Hi,

I am a man in my 20's and currently live in Jersey City. I work from my apartment every day. I would prefer to live directly in NYC (for lifestyle reasons), but do not currently do so in order to avoid the NYC resident income tax.

However, what if:

1) I share an apartment in NYC with a friend. However, only his name is on the lease. He pays the monthly rent in full to the landlord, and I pay my share to him in cash under the table.

2) My friend (who lives in NYC already) rents another apartment in NYC. Only his name is on the lease. He pays the monthly rent in full to the landlord, and I pay that full amount back to him under the table.

With both of these methods, my official domicile would be my parents' house located in another state within the US. My friend and I share no connections on any paperwork, so it should be difficult/impossible to link our names together (i.e. it's not like my parents are renting an apartment in NYC in their name for my to live in, in which case it would be obvious to tax regulators that I am trying to avoid paying NYC taxes with some loophole).

Are these viable methods of avoiding the NYC resident income tax?

I really appreciate any comments you may have. Thanks!

- Chris