Buying RV, Where to Domicile - RV-Dreams Community Forum

brucedelta · RV-Dreams Family Member

Buying RV, Where to Domicile

Jim and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

brucedelta wrote:
I am planning on buying a RV and will likely be spending greater than $250K. I am certainly allowed to have a vacation domicile in another state and register a motor vehicle at that location.

3) NH - Not sure why this is not considered a good option by many RV'ers. I have family there and could easily get a address and DL.

While there is no sales tax in NH, which is great for those large purchases, registering an RV in NH is very expensive (and confusing!). This is why…

In the town we live in (and we believe most NH towns are this way), the registration fee is based upon the vehicle's model year and the original factory list price (MSRP), not the purchase price of the vehicle. For a new registration, the model year determines what millage (tax) rate (18, 15, 12, 9, 6, or 3 dollars per $1,000 of value of the original list price) is used to compute the fee. For example, a 2008 model year is charged $18 per thousand; a 2007 model year is charged $15 per thousand, etc. The number of months for which a new vehicle will be registered is determined by the vehicle owner's month of birth. Generally, a new vehicle cannot be registered for less than five months or more than sixteen months.

We’re not 100% sure, but an example would go something like this:

If your birth month is April and you wanted to register your coach in May, a 2008 model with a LIST PRICE of $250,000 would cost

[$250,000 MSRP x ($18.00 / $1,000 millage) / 12 months] x 8 months 2008 = $3,000
PLUS
[$250,000 MSRP x ($15.00 / $1,000 millage) / 12 months] x 4 months 2009 = $1,250

for a total of $4,250 for the first 12 months. And that’s just the town’s portion!

Add to that the state’s portion. The state bases its annual fee on the GVWR of the motorhome (between 8,001 and 73,280 pounds costs $.84 per hundred pounds gross weight), so that would be an additional amount probably between $150 and $300.

After living here for 17 years we still haven’t figured it out! Although we do know it’s definitely not cost effective for fulltimers looking for a domicile state!

Good luck!

brucedelta · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wow, that was much more complex than expected for a state with no sales tax. I guess NH is a no go.
Well sounds like DE here we come unless anyone else has better insight.

-- Edited by brucedelta at 19:35, 2008-01-07

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bruce, Go to We've made the decision to full-time. Now what?Then read Residency Issues Questions.. This topic was discussed at length.

Guiler85 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bruce, we are originally from Maryland, so when we went full-time,Delaware was very attractive as a domicile for us. However, it is our understanding that DE has a 6 month residency requirement.

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bruce:

You do't say whether the RV will be a motor coach or 5er with a MDT or HDT for towing it. In either case if you plan to eventually have your domicile in Texas, there is a 6 month ownership requirment in Texas to pay little or no sales taxes when registering the vehicle. Of course that requires that it had been registered some where else for that 6 months so there is no real savings there unless you register it in one of the states you have mentioned. I bring up Texas because the state law does require a special drivers license for vehicles over 26,000 gvw and/or air brakes. It is called a Class B Non-Commercial Drivers License. To get it you have to take a written test and a driving test in the RV or be the holder of a Commercial Drivers License from Texas or another state at the time you apply for your Texas drivers license. When I asked a Texas state trooper about the license requirement, he stated that they don't actively stop RV's to check for proper licenses but should you be involved in an accident in Texas and are a Texas resident and do not have the license required by Texas law, you are considered driving without a valid drivers license. Not a good thing.

Just thought you would need to know!

brucedelta · RV-Dreams Family Member

Racerguy - I assume you really mean the choosing a home base page, and I believe I have read all of what is here. But in any case that discussion and most discussions of this nature are heavily influenced by income tax decisions. Due to my business situation and need for insurance coverage I doubt I will be able to get out of my current state entireley for at least a year. Since the income is earned here, even if I select a diffenet domicile I have to pay tax. So without the advantage of a no income tax state the decision changes substantially, and what I am looking for is a intermediate home on my way to being a Texan.

Randy and Terry - I will have to look into the 6 month thing. I wonder how they do that, because there certainly could easily be cases where it is a hardship. Did you end up with DE or elsewhere?

Ahoweth - Thanks for the info. I do not think I will have any problem meeting the 6mo issue before moving to TX, that is what brings this up. I want to use the gap wisely. I originally thought montana LLC was the answer, but I think there are better ways for me to do it.
I am looking at a motorhome that will have air brakes and be over 26K, so I figure I will just go and get the right license when it comes time.

Thank you both for your advice.

Howard · Host

Bruce,

Racerguy was talking about prior threads on this Forum. Use the search feature for "domicile" and "residency". They still may not give you the answers you want for your situation, but there is a lot of info out there. smile

Although NH does not have an income tax on W-2 wages, they do have a 5% interest & dividend tax. So I think that may be a reason that many retirees with investments would not choose NH.

North Carolina does have sales tax and they also require a Commercial Drivers License for anything over 26,000 pounds.

My personal opinion on your question would be to choose South Dakota for your interim situation, but many times "convenience" alone makes up for that savings in other areas and intangibles.

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree with Howard on South Dakota. If we had it to do over we would make South Dakota our domicile state and we still might!

Guiler85 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bruce, we decided to make South Dakota our domicile. It fit our needs well and we found a good mail forwarding service there. If you would like a referral, just send me a private message. Not sure if I'm allowed to make referrals in the public forum.

Good luck!!

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

ahoweth wrote:

I agree with Howard on South Dakota. If we had it to do over we would make South Dakota our domicile state and we still might!

Why? What's the gating issue for you that would make you change from TX to SD?

I was going to go with SD at first (really didn't care for the idea of becoming a Texan, but that's another story(The Cowboys, Bush, etc...), but further investigation lead me to choose TX. The first thing I found (and correct me if I got this wrong, cause I only heard it from one source) is that the address provided by the mail-forwarding service in SD was not good enough to allow you to register to vote. Voting is very important to this old republican. But the second, and deciding, factor was the health insurance issue. I guess if you're retired military (I did a hitch in both the Air Force and the Navy, but only one hitch in each, so no retirement), or you're covered by a pension plan, then the lack of insurance options probably wouldn't be a problem for you. But we need to find (and pay for) insurance on our own. We wanted a plan that would provide us with the widest 'in-network' coverage at the best price. It looks like Blue Cross of TX is going to be our best bet. But, we haven't pulled the trigger yet, so things may change yet again

.

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

There are several issues that make South Dakota a more attractive domicile state to us.

First, Texas has a 6.25% sales tax on new vehicles. This includes autos and RV's. That may not sound like much but when we traded RV's last summer the registration fee included 6.25% sales tax amounting to over $6,000.00. We also traded autos in the same year and paid over $1,800.00 in state sales taxes upon registration.
Second, Texas has an annual vehicle inspection requirement. This requirement is county specific in that if your residence is in a county which contains a major city, it is different from the counties with small cities and towns. The big city counties inspections can be quite expensive and extensive and you have to get the inspection in that county to make it valid.
Third, if your RV is a motor coach which is over 26,000 lbs GVWR and has air brakes you are required to have a Class B non-commercial driver's license. To get one requires a written test and a driving test in your RV. (Unless you already hold a CDL). Of course once you have the license it isn't a big deal.
Forth, the tax structure in Texas is based on property taxes. If your inclination is to own property you will pay heavily for the privilege.

I don't know about the South Dakota voters registration requirements. Also the health insurance issue is no small thing either. Our health insurer is Blue Cross and we have traveled extensively for 3 years, visited doctors in many states and as long as we call the nurse first we have never had an issue with BC paying a claim. They have network doctors all over the US.

You simply have to do your home work and make the decision that best fits your circumstances.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

From a taxes viewpoint the best domicile state is Alaska. They will even let you put a Livingston, TX address on your driver's license. The main downside is every four years you need to go back to renew your driver's license. Do not try to get the dividend, that requires you to be physically in the state most of the year.

Guiler85 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just a quick point on SD and voter's registration. We are domiciled in SD and we had no trouble getting our voters' registrations. We began our paperwork at our mail forwarding service and went from there to MVA to get our driver's licenses and then to register to vote and then got our vehicles registered. All was done within a couple of hours. Piece of cake!

thebearII · RV-Dreams Family Member

I met an accountant that travels in his RV and works from wherever he is. He has clients from his original hometown/ state and clients he's picked up during his travels. He seems to be very good at his job.

The point to all that is, he setup an LLC in South Dakota and uses SD as his home base for tax purposes. I figure he has done the research and has found the best way to reduce his taxes. Now based on this string, I can understand why he chose SD.

wmalefyt · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have lived in Florida for the last 6 years and would like to keep Florida as our domicile after we go fulltime. We plan on spending most winters here living in our trailer and travelling the rest of the year.

I haven't researched this but was wondering if anyone has tried using a UPS Store (www.theupsstore.com) for mail forwarding. I picked up a brochure which states we would get a real street address, not a P.O. box number. They will receive packages from all carriers and notify you when it arrives. They will hold mail and forward it whenever and wherever we wish.

Any thoughts?

Roz · RV-Dreams Family Member

Greetings, Bill and Linda

. . . from Jacksonville. Remaining a Florida resident is important for us also. Check out this first rate mail forwarding service located near Jacksonville that is first rate. They started as forwarders for yachters all over the world and now have a very large RV customer base. Really good service, and I think understand the needs better than employees of a "mail store" that come and go.

Hope this helps. www.sbimailservice.com

Charles

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good Sam club does its mail forwarding out of Penascola, Florida.
Five or six years ago we used the UPS Store for mail forwarding and were not happy. They wanted the address you forwarded to be stable and were not good about changing that address. We once had to back track to our last address to get the mail. They were always busy when we called with local customers so we would sit on hold or they were in a hurry to get our conversation over with, and thus made mistakes. Things might have changed over the years, but we are glad Diane's aunt wanted to handle our mail.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 08:17, 2008-01-29

RickV1955 · RV-Dreams Family Member

BruceDelta..
We also will be going full time in just about two years and have been doing some research on the best domicile state.
We have both lived all our lives here in "Taxachusetts" and definately want to find a more reasonable "tax" State to base out of (anywere but here...lol)
I have family living in N.H. and have been concidering there temporairly (also looking to ultimately become Texas residents - Hey JCW...try being a "good" Republican in this "Socialist" State....lol). It was extremely interesting in finding out that N.H. isn't the great Tax State we thought it was.
The one thing that was mentioned that I am curious about is, the mention of a "....vacation domicile..." being allowed (with an RV?) in a different State? I'm sure the "Comrades" here in Mass. would have a fit if I tried to register an RV in another State as a "Vacation Domicile"...anyone have any concrete information as to if this is legally allowed?

Rick and Deb
Future Full Timers

wmalefyt · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Charles and Bill for the good feedback.

I took a look at SBI Mail Service and they sure seem to have a good system in place. Thanks Charles.

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

jcw wrote:

I was going to go with SD at first (really didn't care for the idea of becoming a Texan, but that's another story(The Cowboys, Bush, etc...), but further investigation lead me to choose TX. The first thing I found (and correct me if I got this wrong, cause I only heard it from one source) is that the address provided by the mail-forwarding service in SD was not good enough to allow you to register to vote. Voting is very important to this old republican. But the second, and deciding, factor was the health insurance issue. I guess if you're retired military (I did a hitch in both the Air Force and the Navy, but only one hitch in each, so no retirement), or you're covered by a pension plan, then the lack of insurance options probably wouldn't be a problem for you. But we need to find (and pay for) insurance on our own. We wanted a plan that would provide us with the widest 'in-network' coverage at the best price. It looks like Blue Cross of TX is going to be our best bet. But, we haven't pulled the trigger yet, so things may change yet again .

Sorry to quote myself, but this new comment references to my earlier post.

It looks like I've changed my mind *again* about picking a domicile. Now I'm back to going with SD. I found out that you *can* register to vote, and vote absentee.

Also, on the Health Care issue, I discovered that there is a BCBS outfit called Wellmark that has a plan that will probably work for us. Being associated with BCBS means that we will most likely not have a problem finding in-network doctors, hospitals, and services as we travel around the country. I don't know why they didn't show up when I did the initial ehealthinsurance.com search, but they did show up when I just Googled for BCBS and SD.

I'm really glad to get out of that Class B license issue in TX, along with the requirement to get my vehicles inspected. Plus I don't have to learn to cheer for the Cowboys (or Bush either).

So, my next question is, which mail service do you guys use in SD? I've investigated Alternative Resources, and they sound helpful and reliable, but are there others you would recommend?

thx...
-- jcw

-- Edited by jcw at 15:55, 2008-01-30

Guiler85 · RV-Dreams Family Member

jcw, we use My Home Address, Inc. located in Emery, SD which is in the southeastern corner of the state. It's about 30 miles west of Sioux Falls. We've been quite satisfied with their service and they are reasonably priced. Their website is www.myhomeaddressinc.com. Plus they offer the service of obtaining your vehicle registrations and tags each year for a modest fee. That way you don't have to go back to the state except for every five years to renew your driver's licenses.

If you should choose them, please use our name as your referral. Thanks and good luck!

Also, we just submitted our applications for absentee ballots and it was very painless. :)

jdensie · RV-Dreams Family Member

jcw
We use Americas-Mailbox out of Rapid City. They have been great to work with and helped us when we were getting started. When we did start we talked to the owner himself and he gave us a lot of insite.
At this point they are computerized and you can go online to change your mailing schedule and address.
When we started we had done a lot of research and we also favored SD.
Good luck and happy and safe travels smile

toally understand about the furious

D. cowboys furious

jcw · RV-Dreams Family Member

jdensie wrote:

jcw
We use Americas-Mailbox out of Rapid City. They have been great to work with and helped us when we were getting started. When we did start we talked to the owner himself and he gave us a lot of insite.
At this point they are computerized and you can go online to change your mailing schedule and address.
When we started we had done a lot of research and we also favored SD.
Good luck and happy and safe travels
toally understand about the D. cowboys

Yep, that's who we decided to go with too. I like the idea of being able to go on-line and setup my delivery desires. No need to call the office during business hours, wait on hold, then hope the person you're talking to gets it written down correctly.

Jan and GC · RV-Dreams Family Member

We chose Americas-Mailbox in Rapid City, too. Was very easy as all forms and information are online and can be printed out.

Jan

Denny · RV-Dreams Community Member

The only issue we had when we tried to relocate our residency from Missouri to Utah a few years back, was that since BCBS is a franchise health insurance provider, we could not simply transfer our policy at the same premium; since both my wife and I had had cancer, they quoted me almost $5000 per month for health insurance. They would also write a new policy, but would exclude cancer coverage. Needless to say, we stayed in Missouri. evileye

Denny

dedutch · RV-Dreams Community Member

I would love to domicile in SD, but my husband has been offered a position in Texas and we are planning to sell everything here (Wisconsin) and move to Texas, living in our RV rather than buying anything. We've just today learned about the special licensing required in Texas for RV driving. I understand that with the usual CDL my husband would be plum out of luck due to his diabetes. Are the same medical restrictions in place with the RV licensing? If that is the case, would it be feasible to use SD as domicile, yet live 12 months of the year in Texas? I thought to be a domicile of certain states, including SD, one had to reside there at least 6 months out of the year? Thank you much for any and all advice. Dedutch

RVDude · RV-Dreams Family Member

Check the TX licensing requirements again. I THINK TX has a RV type license for larger rigs only and this is not a full blown CDL and may not have the same medical limitations.

This very forum and the rv-dreams website have extensive domicile discussions that will answer your questions. Search this forum and go over to rv-dreams.com for more details.

The short answer, IMHO, is with a full-time job W2 income in TX it'll be more challenging, but not impossible, to realistically claim any other state as your "legal" domicile. Of course, if your employer has operations in SD and can pay you as a SD resident, it'll be a non-issue.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

There must be more going on than you are saying since I know people with CDL's, bus drivers in fact, with diabetes. I thought CDL requirements were federal, not state, so once he has a CDL in one state he just has to maintain the requirements the feds want to have it in all states. I also know Texas motorhome drivers with diabetes using a Class B license.

Jim · RV-Dreams Family Member

I could be wrong here, so take this with a grain of salt. Up until a couple of years ago I had a CDL in NY. I believe health issues had nothing do to with actually possesing a CDL. The health issues come into play when you need a "medical examiners certificate" to operate a commercial vehicle for hire.

For instance I can have a CDL but no commercial carrier will hire me without the medical examiners certificate.

Howard · Host

Dedutch,

First of all, I would never attempt to claim a domicile in SD if you are going to live 12 months a year in TX.

Second, I don't think you'll have an issue with the TX "special" license.

Texas differentiates between commercial and non-commercial drivers licenses. Those driving a recreational vehicle for personal use are exempt from needing a commercial drivers license. However, a special class of non-commercial license is required based on weight ratings. What gets confusing is the classes based on weight ratings are the same for commercial & non-commercial.

A standard drivers license in Texas is a Class C. But Class A or B may be required as follows.

Texas requires a Class A non-commercial license IF the combination of your tow vehicle and trailer OR motorhome and toad are more than 26,000 pounds GCVWR (gross combined vehicle weight rating) AND if the trailer or toad has a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of more than 10,000 pounds. In other words, this is the class of license needed for towing anything over 10,000 pounds GVW if the combined is over 26,000. Note that the actual weight doesn't matter, it's based on weight ratings.

A Class B non-commercial is required if the tow vehicle or motorhome has a GVWR over 26,000 pounds by itself AND the trailer or toad is 10,000 pounds GVWR or less.

So, if the combined GVWR is less than 26,000 pounds, a standard Class C drivers license will suffice.

A written test and a driving test are required for the non-commercial licenses. Much more is required for the commercial versions of the Class A & B.

Check out the Texas Drivers Handbook for the details. It includes study and review questions for the various tests.

So, my opinion is to choose Texas in your situation. smile

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

I just talked to a friend with a CDL and he did confirm that severe diabetes does disqualify you from having a CDL. Many diabetics are not severe and can have a CDL. It was a surprise to me but I guess the authorities look at it as a public safety issue. Sorry to have my information wrong.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 20:19, 2008-09-21

-- Edited by bjoyce at 20:20, 2008-09-21

Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I also think this question will be up to your doctor who cares for your diabetes on wether or not how controlled it is. I am sure there are forms to fill out by doctor when applying for a CDL.
southwestjudy