Registering an RV as a non-resident

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nathanwebb

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Posts
7
Hi,

My Wife an I (both Aussies) will be heading to LA in about a month to start a 9 month trip around North America.  We're getting pretty excited about it all, as it's getting close, and it seems that the more I research, the more questions I have!

I was hoping that someone could clear up something for me, regarding registering an RV.  I've read lots about zero sales tax in Oregon and Montana, but I've also read that if you buy an RV in California, then you can't use this trick.  Is that right?

So we thought that instead of buying the RV in LA, we could rent a car and drive to Vegas, and buy an RV there.  Then we could register in Oregon using a mail forwarding service based in Oregon.  Even for a fairly cheap, used Class C, we figure that we could save well over $1K doing it that way.  Have I missed something, and am I trying to be too smart by half?

Thanks in advance,
Nathan
 
I've also read that if you buy an RV in California, then you can't use this trick.

To legally avoid paying sales tax in California on an RV you buy here, you have to take delivery in another state and keep the RV out of California for 91 consecutive days out of the first 6 months of ownership. There's no trick.

Oregon has no sales tax so, if you buy an RV there, you pay no sales tax. No trick.

So we thought that instead of buying the RV in LA, we could rent a car and drive to Vegas, and buy an RV there.

Maybe someone else can comment on sales tax in Nevada.
 
Brilliant!  Thanks Tom.  So far we can meet those requirements...  We're only expecting to be in California for less than a month in total during the first 6 months.

Is Vegas the right place to buy, or is Reno/Phoenix better for buying RVs?  I suppose any place could be the right place depending on the RV you find, but maybe some cities are better than others?

Thanks again - Nathan
 
Nathan,

Assuming you're buying new, the best city to buy an RV is where the dealer is that will give you the best deal. If you have some idea of make/model, you could get some quotes from dealers ahead of time, although the final price will be something you'll negotiate. I'll let others suggest dealerships in the cities you mentioned.
 
You can buy the RV anywhere, and if it's not the state where you will register the RV, then they will deliver it to you in an adjacent state.  You will pay the sales tax, if any, to the state where you register the RV.  That choice depends on a number of factors.  Have you selected a state to register in?
 
Hi Ned,

We haven't selected a state to register it in, although we are considering Oregon or Montana.  Any suggestions are welcome!  For Montana, I see that most people use the LLC option, but I figured that we wouldn't need an LLC as we aren't personally resident in any other state.  From my limited understanding, I believe that I only need an address in Montana or Oregon for the registration papers to go to, and then for that mail to be forwarded to where I am physically located at the time.  Have I got that right?

I really like the option of having the RV delivered to an adjacent state - that would work perfectly with our plans.

Regards,
Nathan
 
In Oregon, you need to actually be a resident.  The state will require proof of residence, and they have been asking for tax returns as proof.  Just a mailing address won't serve.  I think you can forget Oregon.  The disadvantage of Montana is the high insurance rates compared to other states.
 
Well there you go... Now I can see why so many people opt for SD  :) 

Do you know what the catch is with Delaware?  They don't seem to have any sales tax either, but there isn't much mention of using that state for RV registration.
 
Sales tax in Las Vegas (Clark County) is 7.75 percent.  Registering vehicles in Nevada is about the same as in California.  Also, vehicle insurance costs more in southern Nevada because of higher accident rates and more claims.

With regard to the Montana LLC, while it may sound attractive, we just had the first report here on the forum of someone being caught using it to avoid paying taxes.  This is a felony and you do not want to do anything illegal.  I suggest that some of the other foreign RVers who have bought RVs here chime in and tell us what they did about registering their RV.

ArdraF
 
Hey folks.  Nathan is a foreigner - he is touring, not immigrating (right Nathan?).  How does any particular state have a claim on him?  If he would go to Oregon, for instance, an buy a RV there and register it there using his visa and passport as ID how would they refuse to register him?  And how would any other state say boo?

For instance California has this in their DMV Manual of Registration Procedures.

2.065Foreign Resident In-Transit Permit for a New Vehicle
A foreign visitor who prearranges purchase of a new American-made passenger vehicle from a California dealer before entering the United States may operate the vehicle on a Foreign Resident In-Transit Permit without payment of registration fees or sales tax. Refer to Section 25.050 for permit information.


It will not do Nathan much good since the permit is only for 30 days.  However, it does indicate that states handle non-resident foreign buyers differently. 
I would recommend that Nathan contact Oregon dealers or an Australian agent that handles vehicle sales. 

 
Spot on, Carl.  We don't have a home state and don't intend to settle in the US.  I think I might send an email to the Oregon, California and Delaware DMVs and see what they say - and I'll make sure to let everyone here know, just for future reference :)  Otherwise I'm pretty sure that we'll end up trying to register in SD.

Thanks for all the help from everyone - I was very confused until I found this forum!
 
nathanwebb said:
Spot on, Carl.  We don't have a home state and don't intend to settle in the US.  I think I might send an email to the Oregon, California and Delaware DMVs and see what they say - and I'll make sure to let everyone here know, just for future reference :)  Otherwise I'm pretty sure that we'll end up trying to register in SD.

Thanks for all the help from everyone - I was very confused until I found this forum!

You know, there is a parallel here with the foreign purchase plans that European car manufacturers have for fly and drive purchasing by tourists.  I wonder if any of the US RV mfrs or big dealers have anything similar?
 
And I should probably add that we won't have any income in the US, so income tax isn't a consideration.  So we are only looking at which state gives us the lowest sales tax, registration and insurance rates.  Thanks.
 
nathanwebb said:
And I should probably add that we won't have any income in the US, so income tax isn't a consideration.  So we are only looking at which state gives us the lowest sales tax, registration and insurance rates.  Thanks.

I suspect that in the West that would be Oregon.  Portland would be the easiest destination and should have a decent selection of RV dealers.  Has a neat mountain too -- Mt. Hood.  Hood is the Fujiyama of North America -- now that St. Helens is reduced to a stub.  Insurance is more of a national matter inasmuch as the companies are national in scope. 
 
Doesn't have to be Oregon since the dealer where ever the purchase is made can usually provide a temporary tag for transporting the rig somewhere else to register.  One Forum member had his Montana tags in hand when their coach came off the assembly line.
 
I have a Montana LLC which i set up in 2005 and renew it every year ,I have bought an A class ,TT ,5er and a truck all registered in Montana all have been insured through Progresive using my UK driving licence.I did sign a form and got it notorised to state its a non active LLC with no taxes due.Most of the Brits over here register thier RVs ,trucks ,cars ,bikes etc through Montana the same way
I did chime in on this thread but somehow i dont see it now

Have fun Nathan Web enjoy America ,we certainly do
Ian & Doreen
 
Methinks that the days of the LLC for this purpose are numbered, and the non-residents who spend a year here in the USA are going to run afoul of the IRS at some point in time. The IRS has a requirement that you obtain a "sailing permit" before you return to your home country, and one of the requirements of the sailing permit is that you show that you filed a tax return here and paid the applicable income taxes.

You didn't earn income here? Doesn't matter; The IRS requires that you report income from all sources. Believe me, we've filed and paid taxes in two countries in the same year. The UK and the US have a tax treaty that's meant to prevent you paying double taxes, but we can speak from experience that it's a rocky road.
 
Tom said:
You didn't earn income here? Doesn't matter; The IRS requires that you report income from all sources. Believe me, we've filed and paid taxes in two countries in the same year. The UK and the US have a tax treaty that's meant to prevent you paying double taxes, but we can speak from experience that it's a rocky road.

Double taxation without representation (or something like that) .... isn't that one of the reasons we separated from you Brits 200+ years ago? And now we're doing it to foreign nationals?


 
Wendy,

It happened to us almost 30 years ago. We eventually got our tax back from the UK after countless letters, but it took a couple of years. I immediately reported it as income to the IRS (kinda like we do with state tax refunds, but you jave a limited number of days in which to report it), and enclosed a check for the tax on that "income". Then the IRS proceeded to hound us as if we were tax avoiders.

After numerous exchanges of letters between the IRS and our CPA, we received a certified letter telling us they were about to take property away from us. I spent a couple of hours on the phone with the regional IRS office and finally was told they'd fixed their error. I immediately called the CPA and sent him to the local IRS office where he discovered it hadn't been fixed.

The guy took care of it while the CPA was there, then said "If Mr Jones hadn't been so honest, we would not have known about the refund from the UK, he wouldn't have had to pay all that additional tax, and we wouldn't have hounded him".
 
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