Martha's Taxing Problem

Friday October 30, 1998 12:00 AM EST

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Martha Stewart may be digging a little deeper into her kitchen cupboard. New York's Division of Tax Appeals has ordered the publicly-traded domestic doyenne to pay $221,677 in back homeowner's taxes for 1991 and 1992. Stewart, who maintains homes in East Hampton, N.Y., and Westport, Conn., claimed that she did not live in New York for more than six months in 1992. (Those who live within the state for half a year or more are responsible for state income taxes.) Stewart, who's been a resident of Connecticut since 1971, "believes that she was unfairly taxed by the state of New York during the years in question," her publicist said in a statement. Administrative Law Judge Thomas Sacca disagrees; he ruled that Stewart was a New York resident in 1992 and earned taxable income in the state the year before. Stewart intends to appeal.