As a full timer, I spend an equal amount of time in California, Nevada and Arizona. As far as I know, that gives me the option of where to register. Does anyone know which state has the best rates?
We were FROM CA.......have been SD residents for 5 years, now. Unless you have a medical insurance issue, I can think of no reason to limit yourself to those three states.
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alexpinca wrote: As a full timer, I spend an equal amount of time in California, Nevada and Arizona. As far as I know, that gives me the option of where to register.
As a FTer, where you spend your time is immaterial. Declaration of a domicile legally hinges on intent, not actuality. So you can declare other states than the 3 you mention.
We're in our 11th yr of FTing. In that time we've probably spent a total of a month in SD and that was mostly during our early years of exploring that State. We now spend a day or two every 5 yrs when we renew our D/L. SD is our 'home state'.
OTOH, we like to spend winter in one location rather than roaming as we do the rest of the year. The first 5 yrs, we owned a RV lot on FL's east coast and now we own a lot in a resort RV park in Naples, FL and have our many doctors' relationships there. In that same 11 years, we've probably spent a total of 4-5 yrs in FL. Florida is not our home state.
You need to investigate thoroughly. While you can establish residency in any state, you must meet that state's legal requirements. That includes voting there and paying applicable taxes of that state. States require you have a physical address in that state (not P.O. Box or mail forwarding service). You will likely have to prove residence with a utility bill or similar document.
If you chose to establish a Limited Liability Company (LLC), the law firm you chose should take care of these requirements. The law firm may recommend you not establish an LLC because of your particular circumstances. Some states have challenged LLCs and collected back taxes and fines, mostly from residents of that state who license the rv through an LLC in another state to avoid taxes. Please do your homework thoroughly.
I found it easiest to own property in MT and declare residency in MT. For me it was cheaper and less complicated than an LLC. I was born and raised here. What works well for one may not work best for another!
I seriously doubt you will get any advice from a lawyer on this forum.
::""You need to investigate thoroughly. While you can establish residency in any state, you must meet that state's legal requirements. That includes voting there and paying applicable taxes of that state. States require you have a physical address in that state (not P.O. Box or mail forwarding service). You will likely have to prove residence with a utility bill or similar document"""
You can be a legal resident of any state. You become a legal resident by your intent. There are many factors that can be used to prove your intent. These are things like where you vote, where you pay taxes (if any), what address you use when filing federal tax returns, where you have a library card, where you get your drivers license, your mailing address, where you claim your residence for medical insurance, etc. Ususlly not any one of these proves your intent. If you are a full timer, you should get as many as you can to strengthen your case. If you do things like have a drivers license in one state and vote in another, then this raises questions about which state is your legal residence. In addition, you need to understand how your current state looks at losing you as a legal resident. New York used to be notorious about going after their residents who spend 6 months in Flordia and 6 months in New York. These snowbirds all tried to switch to being Flordia residents to avoid New York taxes. New York didn't want to lose the taxes. I don't know if this is still a problem. I have never heard of any state not wanting to gain a new resident.
* This post was
edited 08/16/08 02:56pm by RetiredGuy *
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