Cost to license MDT/HDT in SD

ewacowboy · January 21, 2018

Making our plans after the house sells to go full time. Planning on upgrading from current MDT to HDT....hopefully within the calendar year. We're debating whether to claim domicile in SD (with mail forward service) or stay in Washington state (daughter's address). Trying to figure what license will cost in SD vs WA. My MDT license in WA is about $230 and the fifth wheel is $46. What can I expect to pay in SD for these vehicles? Just trying to do my homework

redcrzr · January 22, 2018

You should be able to go to the SD DOT for this info. I'm not sure if the County you choose to domicile makes a difference in licensing.

We chose Minnehaha Cty at Sioux Falls. Mydakotapost helped us with the change of domicile & licensing. If you haven't done so, take a look at a post about domicile written by Kirk Wood, a moderator & contributor to the escapees forum. I believe you would be better off leaving Washington & choosing one of the top three full time friendly states.

Todd E

jkoenig24 · January 22, 2018

The county WILL make a difference. Many SD counties have a "Wheel Tax" (a fee charged for EVERY WHEEL on your rig over & above whatever vehicle tax they charge). Pennington County (where Americas Mailbox is located) does NOT have a Wheel Tax. I'm away from my stick & brick now and don't have access to past costs so, I cannot now report on what I pay for my Class 7 HDT Super-C (or Prius).

Alie&Jim's Carrilite · January 22, 2018

Sioux Falls- Minihaha county is a $4 per wheel.

There is a 4.5% sales tax on recently purchased vehicles. There is a time limit that it applies though.

NeverEasy · January 22, 2018

Go to yourbestaddress.com or call 800-419-1690 and ask them. They do this all the time. Registration is based on weight.

nawaa · January 23, 2018

ewacowboy, we have a 2007 Freightliner M2-112 Class 7. We are domiciled in Pennington County, SD, and live at America's Mailbox in Box Elder. :-) Our registration for the truck cost $129 and our 45' trailer was $259 last August. Trailers are based on weight AND age - ours is over 19K pounds and more than 10 years old. If you move to SD first and then buy your new truck, you will save so much in sales/excise tax that it would take years to make up any difference in registration costs. You can find the current fee schedules on this page: http://dor.sd.gov/Motor_Vehicles/Fees/Titling_and_Registration.aspx

You will probably want the ones for trailer and gross weight. Also, since many here title their HDTs as motorhomes, it was interesting to note that in our situation it was much cheaper to just register it as a truck based on weight.

When we sold our house in Colorado we also looked at Washington, as I grew up there, we raised the kids there, and three of the four still live up there with all three of our grands. No state income tax made it similar to SD, but like Colorado the sales tax is SOOOO high. We chose SD and registered our new-to-us truck and trailer, and easily saved between $5-6K in taxes.

Good luck to you as you embark on the full-time lifestyle. Do your research, you'll make the best decision for YOU.

rpsinc · January 23, 2018

1 hour ago, nawaa said:

ewacowboy, we have a 2007 Freightliner M2-112 Class 7. We are domiciled in Pennington County, SD, and live at America's Mailbox in Box Elder. :-) Our registration for the truck cost $129 and our 45' trailer was $259 last August.

Me too. My costs are similar for an MDT/20K# 5er