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South Dakota or Florida


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14 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Wasn't this post about South Dakota or Florida?  Everyone kind of got off track.

You are correct. My point was that each person needs to make sure that he checks on any legal issue that might impact him and there are many situations that can create unique needs. Do not just pick the place that seems to cost least, as there could be personal issues that are important to you. The fact that more people here like FL, or SD does not mean that it will be your best choice. It can be difficult to know for sure but don't pick the state that gets the most votes.

We chose the state where we were domiciled while on the road because we were already domiciled there(making it easy), one of our children lives there, we expected to probably return to some location in that state and a host of other personal reasons. I didn't mention which state we chose because our reasons were personal to us and each fulltimer should go through that process for their own circumstances. The only absolutely critical issue is that you have some legal means of providing an address for a driving license, insurance, and other legal matters in your state of choice.  It seems like many of us become evangelists for the state domicile of our choosing.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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On 1/13/2018 at 8:42 AM, FL-JOE said:

Florida residents and non-Florida residents are taxed and treated the same as far as I know.  Since we are Florida residents we might get a discount at Disney, but our taxes are certainly the same.   About the only other benefit if you pick Florida would be if you are a fisherman.  A Florida resident 65 or over never needs a fishing license again.

Our auto insurance went up slightly when we moved to Florida several years ago.  However, our registrations are cheap IMHO.  My last coach, a 37' gas, was just under $60 a year.  I haven't renewed my present coach but I doubt it will be that much more per year.

In looking at Texas for residence it appears they charge 6.25% sales tax on vehicles brought into the state for registration. So that means about $5,000 "tax" on the Airstream alone. Is this correct? Is Florida any different?

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That $60/yr vehicle registration is because it is a motorhome. My truck that tows our 5th wheel  was $371 registration fee. This is the sort of reason that people try to get their tow vehicles registered as Motorhomes but Florida has slammed that door for Semi tractors towing RVs.

 

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Check on this to be sure, but it depends on how long ago you bought the RV.  That is the tax on newly purchased vehicles used or new. If you are a current TX resident this applies to you. If you are becoming a new resident of TX with an RV you already purchased elsewhere there is a 1 time fee of I believe $90. plus other relevent license and registration fees.  If you are a TX resident and pay the tax for another state that is less than 6.25% sales tax you will pay the difference between the lower state and tX rate. If the other state is higher you end up eating the difference. The absolute best place to get the right info is to call the Polk Cty, Tx. tax office and ask to speak to someont about vehicle titles and resgistration.  I bought one in Fla. from an individual when I was mostly a virgin RV'r and paid their tax (less) and thier registration fees. Then when I got back to Tx I went to the tax office and re-registered the TT. They charged the difference on the tax. I ended up eating the fees from Fla which I know now was not necessary if I knew what I was doing back then.

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On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 10:41 AM, Wareaglewalt said:

In looking at Texas for residence it appears they charge 6.25% sales tax on vehicles brought into the state for registration. So that means about $5,000 "tax" on the Airstream alone. Is this correct? Is Florida any different?

If "moving" to Florida from another state the initial transfer of registration is a little pricey, but as far as I know none of those fees are based on charging you sales tax.  Florida does almost all titles paperless, plus they do a in-person VIN verification when you transfer, not sure how they justify the rest of it.  Point is once you transfer your title and get your new Florida plate the renewals are cheap.

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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  • 6 months later...

Does SD require your vehicles to be present in the state to register them there?  I'll be setting up a domicile there this fall or early winter, and while I don't care if I drive my pickup there in the winter, I'm not fond of the idea of pulling my 5th wheel in an area prone to heavy snow and blowing winds.

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57 minutes ago, outtahere said:

Does SD require your vehicles to be present in the state to register them there?  

No they do not, assuming its a standard transfer of a vehicle already titled.  I had an HDT tow vehicle and a Teton 5'er for 7 yrs, that never set foot in SD once.

In fact they don't require you to be there either (for registration). If you use the right mail forwarding service, they can do your vehicle registration without your presence.  You send them all the paperwork and a power of attorney, and they do all the leg work and standing in line. However if you're setting up domicile, then you do have to be there for the DL, but you could wait til spring to do that if you want.

Jim

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We bought a new motorhome in California, took delivery of it in Nevada to avoid CA sales tax, and registered it in South Dakota by using our mail forwarder all without going to South Dakota.

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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We set up our mail service several a couple of months before we hit the road. That gave us time to get addresses changed and actually have some mail sent to us at the old address before we actually needed the mail to follow us. That, I think, is the biggest reason for getting the mail service set up in advance.

We were in Oklahoma when the license on our MH came due in our former State. I called our Your Best Address (our mail service) and they told me how to go about having it licensed in SD. Our towed wasn't due for license for several months yet, so we were able to get it done when we visited SD a few months later. At that time we got our drivers licenses, registered to vote, and got the vehicle insurance switched.

BTW, SD registers both the towed and MH with the same plate system, so we now have consecutive numbers. Renewals are based on your last name, not when you bought the vehicle.

David Lininger, kb0zke
1993 Foretravel U300 40' (sold)
2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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If you have your RV insurance in SD how is it different than other states?  For example, glass breakage.  If you are insured out of Florida every company has to cover all glass breakage 100% with no deductible (one windshield per year max).  We just had to have our windshield replaced and it cost $3,700.  My annual tags is $56.35 for a 2017 43' MH that weighs 40,000 pounds.

We actually spend our winters in Florida so it was an easy decision for us.

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 7:37 AM, FL-JOE said:

 If you have your RV insurance in SD how is it different than other states?  For example, glass breakage.  If you are insured out of Florida every company has to cover all glass breakage 100% with no deductible (one windshield per year max).  We just had to have our windshield replaced and it cost $3,700.  My annual tags is $56.35 for a 2017 43' MH that weighs 40,000 pounds.

Well, the bottom line is that FL has some of the highest vehicle insurance rates in the whole country (ranked 5 last survey I saw), and SD has some of the lowest (ranked 49th in the same survey). 

Florida chooses to mandate several coverages like the mandatory full glass coverage you mentioned and the very expensive the PIP (personal injury protection). Those extra coverages may be nice for the few times you use them, but you pay extra for them year in and year out when you don't use them.

SD takes the approach that only the basics should be state mandated and the rest should be determined by the companies and their customers. If you want full glass coverage in SD you can certainly get it for an extra price. (which would still be cheaper than the avg Fl policy price)

Since each state regulates all types of Insurance written within that state, there are minor differences but the basic coverages are similar. The major differences are in those states who use the "no fault" system.

Jim

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19 hours ago, JRP said:

Well, the bottom line is that FL has some of the highest vehicle insurance rates in the whole country (ranked 5 last survey I saw), and SD has some of the lowest (ranked 49th in the same survey). 

Florida chooses to mandate several coverages like the mandatory full glass coverage you mentioned and the very expensive the PIP (personal injury protection). Those extra coverages may be nice for the few times you use them, but you pay extra for them year in and year out when you don't use them.

SD takes the approach that only the basics should be state mandated and the rest should be determined by the companies and their customers. If you want full glass coverage in SD you can certainly get it for an extra price. (which would still be cheaper than the avg Fl policy price)

Since each state regulates all types of Insurance written within that state, there are minor differences but the basic coverages are similar. The major differences are in those states who use the "no fault" system.

Most of what you posted on Florida vehicle insurance is generally true.  You can opt out of glass breakage in a Florida policy just like to can in any state, however if you have it included in a Florida policy there can be no deductible no matter what your deductible is on the rest of your policy.  As far as PIP, there is certain coverages that are required in Florida but you can opt out of the extra medical which make some rates cheaper.  Our vehicle insurance rates are probably 30% higher in Florida compared to Illinois, however when we owned a home our property taxes in Florida were less than half of what we had paid up north.  In addition our different registration fees are less than half.  

There are many advantages and disadvantages to picking one state over another to call home.  Of course as we all age our situations change and some of those things will matter more than others.  For example, in 15 years I won't care what RV insurance costs are in Florida.

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 1:10 PM, sandsys said:

We bought a new motorhome in California, took delivery of it in Nevada to avoid CA sales tax, and registered it in South Dakota by using our mail forwarder all without going to South Dakota.

Linda Sand

 

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 1:14 PM, outtahere said:

Excellent.  Exactly the information I was looking for.  Thanks so much.

Thanks Linda. Exactly the information I was hoping to find on this particular thread. More than likely we too will use SD due to many of the reasons already mentioned, and living in Casper, WY we easily make the drive, even pulling our 5th wheel, in about 4 hours to the Rapid City area.

And when it comes to medical ins. seems almost every other state is cheaper than WY. Of course I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact there are fewer people in all of WY than many suburbs of the major cities in the US. ;)

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For those with HDT's I'm wondering does the license law only apply after you've titled it?  I'm in Washington, and have a small bit of paperwork (one form that needs to be notarized) to do to get it registered but don't know if I could legally drive it until I get the RV plates.  Waiting to hear back from department of licensing on that one.  SD sounds like an easier process, and I could do like Linda, if I set up a SD domicile, buy in Oregon for no sales tax then mail in title to SD for registration.  Would pay the lower sales tax for SD vs the more expensive tax in Washington.  From reading this is sounds like if I changed from Washington, SD would be my best bet for insurance if I go with a HDT.  Texas would be a second, only after I take the required test to upgrade my license.  Will be interesting to see what USAA says about insuring an HDT RV.  I think they partner with Progressive, as that's who they sent me to for my Harley insurance.  Might have to look into actual full-timer insurance as was mentioned above.

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2 hours ago, PunchItChewie said:

For those with HDT's I'm wondering does the license law only apply after you've titled it?  I'm in Washington, and have a small bit of paperwork (one form that needs to be notarized) to do to get it registered but don't know if I could legally drive it until I get the RV plates.  Waiting to hear back from department of licensing on that one.  SD sounds like an easier process, and I could do like Linda, if I set up a SD domicile, buy in Oregon for no sales tax then mail in title to SD for registration.  Would pay the lower sales tax for SD vs the more expensive tax in Washington.  From reading this is sounds like if I changed from Washington, SD would be my best bet for insurance if I go with a HDT.  Texas would be a second, only after I take the required test to upgrade my license.  Will be interesting to see what USAA says about insuring an HDT RV.  I think they partner with Progressive, as that's who they sent me to for my Harley insurance.  Might have to look into actual full-timer insurance as was mentioned above.

First, SD will no longer let you title an HDT as an RV. They stopped that several years ago so getting by on a "regular" class drivers license because it is an RV won't work there.  In most states with license classes that line up with the commercial classes (ie. A, B, etc) A non-commercial class A is going to be required for towing anything over 10,000 lbs. A class B for driving anything over 26,000 lbs. and endorsements will apply (like for air brakes if you have them).  When I picked up my HDT from Oklahoma, I got a 5-day temporary transit tag for it and drove it to North Carolina on that tag, bobtail. It had been commercial but I took all of the signage and DOT numbers off of it so nothing was on it to trigger LEOs to be interested in me. But, I did have my CDL license which I had gotten a few months earlier.

RVBuddys Journal Our progress into full-timing.
Budd & Merrily ===-> SKP# 088936 Other Websites:---> Hub of all my blogs
Clifford - 2000 VNL64T770 :: DakotR - 1999 C40KS King of the Road :: $PRITE - 2013 Smart Passion w/cruise

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1 hour ago, budeneighe said:

First, SD will no longer let you title an HDT as an RV. They stopped that several years ago so getting by on a "regular" class drivers license because it is an RV won't work there.  In most states with license classes that line up with the commercial classes (ie. A, B, etc) A non-commercial class A is going to be required for towing anything over 10,000 lbs. A class B for driving anything over 26,000 lbs. and endorsements will apply (like for air brakes if you have them).  When I picked up my HDT from Oklahoma, I got a 5-day temporary transit tag for it and drove it to North Carolina on that tag, bobtail. It had been commercial but I took all of the signage and DOT numbers off of it so nothing was on it to trigger LEOs to be interested in me. But, I did have my CDL license which I had gotten a few months earlier.

My Volvo was registered in SD as a Private Truck and I only needed a class C license to drive because it was not used commercial.   And SD had come out with a procedure to register an HDT as an motorhome.  You need to be more accurate. 

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Ditto,  my HDT was registered in SD as a "non-commercial private truck" and required no special license for the 7 years I drove it all over the country. I saw no advantage or need to register it as an RV.   I've since sold mine and not sure what may have changed recently.

Jim

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8 hours ago, budeneighe said:

First, SD will no longer let you title an HDT as an RV. They stopped that several years ago so getting by on a "regular" class drivers license because it is an RV won't work there.  In most states with license classes that line up with the commercial classes (ie. A, B, etc) A non-commercial class A is going to be required for towing anything over 10,000 lbs. A class B for driving anything over 26,000 lbs. and endorsements will apply (like for air brakes if you have them).  When I picked up my HDT from Oklahoma, I got a 5-day temporary transit tag for it and drove it to North Carolina on that tag, bobtail. It had been commercial but I took all of the signage and DOT numbers off of it so nothing was on it to trigger LEOs to be interested in me. But, I did have my CDL license which I had gotten a few months earlier.

From what I've looked up on Washington laws they don't have a non-commercial requirement, but that is also the reason I reached out to the licensing department to make sure I did not miss anything when I was reading the regulations concerning what is required to convert to a RV, and register it as such.  Washington recently moved to plates stay with the owner, so not exactly sure how it all works since I haven't bought from a dealer in a while.  I was just thinking more on the off chance that I got stopped on my way home since the truck would still be classified as a commercial vehicle.  I know I could do it, and probably get away with it.  Just wanting to make sure that legally I'm good.  Then again they do have a truck driving school about half hour away that has weekend classes that I'm highly considering looking into next year.

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On 8/30/2018 at 12:10 PM, sandsys said:

We bought a new motorhome in California, took delivery of it in Nevada to avoid CA sales tax, and registered it in South Dakota by using our mail forwarder all without going to South Dakota.

Linda Sand

Sandsys, I just bought a cargo van in AZ,  having it shipped to OR to be converted into a Class B.  It won't be done until after the New Year but I need to get it registered within 90 days.  I'm not sure where and. how to get it registered.  I'm considering changing my domicile to SD since my current address is MN and I will be on medicare next May.  When you say you registered your new motorhome by using your mail forwarder, is your domicile in SD and your mail forwarding through Escapees?  

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23 minutes ago, nancyrwall said:

I'm considering changing my domicile to SD since my current address is MN and I will be on medicare next May.

Welcome to the Escapee forums!

Do you plan to leave MN and go on the road fulltime, or will you get the van and return to MN to live? If you plan to keep it in MN then you need to register and insure it there as the state is known to enforce their laws on motor vehicle registration aggressively at times.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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I have been full-time for the past 16 months and I never plan to return to MN to live.  I only have kept my domicile there for the MN health insurance until I go on Medicare.  Since I just bought the new vehicle and have to choose a state in which to register it in, I thought I might as well change my domicile now rather than next summer. 

 

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4 minutes ago, nancyrwall said:

I thought I might as well change my domicile now rather than next summer. 

As long as it doesn't impact your healthcare plan, that makes sense. You could probably get away with doing the registration in SD and nothing more as long as you don't spend much time in MN, but you will need to spend at least 1 might in SD to get vehicles registered. And you should also insure the RV where it is registered. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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