Choosing Domicile/buying a new car&registering

[KiraR]

Oh, boy. I have more questions than I know what to do with!

Oh, experienced A/Steamers, please advise!

I live in CT, but I sold my house and bought a 30' Safari that I'm going to live and travel in starting in July. I am currently researching towing vehicles (a conversation in and of itself!) and once I buy it, will need to register it.

So, that leads to my question: If I am going to choose Texas as my domicile state using one of those wonderful mail services, do I need to go TO Texas to register my new TV and A/S? I'm thinking I might need to register it here first (since I live here until July) and then change once I get moving?

I'd love to hear of your experiences. I want to do this the right way....
Thank you kindly.
Kira

[KJRitchie]

Texas requires yearly inspections to vehicles and they may ask for that when you first register and title the vehicle. After that you can register every year online and not show proof of vehicle inspection. When I lived there sometimes I'd forget the inspection and then my next inspection renewal didn't coincide with my vehicle registration renewal.

If you are traveling outside of Texas and your inspection sticker expires you'd have to return to Texas to get it renewed. Most gas station, oil change and repair shops do inspections and there are even inspection only stations. It's a Mickey Mouse inspection. Only reason for it is for revenue generation.

Kelvin

[n2916s]

Florida, on the other hand, has no vehicle inspections, no personal property tax and relatively cheap annual tag fees.

We use St Brendan's Isle as our mail forwarding service/address.

Sbi@sbimailservice.com

Mike

[Molinari47]

Kira: I'm also a CT resident who will be going on the road next spring. In anticipation, I've looked at a number of state for domicile purposes (Nevada, Texas, ND, Florida and Montana). I suggest you reach out to the Escapee Rv Club. There is also a law firm that specializes in domicile issues (Loring-800-260-1615). when considering domicile don't forget to look at auto insurance rates (Florida for instance has very high rates), options for medicare advance and supplemental coverage and taxes (some states don't wages but do tax interest and dividends (NH). Good luck in your search and I would be interested in knowing what happens.

Sam

[Wayne&Sam]

I don't have personal experience, but a friend who did this used South Dakota. Might be worth looking into.


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[Al - K4GLU]

I strongly suggest South Dakota. No income tax and no vehicle inspections. You might want to check out My Dakota Address in Madison. Fantastic service, very inexpensive. Been with them 8 years and totally satisfied. You will have to go to SD to get your drivers license. Tags can be renewed online or the woman who runs the mailing service will take care of it for you - for a fee of course.

[BoldAdventure]

Montana is really only good if you want to put your vehicles into an LLC. Florida has a large number of services setup for full-timers and the state's laws are designed for residents who are normally "snowbirds" anyways.

To the insurance comment, my insurance has been cheaper living in Florida than it was living in Virginia. But we have noted during our research that if we used Saint Isle as our domicile it'd go up.

Some of the taxes you pay, such as those on your cell phone statement are actually based on your billing zip code. So keep that in mind.

[B_Pi]

Take a look at South Dakota as well.
Many good reasons to make it your domicile.
We did.
I suggest checking out America's Mailbox (and giving my name as your referral - email me for my info.)

[Air Apparent]

One of your considerations (among many) in choosing a domicile is healthcare insurance. If you are on medicare then it won't be an issue. However if you are younger, then the state of domicile for healthcare coverage becomes important.

Prior to 2013 the three most popular states for domicile for fulltimers were Texas, Florida and South Dakota. Starting in 2014 it became difficult to get adequate healthcare insurance for fulltimers in South Dakota.

Here is a link to a thread related to healthcare insurance and fulltiming Health Insurance Exchange 2015 (pre-Medicare Fulltimers) - iRV2 Forums. This link covers the healthcare insurance issues related to South Dakota.

I hope this helps in your decision.

[Air Apparent]

Here is a link to an article on domicile How to choose a full-time domicile?

[DuncanK1]

Interesting thread.

We are thinking of selling up in Chicago (easy decision) and possibly keeping the (very) small farm we have in Michigan, or just taking the plunge and go Airstreaming domiciled in somewhere like OR, WA, NV, FL. We hadn't considered SD and others mentioned above but we will look into those too.

Income tax is a driver for us, but we want somewhere that is a pretty place to be during Dec-Feb, and not too unpleasant in Jun-Oct. Some tax is OK.
The 'Goldilock's Zone'.

[GLovedahl]

One of the earlier posts mentioned registering your vehicle in Texas, and that after the first year you can mail in the registration paperwork without an inspection. As of this month, that is no longer true. Texas has gone to a single windshield sticker, instead of two (registration and inspection). The state computer system will now check registration renewals to see if the inspection has been completed within 90 days. (I think 90 days is the magic number). There is no longer an inspection sticker. Needless to say, some confusion has ensued since inspection months and renewal months have seldom matched in the past.

[dstalzer]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Texas requires yearly inspections to vehicles and they may ask for that when you first register and title the vehicle. After that you can register every year online and not show proof of vehicle inspection. When I lived there sometimes I'd forget the inspection and then my next inspection renewal didn't coincide with my vehicle registration renewal.

If you are traveling outside of Texas and your inspection sticker expires you'd have to return to Texas to get it renewed. Most gas station, oil change and repair shops do inspections and there are even inspection only stations. It's a Mickey Mouse inspection. Only reason for it is for revenue generation.

Kelvin

Starting March 1, 2015, Texas registration require the inspection before doing the registration. The new registration sticker incorporates the inspection on one windshield sticker.

Dennis

[lbdesign]

If you need health insurance in South Dakota, this agent is very good, and navigated all the changes for me.
Mike Monson <mike@bestchoice-ins.com>

Also, I'd like to submit my vote for America's Mailbox in SD Americas-Mailbox Home - mail forwarding - Americas-Mailbox
They keep your vehicles registered, and can make recommendations to services you might need. The owner is a full-time RV owner himself.

[KJRitchie]

Originally Posted by dstalzer

Starting March 1, 2015, Texas registration require the inspection before doing the registration. The new registration sticker incorporates the inspection on one windshield sticker.

Dennis

I moved from Texas a year ago. That's a big change. guess full timers need to coordinate spending winters there so they can register their vehicles. At this rate states will start to restrict mail forwading services as domicile addresses.

Kelvin

[Molinari47]

One thing to keep in mind about medicare: While medicare itself doen't vary from state to state, the availability (and the cost) of a medicare supplemental or advantage plan will

[Air Apparent]

Here are the facts related to Texas going to one sticker.

Bottom line - As RVers, we will be able to renew the registration without coming back for the inspection if we are out of state, when it would normally be due, by self certifying that you are out of state. Once you get back to Texas you will have 3 days to get the RV inspected.

For more information - the web site is: www.twostepsonesticker.com.

Here is a link to this issue
http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=108937. See post 444.

For those traveling away from the state - from the web site:

"Special CircumstancesOut of State Motorists
If your vehicle is out of state and you are unable to complete a Texas vehicle inspection in order to renew your registration, you will be able to self-certify that the vehicle is out of state and will be permitted to register. The self-certification process will be limited to:

• Active duty military
• Full-time students
• Seasonal Texans, RV’ers
• Apportioned vehicles
• Elected Congressional officials

You will be able to renew your registration using self-certification online, by mail or in-person. Please contact your county tax office for more information about their requirements for out-of-state registration renewal. To find the contact information for your county of residence, please visit the TxDMV website.

If you renew your vehicle registration using the out-of-state self-certification option, a remark will be placed on your vehicle record indicating that an inspection is still due. Once you return to the state, you must complete a Texas vehicle inspection within three days of arrival at your home, duty station, or destination. It is very important that you keep the VIR issued after completing your inspection in case you are stopped by law enforcement before the remark is removed from your vehicle record, which takes about 48 hours. The remark will only be removed upon payment of the state’s portion of the inspection fee and verification of a current, passing inspection."

Make sure you have all the information to make an informed decision about choosing a state for domicile.

Hopefully this will help.

[Bearii]

Originally Posted by Air Apparent

Here are the facts related to Texas going to one sticker.

Bottom line - As RVers, we will be able to renew the registration without coming back for the inspection if we are out of state, when it would normally be due, by self certifying that you are out of state. Once you get back to Texas you will have 3 days to get the RV inspected.

For more information - the web site is: www.twostepsonesticker.com.

Here is a link to this issue
http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=108937. See post 444.

For those traveling away from the state - from the web site:

"Special CircumstancesOut of State Motorists
If your vehicle is out of state and you are unable to complete a Texas vehicle inspection in order to renew your registration, you will be able to self-certify that the vehicle is out of state and will be permitted to register. The self-certification process will be limited to:

• Active duty military
• Full-time students
• Seasonal Texans, RV’ers
• Apportioned vehicles
• Elected Congressional officials

You will be able to renew your registration using self-certification online, by mail or in-person. Please contact your county tax office for more information about their requirements for out-of-state registration renewal. To find the contact information for your county of residence, please visit the TxDMV website.

If you renew your vehicle registration using the out-of-state self-certification option, a remark will be placed on your vehicle record indicating that an inspection is still due. Once you return to the state, you must complete a Texas vehicle inspection within three days of arrival at your home, duty station, or destination. It is very important that you keep the VIR issued after completing your inspection in case you are stopped by law enforcement before the remark is removed from your vehicle record, which takes about 48 hours. The remark will only be removed upon payment of the state’s portion of the inspection fee and verification of a current, passing inspection."

Make sure you have all the information to make an informed decision about choosing a state for domicile.

Hopefully this will help.

I was wondering if anyone using TX as a domicile has done this and if there have been any problems with self certifying and getting the inspection later? Has anyone had a problem with law enforcement when coming back into the state but before they get the inspection?