tax-law
resident on December 31
<p>Completing taxes, they're asking a question:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Was you [Province or State] resident on December 31?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What does exactly it mean?</p>

<p>If I was abroad at this day, I'm still a resident? Or not?</p>

<p>To be a resident of a [Province or State] will have a specific meaning in law in that place. <em>Tax resident</em> in particular has very definite criteria as residents usually have lower taxes than non-residents.</p>

<p>However, in general, unless you maintain more than one home or have recently moved, your place of residence is the answer to the question "Where do you live?" Where you happen to be staying on a particular day is not relevant.</p>

<p>Normally, "resident" in tax law has the same legal meaning as "domicile" in other parts of the law, which means your usual place of residence in which you plan to live indefinitely, or in which you intend to live until a date in the future, regardless of whether you are actually present there on the date in question.</p>

<p>Sometimes, "resident" in tax law is defined as the place where you spent the majority of nights (or at least, a plurality of nights) in the previous calendar year. But, that definition is usually used to define residency for a period of time, rather than at a point in time. So, the first definition (common law "domicile") probably applies.</p>
