Tax Issues

[Wendy]

The year our 72 VW was killed in California and we bought a 73 VW that had California plates on it, an off-duty CHP at Anza-Borrego SP said that the Callifornia plates on the toad with the Colorado plates on the motorhome would be "of interest" to an LE  Fortunately, they all seemed to have more important things to do than ask us why we had plates from 2 states.


Wendy

 

[waianaegal]

This is one reason why i'm gonna stick to one state... California... income tax is less than Oregon on my state pension, property tax is equal to both Wa & Ore... cost of living yeah it's a bit higher but I'm adjusting after being in the Pac NW for the last 5 years...

While researching camp hosting I found DMV requires CA plates if in Ca for more than 6 months.

Have a good weekend...

 

[thomasamski]

There really is no legal way to beat tax systems. Don't believe lawyers in Montana and South Dakota. Don't believe lawyers. Period.

 

[docj]

There really is no legal way to beat tax systems. Don't believe lawyers in Montana and South Dakota. Don't believe lawyers. Period.

It's important to note that this generalization and much of the previous discussion is not relevant to full-timers who can, totally legally, choose their state of domicile.  South Dakota is a very welcoming state for full-timers and we are happy to be residents. 

My Montana-registered MH and toad are also quite legal and South Dakota doesn't care as long as we don't exceed the "days in-state" rule which I think is 90 days.  Since we've yet to spend more than a month in SD in any one year, there's no issue on that score.  Remember, there is nothing wrong with US  citizens owning vehicles in multiple states; just ask Mitt Romney.  The only issue is registering vehicles in one state and keeping them primarily in a different one.

We crossed the Canadian border several times this summer sometimes in the toad and sometimes in the MH.  Each time we stated that we are residents of SD and that the vehicles are owned by a business entity we have in MT; no one ever questioned us beyond that point.

 

[Bozworth]

Thanks uze guys for your comments. I wii check with the law firm referenced. I have learned something about reciprocity and compacts and that sort of thing, which travelers seem to be in the middle of. Ohio Michigan and Illinois are raiding each other, ant this is an epicenter of what concerns me about the future. Ohio is after Indiana's casino business, Chicago has now hit NW Indiana commuters with a 9.25 percent use tax, etc, and Michigan has gone after hunters and boaters from the other two states. Maine will tax you with just the 20 days within the year rule and everyone now has cameras to spit out the nastygrams in the mail.

If we have good info we can deal with it and be aware of the pitfalls.

 

[Jeff]

I still believe the only states you need to concern yourself with are the ones you own property in, work in, or have domicile privileges in such as drivers licenses, voter registration, etc. and I would ask those states what their requirement is, not some lawyer in MT who will probably benefit by acting as your agent if you buy MT plates.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

No Montana lawyer worth his salt will advise you on tax matters in another state. It would be unethical & unprofessional to do so, and probably would be considered "practicing law" in that other state as well. Your Montana lawyer will help you get your Montana business set up legally and properly, but your dealings with another state are strictly yours to manage. I suspect the Montana attorney will tell you that straight out.