Question - if you go full-time...

[Vincent Keith]

Where do you register your vehicle?
How do you handle mail?
What's your place of residence for taxes?
What else do I need to know?

It looks like I'll be going full-time, at least until I can find an affordable place to live (and that's getting less and less likely)

 

[velo47]

South Dakota is full-timer friendly for vehicle registrations, etc.
Generally, where your vehicle is registered is considered your state of residence for income tax purposes. Many people use Texas or Florida because they have no individual state income tax.

 

[FishinCrzy]

The chip they injected in the covid shots will allow them to find you. Don't know about taxes and vehicle but one could get a post office box and ask them to hold your mail. You have to mail in a monthly request card every thirty days. I guess they would like you to physically pick it up occasionally. They save all the junk mail and flyers too! Add that to death and taxes. Email address would work for many things. I'm sure someone here will have all the answers.

 

[socal66]

You might want to check out what Bob Wells has on-line and on YouTube. He is a good source of information for full time RVr's especially those that have no permanent home and need to do full timing out of necessity.

A link to this info on your specific questions is here: Choosing a State of Residence

 

[John and Mandi]

We use a family member’s address and also switched everything to paperless. Every now and then we have to receive a piece of mail, new CCs or vehicle registration etc, so we have the family member send it to us (either general mail or to a house sit/business/friend). Definitely check into your health insurance to see how it works nationally. If your rig is registered as a motor home, some vehicle insurance companies allow you to select it as your primary residence.

 

[Vincent Keith]

Thanks, everyone! I'll keep digging a bit, looks like I've got 2-3 good options.

I'm in research heaven (or hell, depending on your feelings about research).
I'm exploring truck options - I've got a 99 Ram 2500 ext cab, 8' bed which got me thinking about some ideas concerning the Alu-Cabin and a customized bed divider. Possible diesel conversions and the usual offroad stuff.
The other option is a Tundra (15-18) 5.7L double cab - since I'm going to do a seat delete, I'd rather have the extra foot in the bed. Lots of solutions here - and I suspect a good bit more reliability, but more upfront cost too.
Researching states for tax expenses, livability, and affordability.
Researching travel routes for photography.

 

[Kent R]

@Magic Mike @Firemom
Got anything for this members question?

 

[Magic Mike]

My beautiful Co pilot & Navigator will answer this question! She has more of the information that your looking for!

Thanks @Kent R

 

[Firemom]

Where do you register your vehicle?
How do you handle mail?
What's your place of residence for taxes?
What else do I need to know?

It looks like I'll be going full-time, at least until I can find an affordable place to live (and that's getting less and less likely)

Howdy,
We are full time.
State of residence, vehicle reg. etc. is South Dakota
Mail service: Americas Mail Box in Box Elder SD

There are so many considerations.
First thing. Don’t spend a bunch of cash on your rig until you’ve been out here a bit and really get a handle on how you want to live/travel. Slap a camper on your truck and hit the road.

As far as domicile states go, there are many considerations. If you have a physical job in a specific state then you should pick that state. If your job/income is portable then you have more options.
One option is to have a family member handle your mail and use that as your physical address. If you don’t want to do that or it’s not tax friendly, then you pick a “domicile” state. There are 3 generally accepted “full time friendly” states. South Dakota, Florida and Texas. These states have no income tax, are easy to establish residency in, get your DL, vote, register your vehicles and have good mail service companies who, for a small fee, will accept all your mail and hold/forward it to where you ask them to send it. You use your mail service address as your “home address”. Some banks will not accept this as a physical address, others will. Also if you want to buy a gun from a store, the background check will not go through with a mail service address on your drivers license. Each state has its own little particulars. For instance in TX you must get a vehicle inspection periodically. In SD you don’t. We chose SD because it was the easiest and made the most sense to us.
Now the other things you must consider is your health insurance. Try to get something portable or in the state you chose as your domicile state or where you think you will be on a somewhat regular basis. So many things to consider. Feel free to message me if you want to chat. Bottom line. We love the full time life. So much to see and experience.

Enjoy and good luck
Deb @ironhorseoverland