Where to retire???

[woodartist]

Well, if you are going to go fulltiming, you don't have to spend a lot of time at your home base. South Dakota seems to be the way to go for tax advantages, cost of fees, etc. There are some mail forwarding services there and you could do everything through the mail....except driver's licenses. SD does not require you have a SD driver's license to register your vehicles. The purists will object, but folks do it. You do have to go in the state to get a DL, but I think it is $8 for 5 years ( not 100 % sure of the numbers). SD doesnot have a State income tax.

There was another post about choosing a base for health reasons. That might be a concern for some folks, and one major factor could be altitude. Especially for folks with heart/lung problems. ...........FWIW

 

[Smoky]

Pierat:

Thanks for your helpful post.

My goodness.  Is it possible to have residency in more than one state at the same time?

Example, suppose I live in Arizona for 7 months and I work in California?  Both states would insist I am their resident.

I find all this amazing, because this sort of thing goes on all the time on the east coast and no one cares.

I hope it is OK to workkamp in Arizona without becoming a resident.

 

[Pierat]

Smoky and All -

I'm a bit at a loss right now. We were thinking that, when the time came, we might keep working in AZ for a few months, but establish residency elsewhere during those last few months of work. The idea was to buy the RV and license it in our new state, then live in the RV awhile in AZ and sort things out before our first big trip. We would actually move to the new state physically once we finished working in AZ. From the above discussion, it isn't clear that there's a way to do that in AZ. Anyone have any suggestions (or a good residency lawyer!)?

 

[woodartist]

We had a residency in Montana and bought a 5th wheel in AZ. In order to eliminate the charge for sales tax, we physically had to take the 5th wheel to CA...just over the border. Paper work was signed there and then back to AZ. RV had to be taken out of state. Another choice was to go to NM, but CA was closer. Not sure how you would work in AZ and maintain a different state residency and still be legal. Yeah, might be smart to get a lawyer because you have domicile, residency, and other factors to consider that are probably unique.....

 

[Pierat]

Woodartist -

Thanks for the reply.

Gasp. A lawyer might cost more than the sales tax(!) but I that looks like the way to go. If anyone wants to suggest a lawyer, please give me a private email. Thanks! - John

 

[Wendy]

Example, suppose I live in Arizona for 7 months and I work in California?? Both states would insist I am their resident.

Smoky, if you work for 7 months in California then you don't "live" in Arizona for those 7 months unless you're living along the CA/AZ border in AZ and working in CA. You can't compare the west to the east. These are bigger states with clearer borders (for the most part). Especially when you're talking the MD-DC-VA area where it all pretty much runs together.

 

[Jeff]

Pierat:

Thanks for your helpful post.

My goodness.  Is it possible to have residency in more than one state at the same time?

Example, suppose I live in Arizona for 7 months and I work in California?  Both states would insist I am their resident.

I find all this amazing, because this sort of thing goes on all the time on the east coast and no one cares.

I hope it is OK to workkamp in Arizona without becoming a resident.

Smoky:

When I looked into all this the consistent advice I got was creating residencies of convenience work until someone wants something (Taxes) and then you should be prepared to make a case that you have ONE legal residence and can support that claim with dl, registrations, voter cards, property if you have it (or lack of property in other states if you do not).

I know you and Sharon have done that in MT.

I just received a notice from Alternative Resources, our mail forwarder and advice from Sioux Falls that SD refused to re-register vehicles for a couple of their customers who asked that the new registration stickers be sent to their address in another state. The fact that they had property in another state was grounds for not being considered a resident of SD.

Our daughter attended school in Indiana while we lived in Illinois. When filing income taxes she had to file for both states for that portion of her income earned in each state. For Indiana she filed as a non-resident employee. California is one exception to that rule unless you can show convincing proof you are a resident of MT.

 

[woodartist]

I just received a notice from Alternative Resources, our mail forwarder and advice from Sioux Falls that SD refused to re-register vehicles for a couple of their customers who asked that the new registration stickers be sent to their address in another state. The fact that they had property in another state was grounds for not being considered a resident of SD.

How did SD know that??

 

[Tom]

How did SD know that??

Presumably, asking for stickers to be mailed to them at an address in another state might be a clue  ???

 

[woodartist]

Well, there was a mention of property in another state as the reason???? I don't think the request to have the registration sent to another address would be a problem. We have done that many times in our lives...even when anchored to a job. If we were on vacation, then we would request the renewals be sent to a realtives address, even general delivery. Heck even NY did that...but pre 9-11.

 

[Jeff]

The SD application requests one of two addresses, residence or mailing. While we are able to register using only a mailing address I believe either one has to be in SD.

 

[woodartist]

Still confused Jeff. You have a mail forwarding service in SD, so you use that address for vehicle registration and insurance?? I am curious because I was about to switch our base to SD based on the recommendations of many full timers. There are mail forwarding services in SD that will also handle the registration and such. I was told that can all be done through the mail, including voter registration. The only thing required for your presence in SD was to get the Driver's license and that can be done anywhere in SD. Has/is SD changing things?

 

[Jeff]

We use Alternative Resources who did handle title and registration on our vehiclaes. At theat point you have up to 90 days to appear in person to apply for drivers licenses AND to register tyo vote.

To register to vote you are requird to spend a night in a local campground.

The point I was making was that as long as you do not own pproperty elsewhere SD does not rquire you to have anything other than a mail forwarding address in S to obtain DL and vehicle tags.

 

[Wendy]

as long as you do not own pproperty elsewhere SD does not rquire you to have anything other than a mail forwarding address in S to obtain DL and vehicle tags.

I think you can own property in another state and still get a SD DL and tags with just a mail forwarding address.

 

[woodartist]

OK, I think I'm back on track and have come full circle I guess my confusion originated with the "property" restriction. All my knowledge is based on fulltimers who probably don't own any property. However, to Wendy's point, I don't know why you couldn't own property in another state. Unless it is some exclusivity regulation...meaning, if the only property you own is outside SD, then there is a problem. So, I think we are back on considering the home base move to SD, since we do not own property elsewhere....

 

[Jeff]

I think you can own property in another state and still get a SD DL and tags with just a mail forwarding address.

Wendy:

If SD knows about a residence you own in another state AND you do not own or lease a residence in SD they will noot issue tags or DL beause they feel you are a resident of another state.

 

[Wendy]

Wendy:

If SD knows about a residence you own in another state AND you do not own or lease a residence in SD they will noot issue tags or DL beause they feel you are a resident of another state.

So you're saying that if I keep my house in Colorado as an investment, rent it out and go full-timing, I can't claim South Dakota as a residence? If that's the case, then there are a lot of people out there who are lying their you-know-whats off because I know a half-dozen people who own property in states other than South Dakota but have their RVs registered in SD.

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Wendy:

If SD knows about a residence you own in another state AND you do not own or lease a residence in SD they will not issue tags or DL because they feel you are a resident of another state.

Jeff,

Do they differentiate between owning "property" and a "residence"? There is a big difference. A lot of people own property in differant states for investment but they don't live there.

 

[Smoky]

This whole thing is crazy IMO and likely not easy to enforce.

Not only does it appear you can end up being claimed a resident by multiple states at the same time...but as Jeff implied, you might even end up being refused by multiple states. 

Hey there is an idea!  Maybe I can set things up so that no state will allow me to be their resident.  Ha!  Then no income tax, no registration, etc.  Hey maybe even no Federal tax since if I am not a resident of any state, how could I be a U. S. Citizen??

I still am retired in Arizona though.  ;D ;D

 

[Jeff]

This whole thing is crazy IMO and likely not easy to enforce.


I still am retired in Arizona though.  ;D ;D

Smoky:

Just don't tell the State of Arizona that you are retired there, they will start asking about the taxes due on the Kountry Star.

Wendy:

Sorry, but you are beyond my pay grade when it comes to how SD defines residence. This started when I mentioned what had happened to a couple of Alternative Resources customers who admitted to owning homes elsewhere and wanted their renewals mailed to that out-of-state address. (I am not testifying as to their IQ)