Establishing Domicile in a New State

[DanM]

Thanks for the info. Am currently making my way across the state
staying in a campground for one month and seeing the local sites,
then moving to another town for a month.
May try staying in the state parks and also in BLM land this
summer.
DanM

[Joseph and Melanie Castine]

Hi there,

we are now back on the road after living in Philadelphia for 14 months taking care of my parents. Since our 17 SD Casita "Kat" is our only "home" we have used myhomeaddress.com in South Dakota as our mailing and legal address since July of 2005.

In South Dakota a PMB is a legal address for registering autos, getting a driver's license, voting, etc.

I just voted by absentee ballot in the democratic primary.

There are some county differences as to voting requirements (some require at least one night's stay in SD)and there is some sort of axle tax in some counties.

Remember, as others have said, your legal address is also a matter of intent. I have all my banking, and other finances in SD. I vote in SD, my van and casita are registered in SD.

When i work in other states I am only a temporary resident. YES I do pay state and local taxes on that income, and if the State taxes my meager public school teacher pension, I must pay on it too. I try to never work in a State which will tax my pension and there are plenty that don't or that exclude some of it (from $2000 to some states like PA which excludes $60000 I think). Not sure since that is almost double the exclusion i need.


Anyway, we are at www.meadow-vale.com for most of the summer. Stop by if you are in the area!!

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in late July
Canada (Ontario) two weeks in late August
Leaving here in October and heading South and west after Columbus day weekend in Hickory Run State Park PA

[Kathy Davisson]

I'm a federal retiree living in Oregon. Because of a lawsuit filed a few years ago Federal retirees receive an additional deduction for state taxes. I have paid no state taxes in Oregon since retirement. Some of you might meet this same exculsion.

[Herb Sutton]

Something else to consider when selecting a Florida "residence" location is motor vehicle emission inspection. It is not a big deal if you are living in a fixed location, but if it comes due when you are not there you may have a problem renewing your plates. Plates expire on your birthday so you have no choice of when this occurs. Six of the 67 counties had inspection when I left Florida 8 years ago. There may be more now.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Indeed, that's true.

Also location specific is insurance; clearly, automobile insurance is going to cost more in Miami than in W. Podunk in the Panhandle, so doing the homework will save $$ and fuss in the long run.

Also, even esoteric things like the local taxes on you cell phone can be avoided. Years back, my Sprint zip code was derived from a small city ten miles away, so a city in which I didn't live and in which my Sprint phone didn't even work, was taxing me...

http://www.yald.com/state-cell-phone-taxes-list

That list is old (2005), but know that many cities tax cell phones. In some cases, it's not by domicile or mail address but by where one signed up for the service, so one has some control over this. Boondock town in boondock county with UPS Store is what one is searching for -- You're not going to actually live there...

[Bill MacDermod]

Something else to consider when selecting a Florida "residence" location is motor vehicle emission inspection. It is not a big deal if you are living in a fixed location, but if it comes due when you are not there you may have a problem renewing your plates. Plates expire on your birthday so you have no choice of when this occurs. Six of the 67 counties had inspection when I left Florida 8 years ago. There may be more now.

We have lived in Sarasota Florida for 6 years and it amazes me that there is NO auto inspection of any kind and wondering if that has changed from when you were here. Senior residents (65) do fish for free and use the State campgrounds for half price, however health ins very high as is home ins and auto is not cheap

[Pete Dumbleton]

A lot depends on the weather system. Tampa often gets inversion, so likely they still have it there.

Siesta Key beach has some actual rocks and stuf close to the beach for little pretty fish and snorkeling.

[RosaK]

Mike,

What do you know about getting health insurance in South Dakota that is accepted nation wide? I have heard this can be a problem. We are under 65 years in age.

Otherwise I understand South Dakota to be a good place to consider a domicile.

Betsy

[k corbin]

one thing to remember about sales tax, many states do not tax food bought at grocery stores. However there might well be tax on some of the food items in grocery stores such as pop, beer and wine. There will be tax on paper products, laundry supplies, pretty much anything that is not food.



As full timers who are self contained we fortunately won't be buying a lot of "stuff" as we don't have the space for a lot of "stuff". So when we look at it that way is the sales tax truly going to be a huge, deal breaking issue? A lot of times you are ordering online and not all online stores are going to be charging a sales tax on the goods. That is of course changing somewhat in recent years. When I am in WA state and buy through Amazon I do have to pay sales tax on what I get from their warehouse delivered to a WA physical address. If I am passing through Oregon where there is no sales tax then I can stop and shop there.

[RosaK]

Yes I think some of the discussion did stray from the original request for info.

For those of us with modest investment income, and some retirement income from pensions or IRA's, state income tax or lack of will help us stretch our retirement income. So if we are travelling alot of the time, we might as well choose to domicile in a state with the lowest cost.

The relevant costs become: State income taxes and if we are under 65, health insurance. to a lesser extent RV insurance, licensing fees and ease with which we can renew driver's and motor vehicle licenses.

Sales tax and weather are not really factors.

thank you to everyone for making many valuable insights.

I would still enjoy hearing from fulltiming folks regarding how they made the decision of where to domicile.

Any useful information regarding health insurance for those under 65 is very much appreciated as well.

Betsy

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Bill MacDermod

We have lived in Sarasota Florida for 6 years and it amazes me that there is NO auto inspection of any kind and wondering if that has changed from when you were here. Senior residents (65) do fish for free and use the State campgrounds for half price, however health ins very high as is home ins and auto is not cheap

FL has no vehicle inspection. When we moved to Florida we bought vehicle insurance, same coverage, same company and the insurance was $150 a year less.

We are camping for a week at a FL state park in a serviced site. The fee is $75 for the week for seniors.

FL health costs seem no more and typically less than we paid in the northeast. Housing is significantly less.