Texas, unlike New York, does not levy an income tax. Based on an audit, New York notified Blatt in 2013 that he owed the state $430,065, plus interest and penalties.

The judge noted an important point in Blatt’s favor. There’s a curious gauge of New York residency tied to the location of items “near and dear” to the taxpayer—often called the “Teddy Bear Test.” Where you leave your teddy bear is home, basically.

In this case, the bear was a dog.

Blatt’s decision to move his large, elderly dog to Dallas was a critical factor, the judge said. In an email submitted to the court, Blatt wrote a friend at the time: “Dog is the final step that I haven’t been able to come to grips with until now. So Big D is my new home.”

The judge ruled that Blatt’s move officially took effect in November 2009, when his dog arrived. She canceled his tax bill.

The Case of the Kansas Pizza Empire
Gene Bicknell spent decades building a sprawling business from his headquarters in tiny Pittsburg, Kansas, a town of 20,000 people about 120 miles south of Kansas City. He served as mayor and even ran unsuccessfully for governor as a Republican—twice. Though he owned a T-shirt maker, a marketing firm and a plastics company, the crown jewel of Bicknell’s enterprises was National Pizza Co., the largest chain of Pizza Hut franchises in America.

In 2006, when he sold the group of 790 locations for an undisclosed sum to Merrill Lynch & Co., the Kansas Department of Revenue wanted its cut. At the time, Bicknell said he’d already moved to Florida—which is famously free of state income tax. Kansas wasn’t buying it, however, and in 2010 sent him a bill for $42.5 million. Over the course of a six-day trial in March 2013, Bicknell sought to prove he had every intention of moving to Florida. He said he obtained a driver’s license, voted there and even joined a country club. His family spent winter holidays at his 5,870-square-foot home in Englewood, Florida, which he bought back in 1990. He said he intended to retire there.


The problem, the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals found, was that Bicknell couldn’t prove that he’d actually cut ties with Kansas, or when his move to Florida actually occurred.

Around the time of the sale, the court said Bicknell was spending less time in Kansas, having co-written, produced and starred in a patriotic musical called “Celebrate America,” inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks. In 2005 and 2006, the show had a run in Branson, Missouri—two hours from Pittsburg. But more time in Missouri didn’t bolster Bicknell’s argument that he really lived in Florida. Meanwhile, his businesses, staff, doctors, children, church and much of his philanthropy—including the Gene Bicknell Celebrity Charity Golf Tournament—were all back in Kansas, according to the court. His wife also remained a Kansas resident, working as an attorney there.

The court noted that the Bicknells even kept a cat, Checkers, at their 5,200-square-foot Pittsburg home.