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

Summary

Yonkers is the second place in New York State, after New York City, that has its own income tax on residents. It is a surcharge added to your New York State tax. You are a Yonkers resident if your domicile is in Yonkers, or if you maintain a permanent place of abode in Yonkers and spend more than 183 days of the calendar year there. Any part of a day counts, and day 184 makes you a resident for the year. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance collects the surcharge on the state return and applies the test.

Limit: More than 183 days in Yonkers (the 184th day crosses the line)
Period: The tax year, for most people 1 January to 31 December
A day counts when: You are inside the City of Yonkers for any part of the calendar day
Second condition: A permanent place of abode in Yonkers
Law: Tax Law article 30-A, city income tax surcharge, state residence rules
Run by: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

Who it applies to

People who keep an apartment in Yonkers and a main home in another state or another part of New York.
People who moved out of Yonkers but kept the house, for example for a family member.
New York State residents who are not sure whether the Yonkers surcharge applies to them.
People who split the week between a home in Yonkers and a home in Connecticut or New Jersey.

The rule

Article 30-A of the New York Tax Law, in section 1321, gives a city of the size of Yonkers the power to add a surcharge to the state income tax of its residents. The surcharge is a percentage of your net New York State tax and is worked out and reported on the state return. It is not a separate return.

The Department says that the definition of a Yonkers resident is the state definition with Yonkers put in place of New York State. So there are two ways to be a Yonkers resident. One is domicile in Yonkers, which means Yonkers is your true, permanent home. The other is to maintain a permanent place of abode in Yonkers and spend 184 days or more there in the tax year. The state rule that this copies is Tax Law section 605(b)(1)(B), which uses the words more than 183 days.

The state counting rules apply. Under 20 NYCRR 105.20, any part of a calendar day is a day. A permanent place of abode is a dwelling you maintain, owned or not, that is fit for use all year, and it usually includes a home owned or leased by your spouse. The regulation asks for the abode to be kept for substantially all of the year, which the audit guidelines of the Department read, from tax year 2022, as more than 10 months.

Yonkers borders the Bronx, but it is not part of New York City. A day in Yonkers is not a New York City day, and a day in the city is not a Yonkers day. People who are not Yonkers residents but earn wages or run a business there can owe a different charge, the Yonkers nonresident earnings tax. That charge depends on where the work is done, not on a count of days of presence, and this tracker does not count it.

Why it exists

Yonkers pays for city services partly with this surcharge on residents. A resident test based only on domicile would leave out people who keep a home in Yonkers and live there for most of the year while naming another place as their permanent home. Using the state test, with the city's own borders, lets the state collect the surcharge with rules that people and auditors already know.

Counting the days

You count the calendar days of the tax year on which you were inside the City of Yonkers for any part of the day. Days in the rest of Westchester County or in New York City are not part of this count.

Confirm that you maintain a home inside the Yonkers city limits and note which months of the year it covers.
Mark every calendar day on which you were in Yonkers at any time, including evenings and weekends at the home.
Count both the day you arrive and the day you leave.
Take out days when you only travelled through Yonkers to a place outside it, for example by train or on a highway, without stopping for another reason.
Add up the days. 184 or more, together with the abode, makes you a Yonkers resident for the year.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts every calendar day on which your phone was inside Yonkers at any time, from 1 January to 31 December, against a limit of 183 days. It cannot see whether you keep a permanent place of abode in Yonkers, so add this tracker only if you do. Yonkers is small and several main roads and rail lines cross it, so Countr will often record days when you only passed through. The law lets you leave those days out, but Countr cannot tell them apart and counts them. Its number can be higher than the legal count and is never lower.

Track Yonkers Tax Residence on your phone.

Countr finds your past trips in your photos and keeps counting from there.

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Examples

Half the week in Yonkers

Rosa's domicile is in Danbury, Connecticut, where her family lives. She owns a flat in Yonkers and stays there from Monday to Thursday in 46 weeks of 2026. That is 4 days a week and 184 days. With the flat and more than 183 days she is a Yonkers resident for 2026, and the surcharge is added to her New York State tax for the year.

A drive through does not count

Ken lives in White Plains and keeps a small rental flat in Yonkers that he uses on 120 days in 2026. On another 90 days he drives through Yonkers on the way to work in Manhattan without stopping. Days of travel through to a place outside Yonkers can be left out, so his count is 120. He is not a Yonkers resident under the day test.

No abode, many days

Mira is domiciled in New Jersey and works at a hospital in Yonkers on 230 days in 2026. She has no home in Yonkers and drives back each night. She has far more than 183 days but no permanent place of abode there, so she is not a Yonkers resident. As a person who earns wages in Yonkers, she may owe the nonresident earnings tax instead.

Exceptions

People in active service in the Armed Forces of the United States are outside the state statutory test that Yonkers follows.
Days when you are in Yonkers only while travelling through to a place outside it, or only to board a train or bus to a place outside it, can be left out.
A dwelling kept by a full-time undergraduate student while attending college is not a permanent place of abode for that student.
A place that is fit only for holidays, or that has no cooking and bathing facilities, is generally not a permanent place of abode.
A person domiciled in Yonkers is a resident without any day count, unless the state exceptions for domiciled people, such as the 30-day rule, apply with Yonkers in place of the state.

Common misconceptions

“Yonkers is part of New York City, so city tax covers it.”: Yonkers is a separate city in Westchester County with its own surcharge. New York City residence and Yonkers residence are tested separately, each on its own territory.
“The surcharge is charged on my Yonkers income only.”: For residents it is a percentage of your net New York State tax, so it follows your whole state tax bill and not only income earned in Yonkers.
“I work in Yonkers every day, so I am a Yonkers resident.”: Work days alone do not make you a resident. You need domicile in Yonkers, or a Yonkers abode with more than 183 days. Workers who live elsewhere fall under the nonresident earnings tax.
“Only nights I sleep in my Yonkers flat count.”: Any part of a calendar day inside Yonkers counts, at the flat or anywhere else in the city. A two-night stay is three days.

Questions and answers

How many days make me a Yonkers resident?

184 days or more in Yonkers in the tax year, if you also maintain a permanent place of abode there. With 183 days or fewer the day part of the test is not met. If your domicile is in Yonkers, no day count is needed.

Do I file a separate Yonkers tax return?

No. The Department states that the resident surcharge is computed and reported on your New York State return.

Does a day in the Bronx count as a Yonkers day?

No. Only days inside the Yonkers city limits count. The Bronx is part of New York City, which has its own test.

Can I be a New York City resident and a Yonkers resident in the same year?

It is possible. The tests are separate, each with its own abode and its own days. One calendar day can count for both when you are in both cities on that day, because any part of a day counts in each.

What if I sell my Yonkers home during the year?

The state regulation asks for the abode to be kept for substantially all of the year, read by auditors as more than 10 months from tax year 2022. In a year when you give up the home early, the abode condition may not be met.

Does the train from Grand Central through Yonkers count?

Travel through Yonkers to a place outside it can be disregarded. If you get off in Yonkers for another reason, such as a visit or a meeting, that day counts.

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.