking or bathing facilities are generally not an abode. A former home is not an abode once you have moved out your belongings and made a good-faith effort to sell or let it.

Rule 8001.0300, subpart 4, has a transit exception. If you travel between two points outside Minnesota and you are in Minnesota for less than 24 hours on the way, you are not treated as present on any day of the transit.

The physical presence test is only for people domiciled elsewhere. If Minnesota is still your domicile, you are a resident with any number of days. The rule lists 25 facts used to judge domicile and says that actions weigh more than statements.

Why it exists

Many people with strong ties to Minnesota move their legal home to a state with no income tax and keep a home in Minnesota. Domicile turns on intention and leads to long disputes. The physical presence test gives the state a second, simpler question: did you keep a home here and were you here for most of the year? If yes, Minnesota taxes you as a resident whatever you say about your domicile.

Counting the days

You count the calendar days of the tax year on which you were physically in Minnesota at any time, and compare the total with half the year.

Take the tax year. For most people this is 1 January to 31 December.
Mark every calendar day on which you were in Minnesota at any time of day. Arrival and departure days count.
Remove transit: if you passed through Minnesota between two places outside the state and were in Minnesota for less than 24 hours, none of those days count.
Add the days. In a 365-day year, 183 days is more than half. In a 366-day year, 183 days is exactly half, so 184 is the first number over.
Check the second condition: do you maintain an abode in Minnesota?
Keep records made at the time. The statute puts on you the duty to prove your days outside Minnesota.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts every calendar day on which your phone records you in Minnesota, from 1 January to 31 December. Any part of a day counts as a full day, as the statute says. The card allows 182 days and shows you over the limit on day 183, and it starts to warn you 14 days before. In a leap year the law needs 184 days, but Countr keeps the same line, so in a leap year it warns one day early, never late. Countr cannot see whether you maintain an abode in Minnesota, so add this tracker only if you do. It also cannot recognise the transit exception: a change of planes in Minneapolis is counted as a day, although the rule may not count it.

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Examples

The lake home near Brainerd

Ingrid and Paul changed their domicile to Florida and kept a year-round lake home near Brainerd. In 2026 they are in Minnesota from 10 May to 15 October, which is 159 days. They come back for two family holidays in November and December, 26 days. The total is 185 days, more than half of 365. They maintain an abode in Minnesota, so both conditions are met and Minnesota treats them as residents for 2026.

Changing planes in Minneapolis

Wei lives in Wisconsin and keeps a flat in Saint Paul. In 2026 she is in Minnesota on 170 days for work. She also changes planes at Minneapolis airport 14 times on trips between Wisconsin and cities in other states, each time for a few hours. These 14 passages are between two points outside Minnesota and last less than 24 hours, so under Rule 8001.0300 they do not count. Her total stays at 170 days, under the limit.

The leap year 2028

Omar is domiciled in Texas and keeps a house in Duluth. In 2028, which has 366 days, he is in Minnesota for exactly 183 days. Half of 366 is 183, so he has spent one-half of the year in Minnesota, not more than one-half. The day condition is not met. In 2026 or 2027 the same 183 days would be more than half of 365, and he would be a resident.

Exceptions

Members of the armed forces of the United States, and their spouses, are outside the physical presence test under the statute and the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
People covered by Minnesota's income tax reciprocity agreements under section 290.081 are outside the test.
Travel between two points outside Minnesota, with less than 24 hours in the state, is not counted as presence on any day of the transit.
A cabin or cottage that is not suitable for use all year and is used only for holidays is not an abode, so it does not meet the second condition.
A person domiciled in Minnesota who qualifies under section 911(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, the federal rule for Americans living abroad, is not a resident for that period if the conditions about Minnesota homestead status in the statute are met.
When judging domicile, the Department and the courts may not consider where you give to charity, where your lawyer, accountant or financial adviser is, or where you keep bank accounts.

Common misconceptions

“The rule counts nights in Minnesota.”: The statute counts any part of a calendar day. A day trip with no night is one day, and a stay from Friday evening to Sunday morning is three days.
“My Minnesota house is empty most of the year, so it is not an abode.”: The statute says an abode is a dwelling maintained by you 'whether or not occupied'. A home you keep ready counts, unless you have moved out your things and are really trying to sell or let it.
“If I stay under 183 days, Minnesota cannot treat me as a resident.”: The day count is only for people domiciled elsewhere. If the Department finds that you never really gave up your Minnesota domicile, you are a resident with any number of days.
“The state has to prove where I was.”: The statute says that individuals shall keep adequate records to substantiate the days spent outside the state. If you keep a Minnesota abode and claim to be a nonresident, you need records made at the time.

Questions and answers

Does the day I fly into Minnesota count?

Yes. Any part of a calendar day in the state counts as a full day, so the arrival day and the departure day both count. The only exception is transit between two points outside Minnesota with less than 24 hours in the state.

Is it 183 or 184 days?

The law says more than one-half of the tax year. In a 365-day year, 183 days is the first number over half. In a leap year, 183 days is exactly half, so the first number over is 184.

Does a seasonal cabin count as an abode in Minnesota?

Not if it is unsuitable for use all year and used only for holidays. A lake home with heating, a kitchen and a bathroom that could be lived in all year is an abode, even if you use it only in summer.

What happens if I pass half the year in Minnesota?

If you also maintain an abode there, you are a Minnesota resident for the tax year and Minnesota taxes your income from all sources. A credit for tax paid to another state may reduce double tax.

What records does Minnesota accept for days outside the state?

Rule 8001.0300 speaks of records kept at the time that show where you were, and gives calendars, diaries, cancelled cheques, card receipts and airline tickets as examples. Records made later from memory are weaker.

I sold my house and moved away in September. Does the half-year test apply to me?

The rule's own examples treat a person who gives up the Minnesota home on moving as a part-year resident, and the physical presence test does not apply because no abode is maintained after the move. If you keep the Minnesota home after the move, the test can make you a resident for the full year.

Sources

Other rules for United States

Arizona Tax Residence 273 days in each calendar year
California Tax — Visitors 181 days in each calendar year
California Tax Residence 273 days in each calendar year
Connecticut Tax — 30 Days or Fewer 30 days in each calendar year
Connecticut Tax Residence 183 days in each calendar year
Delaware Tax Residence 183 days in each calendar year
Hawaii Tax Residence 200 days in each calendar year
Idaho Tax Residence 270 days in each calendar year

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.