ChemistJason wrote:
Question for the full timers out there. If you're truly full timing it and have no physical address, what is your state/county/city/township for things like voting, tax status, etc?
I would think you'd be most interested "declaring" your residence in whatever state is most advantageous for taxation purposes, but if there are other considerations I'd like to hear them.
First you narrow your selection down to the states that allow use of a non physical street address for your DL & official address. You also need a state that has an existing professional mail forwarding company, unless you're able/willing to use a relative or close friends house for mail purposes. Then most also narrow it down to those states that have no state income tax, and a relatively low state sales tax charged when buying/transferring high value RV's.
Most at this point have the states of SD, TX & FL at the top of their list.
Then if you're under 65 and need private medical insurance you investigate the availability of medical insurance that covers you while traveling across the country. Unfortunately just in the last year the state of SD has lost most of its previous options for private medical insurance with national coverage. So SD is losing a lot of younger fulltimers who are moving to TX or FL simply to get medical insurance. Those of us over 65 on Medicare are not effected and can still use SD for both Medicare and medicare supplement insurance.
Now you're down to the fine points used for the final choice, such as vehicle registration & insurance costs, requirements for special driving license, vehicle inspection requirements, etc. Some also look into specific state legal issues such as probate laws, liability laws, family trust laws, etc.
After making your state selection, then you select a mail forwarding location in that state, and go through the process of "moving" to that state, including transfer of all your personal accounts, drivers license, vehicle registration & insurance, voter registration, wills, etc.
Your county for voting & taxes is the county your mail forwarding address is located in, that's your official address. People who live in the back seat of their car or under a bridge are entitled to vote & required to pay taxes. So are people who live in their RV fulltime. Most of us vote by mailed ballot. Most of us conduct all of our financial business & bill paying electronically. Its actually very easy to live this way in todays electronic world, and very rewarding. The address thing is not an issue 99% of the time; we do occasionally hear of some specific bank or investment firm refusing to allow a non physical street address to open a new account. But there are plenty who do allow it, so just move on to one who wants your business.
The law recognizes a difference between a domicile and a residence. Those with no physical residence still have a legal domicile state. Likewise those who may own 50 homes, one in each state, still have only one legal domicile state. Domicile recognizes the theory of "intent", as in which state do you intend to live in once you stop traveling fulltime; or which of your 50 residences do you intend to make your domicile. and of course you're always entitled to change your "intent".
Fulltimers who use the right to declare their domicile state, also need to be careful not to spend too much time sitting in any one state. Since many states automatically make you a resident of that state if you are physically in that state for more than 6 months (sometimes less).
