Full Timers warning

[57becky]

We had just purchased our current rig and were in a trashy RV park for a very short time until our house sold, and a worker lady for the census came knocking.  Since we still had our house, we were counted there, but she asked about our RV neighbors, who we didn't know any of, and she went on her way, and this was in late 2012, so they spend a lot of time after the official census year trying to count all that might have been missed.

[packnrat]

On 9/3/2019 at 2:31 PM, jbh said:

  Once I was in a park in central Texas and the revenooers, state I believe, drove through to check tags. Evidently if your RV is in Texas long enough you have to register it in Texas. Nothing ever came of it. 

ca takes your photos in varied places. pass by one a couple too many times in a month. the state says you belong to ca, and must now pay a fine, taxes, and back taxes. as well as register (as in taxes, and fines) all of your motor coaches and trailers.

[FL-JOE]

3 hours ago, packnrat said:

ca takes your photos in varied places. pass by one a couple too many times in a month. the state says you belong to ca, and must now pay a fine, taxes, and back taxes. as well as register (as in taxes, and fines) all of your motor coaches and trailers.

I would love to actually talk to someone that has happen to.  So if I am a business man and I fly out to visit a client 8 times in a month and they take my photo in the same location they come after me to become a CA resident.  I don't believe it.  CA is totally broke and has been for years, think about the man hours it would actually take to enforce something like that.

Here is how I look at this whole full timing thing.  It is not any level of our governments business if I decide to travel in my RV 12 months out of the year or 1 week out of the year.  I still pay taxes to numerous states, counties, and of course the feds along the way.  My address is a friend's apartment.  My name is on the utilities, this is my official address.  Does my DW and I stay in that apartment 12 months a year or do we never actually spend time there?  Who is to say?  Is there any level of government that is going to stake the place our for 12 months and keep track of me coming and going?  Of course not.  First of all no level of government really cares, second of all they wouldn't waste the money if they did, and thirdly it is none of their business anyway.

We have never used a mail service and associated address and never will.  I know that is the first piece of advise full timers like to give to someone starting out.  Let's just say I don't like the extra attention it could generate.  On paper we are just an old retired couple living out our years in a condo in SW Florida, nothing to see here.   If we are both incapacitated in an accident it is easy for the police to call our local hometown police and send them to our address.  There they will be greeted by our friend who knows all of our family well and can make notifications.  Again, easypeasy.

[packnrat]

the camera systems are in place across this state already. very little man hrs needed. all done by computer.

and it is cause of the very high cal state tax on your car, truck, trailer, etc. people would reg up in another state for the reasonable tax rates. cal sued nevada, and oregon, over this loss of tax revenue. washington state is doing the same to oregon right now.

 

aka: same car five days a week for three months drives across the bay bridge at about the same time, and back again that evening. and said car has plates issued from another state.  =  ticket.

the dmv even has, or at least had a snitch program. be a good commie. turn in your best friend for cash (that you get to claim on your taxes).

this was a big deal some years back. but now nevada will not reg your car, truck. etc if you have a cal address.

but i believe this state gives you only twenty days to get your papers in order.

 

here is a little lite reading for you.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_es/dmv/vr/vr_info

https://www.dmvcheatsheets.com/articles/i-just-moved-to-california-how-do-i-get-my-california-license-and-my-vehicle-registered

https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2009/veh/6700-6703.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-03-hy-wheels3-story.html

[Ray,IN]

5 hours ago, packnrat said:

the camera systems are in place across this state already. very little man hrs needed. all done by computer.

and it is cause of the very high cal state tax on your car, truck, trailer, etc. people would reg up in another state for the reasonable tax rates. cal sued nevada, and oregon, over this loss of tax revenue. washington state is doing the same to oregon right now.

 

aka: same car five days a week for three months drives across the bay bridge at about the same time, and back again that evening. and said car has plates issued from another state.  =  ticket.

the dmv even has, or at least had a snitch program. be a good commie. turn in your best friend for cash (that you get to claim on your taxes).

this was a big deal some years back. but now nevada will not reg your car, truck. etc if you have a cal address.

but i believe this state gives you only twenty days to get your papers in order.

 

here is a little lite reading for you.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_es/dmv/vr/vr_info

https://www.dmvcheatsheets.com/articles/i-just-moved-to-california-how-do-i-get-my-california-license-and-my-vehicle-registered

https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2009/veh/6700-6703.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-03-hy-wheels3-story.html

Those are some of the reasons we'll never visit the left coast again.

[Barbaraok]

You are missing some wonderful things to see, not to mention superb wines.  All of those have to do with people who live and work in the state, not people visiting.  We’ve spent months in wine country with no problems, other than spending to much money.😉. Never understood how some will deprive themselves of fun to spit who?   SMH

[packnrat]

as a life time resident of ca (am 60 now) i refuse to go to some of the big city's and areas. the fools under the dome. have made the laws to promote bums and thief's. and made it a crime to defend yourself from them. now even sac county sheriff has to tie the hands of the police when it comes to how to handle these walking dead.

but yes there are great places to see, it would take more than one life time to see everything. and most are away from any city.

but ca is money hungry, so they will call you a resident if you are known to be here over X number of days.

the tax code reads working, or living here X number of days. so they can get even a "long term" tourist, if they want.

Edited September 11, 2019 by packnrat

[Jim1521]

CA is beautiful - my wife is from San Jose and my company HQ is out in Silicon Valley. Being from the East coast, I had never really seen the beauty of Yosemite or the Pacific Coast as a whole until my wife showed me around on some weekend trips when I’d fly out there for business meetings.

However, as beautiful as it is, I have no desire to go visit it with a 44’ trailer being pulled by a 20’ truck with Florida tags.  I’ve read too many anecdotal stories to convince me that there are plenty of other beautiful places in this country to visit that don’t present many of these California problems.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Jim1521

[jamtracy]

I to am a lifelong CA resident. In less than 3 years we will be leaving. I do believe CA is money hungry but I don't think the state is broke. With the high gas tax, property taxes, high sales tax, CRV, $970 to register my truck, $560 5th wheel, $500 for my car, and now you pay a fee for lumber, stains, paints, and just about anything else at a hardware store. The bridges are $7 now, fastrak, etc..... I know CA supports a lot of different groups of folks but they have so many revenue streams I can't possibly believe they are broke. The money is going somewhere. The surplus is over $21 billion. And they are very money hungry. They are working on more taxes......

But when I moved here from WA State it didn't take long for me to get a letter in the mail to register my vehicles or be subject to fines. We camped at many campgrounds in NORCAL and I have never saw a census person. I have had them knock on my door recently getting ready for the upcoming census.

[Kirk W]

My wife was born and raised in CA and most of her family still reside there. For that reason we still vist the state fairly regularly. In addition, we wintered there in RV volunteer positions on 3 different occasions, staying between 3 & 4 months each time. The state has some wonderful things to see and visit and is not visitor unfriendly any more than many other areas with a high volume of tourist traffic. While I sure do not have any desire to live in the state, I agree that it would be a shame for people to miss seeing Yosemite, the redwoods and sequoias, and a long list of other attractions worth the time to visit. Like many here I don't like the large CA cities, but then I'm no fan of large cities in most parts of the world. There are cities that I have visited and others that I will visit in the future because of the things to see in them, but I'll not live in one of them if I have a choice.

Frequently Asked Questions: California Residency Rules ...

Quote

The test for legal residency is complex and involves many factors. You can spend more than 6 months in California without becoming a resident, but you should plan carefully to make sure an extended stay plus other contacts don't result in an audit or unfavorable residency determination.

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Kirk W

[USMCRet]

Horse Hockey

[Pappy Yokum]

On 9/25/2019 at 2:36 PM, USMCRet said:

Horse Hockey

 

Horse..... *Hockey* ??

Must be an old farm term -or- one used by polo players.

~

 

[Ray,IN]

1 hour ago, Pappy Yokum said:

 

Horse..... *Hockey* ??

Must be an old farm term -or- one used by polo players.

~

 

🤣 Yep, gotta be a farmer or rancher to understand.

[Kirk W]

I might point out that jgilliam1955 has not been back to sign in so it would seem he was just a passing agitatior. Think about it just a little bit, why would the IRS call a park owner to ask about fulltimers? This post should have been in the fiction section of the forums.

[noteven]

Horse hockey usta be played with frozen road apples.

[FL-JOE]

On 9/11/2019 at 9:48 AM, Kirk W said:

My wife was born and raised in CA and most of her family still reside there. For that reason we still vist the state fairly regularly. In addition, we wintered there in RV volunteer positions on 3 different occasions, staying between 3 & 4 months each time. The state has some wonderful things to see and visit and is not visitor unfriendly any more than many other areas with a high volume of tourist traffic. While I sure do not have any desire to live in the state, I agree that it would be a shame for people to miss seeing Yosemite, the redwoods and sequoias, and a long list of other attractions worth the time to visit. Like many here I don't like the large CA cities, but then I'm no fan of large cities in most parts of the world. There are cities that I have visited and others that I will visit in the future because of the things to see in them, but I'll not live in one of them if I have a choice.

 

I can relate with Kirk.  We were from Illinois originally and would never move back, however we have 5 married children and 14 grandchildren who still reside there.  Obviously we will always visit frequently.  Is the State broke, yes.  Is the State corrupt, yep.  Is there anything to do or see?  Some if you know where to look maybe.

California does have some sights to see IMHO.  When we first went full time we got right out there and went through a few of them.  We snuck back a couple years later for a week because we felt we missed a couple things around SF.  But that was that and we would never return.

IMHO there are more majestic, friendlier, cheaper places to visit than California.  My list would start with southern Utah and go from there.  These are places that we will be returning to again.

[richfaa]

Every State has  residency test. It is generally 6 months or so and   that can be a problem for RV'ers . We  domicile in Ohio we pay taxes here, we vote here. We pay property taxes here. We also  now have  a residence in Florida. It is not our domicile we do not vote there. Florida does not have a State income tax. We do pay property taxes in Florida. We now spend 5 months in Florida in past years we spent more than 6 months out of the State of Ohio. Ohio was still our domicile  We paid property taxes . We paid State income taxes. We never had a tax issue  with any level of Governmnet.

 

BTW California is a beautiful State we have  travelled  the entire State. We  never lived there. We do not prefer large cities no matter what State they are in but that does not keep us from visiting them. This is a wonderful country and beauty abounds.

[FL-JOE]

I think you have to look at it like Richfaa, just go do your thing and don't worry about it.

If California, or any other State, keeps track as close as some on here say they do, then I can think of all kinds of situations where an innocent visitor would have a issue.

My elderly mother gets sick and I end up spending 7 or 8 months helping her in central Illinois.  I'm still a full time RVer, I still don't own any property anywhere, I am still maintaining my FL domicile, I'm certainly still filing income tax as a Florida resident.  Now if I decide to get a job while I'm taking care of her and staying in Illinois for 7 or 8 months then that could be another matter.

What I'm getting at is if you are a retired RVer traveling around this country I don't think you have to be worried about some computer deciding you are now a resident of their State and causing you grief.  I think it is a myth.

Edited September 30, 2019 by FL-JOE

[Barbaraok]

Now Joe, you're being reasonable and what fun is there in that.   

Actually wish more people would stay out of California so we could get reservations when we change our minds about where we want to go.

[Carlos]

My brother has two vehicles registered here in AZ, but using his CA address.  One was to bypass emissions issues, not dollars.  Although, now he knows there's a big dollar benefit too.  If they didn't have ridiculous emissions regulations he'd be happy to pay his local taxes for it, but they made it impossible.  (The car physically passes emissions, but because of an engine swap, they still "fail" it.)  The other was a bike that was not drivable when he bought it, but CA assesses back fees AND penalties for a vehicle even if it wasn't usable.  So bringing it here means you erase all that.

Anyway, it's all worked out fine, no issues.