License and Registration

[exav8tr]

I am planning on leaving Alaska next summer and full time for awhile. 1-2-3 years (Who really knows). My question is this: When my current tags expire how (and where) do I register? Any advice would be helpful. There was no sales tax in Alaska. Am I going to stuck paying a huge tax somewhere????

Thanks Phil P.

[Parrothead]

Phil,
We are going do the South Dakota thing. Best deal I think. Don't do it in Calif.
Happy trails................

[Charlie]

Not sure if you would have to play sales tax, think that you should not if the trailer has already been registered. If you are going to full time, South Dakota is the place lots of folks here on the forum have their address changed to for registration of vehicles, insurance and whatever. Should be one of the full timers along to give you some advice.

[David and Jo-Anna]

I'm debating between South Dakota and Texas myself. My understanding is that those two states are the most attractive to most full-timers due to low taxes and fees. Neither one has state income taxes. I believe South Dakota has lower sales taxes should you be planning to buy a new RV while registered in the state.

One consideration many people don't address in advance is health insurance. For people eligible for Medicare Part D drug benefits, I believe Texas offers more plans to choose from than South Dakota. I'm not in that category, so I haven't done the research on comparative costs of health insurance. If you are in that zone, you should take a look at the health insurance cost issue.

[rvfirefighter]

I use Florida because of no state income tax. Insurance has gone up some, but not much more than other no income states. Sales tax is not too high,tags are cheap and I spend approx. 6 months a year there. It works for me.
If you are going to fulltime, could use not use Alaska? Is there any state income tax in Alaska? I know alot of people use Alaska for their tags because of the no sales tax.

[exav8tr]

Sue and Ed, Could you elaborate on the South Dakota thing?

David and Jo-Anna, Although I am on Medicare Dis, I use Tricare (USAF) for meds so Ins not a prob.

David and Brenda, No state income tax in Alaska, nor sales tax in Anchorage, however, we are selling stick home and severing all ties to Alaska so I don't know what their laws are regarding residency. I will check tomorrow though. We even get paid to live here. It's called the Alaska Permanent Fund. AK is a user state which means we get royalties on oil and gas. The state invests this money and the residents get a small portion of it back each year. The payout is in Oct each year and last year was about $1000.00 each. Of course we have to pay fed taxes on it. We have just had TOO many long winters and all our family is either in Calif or AZ. We want to be closer to them. Have two married boys, one in San Diego, the other in Mesa AZ, both great winter havens for RV'ers, as you know.

If anyone else has ideas, I would surely like to hear them..

Thanks

Phil P.

[rvfirefighter]

I can understand not living there. I could not take the long, dark, cold winters. We traveled there this past summer and the scenery was fantastic and I loved the fishing.
Every state has some requirements for residency. I would check out Alaska first. One thing that a fulltimer can do is choose their home state, as long as the law allows. It would be nice to keep the residency of a state that would pay you. Does the oil royalty payment have a tie to Homestead Exemption? You also need to check and decide if you want voting privileges in your state residence, that gets into the possibility of jury duty and other things. Also, drivers license, when do you have to go back for renewals. Little things that make the distance back to that state difficult. You definitely don't want to drive to Alaska every year except for a vacation.

[FulltimeFollies]

Take a ride down to www.escapees.com, look up the "how to become a texan" program they have. Both SD and Tex are great states, Texas has 6.5% sales tax, SD has 3%. I do not think you will be assessed a tax in either state. Both escapees and several, Alternative Resources, and others have mail forwarding, help with everything for the fulltimer. Good reading also.

[refocused]

We second the motion on Escapees - we have been Escapees for about 4 years now - not only can you be a Texan without being one, they have a chain of parks to stay in as you are traveling - one that we are on the waiting list for (a lot with a casita as our home base) is in Benson, AZ not too far from Mesa, AZ maybe 150 miles - lots of spaces to rent for overnite or longer, but you have to be an Escapee - check it out!

[Emmel]

Phil, we did a little research on our tags and driving license for next summer. We will be on the west coast when mine are due, I will do the drivers up to 90 days before and the tv and 5er will be done over the internet. We will have them sent to us where we are at the time. This was also the biggest reason we purchased a laptop. It looks like the hardest thing will be if your drivers license become due before you return home!

[virgil47]

I don't think you are going to find any state more advantageous from which to claim residence than Alaska. The three most frequently used are SD, FL and TX. These are used because there is no state income tax and in some cases, no sales tax. None of them "pay" you to be a resident. If you keep your driver's license, Church affiliation, dentist, doctor, etc. in Alaska, don't think anyone could argue with where you claim residence, unless because of the annual payment, Alaska has some kind of odd law. Additionally, I've not heard of anyone being challenged.

[Parrothead]

Phil
Check out http://www.alternativeresources.net/. They have a whole setup for you to do almost everything by internet or phone. Quite a few of our members use this company. You have to go there at the beginning to set up everything. Since South Dakota is on our "Must Go There" list, we will kill 2 birds with one stone. The only draw back I can think of is you have to return every 5 years for your drivers license. You can also do absentee voting through SD. You might email Steve and Vicki Reigle with any questions or call Alternative Resources and talk to them. They are really nice people.
Happy trails...................

[jretz]

Phil,

I am with My Home Address, Inc, in Emery South Dakota. I went this route due to no state income tax and only 3% tax on RV's and Vehicels. My new 3400 cost me $1500 in tax and license. Also it has the lowest insurance rates both car/rv and medical. Only thing with Texas is when you renew your registration you have to get an inspection when you enter Texas, the inspection is not much but there is none in South Dakota.

Check their web site www.myhomeaddressinc.com great people there, extremely helpful.

[sreigle]

One think I like about our SD residency is there are no vehicle inspections. There is no need for us to show up there each year for an inspection. We do have to go back to renew the drivers license evvery five years. The 3% tax will not be assessed when you register unless it is not registered elsewhere. It is not a property tax nor is it a sales tax. It is an excise tax (amounts to the same as sales tax) on the trade difference at the time of registering. So we paid nothing when we first registered other than a small processing fee. When we traded we paid the 3% on trade difference. True on both the truck and the Montana trades.

After we first registered in 2003, when we next traded vehicles we handled it by mail and phone. I messed up the forms and they called me to get it straightened out. The next time I just called them and they walked me through it over the phone. The forms are available for download at their website.

And I understand the insurance rates are the third lowest in the nation.

[Parrothead]

Steve, so you have your vehicle insurance with a South Dakota firm? Was this done through Alternative Resources also? I know I could call them and ask but I don't want them to get tired of me before I ever get there.
Jim, health insurance? What company do you have? South Dakota based and good any where? Did you need past medical history? This is one thing I am really worried about because of my heart attack and stent and the fact I have to take medicine the rest of my life.
Happy trails..................

[sreigle]

Sue, when we were still in Kansas we had our insurance through Cincinnatti Ins. Co. But they do not (at that time, at least) sell in SD. So we had to change our insurance. A/R does not sell insurance. However, Paul, the owner, has a good friend right in the same building who has an insurance agency. Paul, of course, recommended him. The insurance guy shopped around for us and found us the best deal. If your company also is licensed for SD then all you'd have to do is give them a change of address.

[adelmoll]

Sue, when we changed to SD from MN, our truck insurance dropped in half for the exact same coverage. Our RV insurance went up but only because we went full time and changed the coverage to full timer ins. We bought our Montana in Minnesota but changed our address to SD just before it came in. That way we had a SD address to put on the title and we had a grace period of at least 30 days before we registered it in SD and paid the 3% tax. We already owned our 2001 Ford at that time so all we had to do was get new plates. Later when we bought the 2005 Ford we did everything by mail thru Alternative Resources. They took care of everything. It is fun to see all of the SD plates on the rv's as we travel and all those from Sioux Falls start with 1M so we have a good conversation starter right off the bat.
Helen

[sreigle]

Helen, I don't like to contradict you but the Minnehaha County plates start with "1" but not necessarily "1M". Ours starts with "1SU". The "1" is the county number. Our first truck registered in SD was "1JK". I know this is probably what you meant.

[ols1932]

Texas doesn't require you to go back into the state every year for inspections. If you're in the state you must have your vehicle inspected ($12.50) but if your travels take you away from Texas for a couple years like ours has, then you don't need the inspection.

Orv

[adelmoll]

Thanks Steve, You are correct. In fact our truck is 1S something. CMS AGAIN!