Wisconsin Domicle

Always wonder about government agencies and companies that do not accept Post Office boxes as a "address" or parcel mailing location. We lived in a small town of 700 people for over 25 years without any mail delivery. We picked up our mail at the post office, we actually received an "legal" street address for UPS and FedEX after the advent of 911 emergency location system. But that 911 address meant nothing to the Postal Service.

You can use a po bx as a mailing address, but you do need a physical address to display on your license,

Texas, Florida, and South Dakota seem to be the preferred choices.

When we went fulltime, I kept my DL in home state and used one of the kids home address. That way, if we didn't like fulltiming, I wouldn't have to hassle with standing in line for a new photo, etc. Only DH would.

But then the Real ID Act was forced on all states. So had to bring in all my documentation to prove I was the same person that had the same state DL for the past 28 years.

DCS7 wrote:
You can use a po bx as a mailing address, but you do need a physical address to display on your license,

No you don't. We used a mail forwarding service that had a street address + box number (like #105) so it looked like an apartment number.

I wrote the WI DMV and asked if this was ok, but never got a reply. They don't want to deal with it.

We were WI residents all our lives until we started full timing a year ago -- then we switched our domicile to Arizona -- mainly because we bought a park model there.

WI's tax rate was about double AZ's + AZ has better deductions. However, AZ does have a Vehicle License Tax which can become quite onerous if you have newer vehicle(s) -- the newer the vehicle, the higher the tax. But the tax decreases by a sizable amount each year.

While TX, SD, and FL are popular full time domiciles, there are other options, particularly if you need individual health insurance. In that case, cross SD off your list.

Finally, if state taxes concern you, figure out what you might have to pay. Most states have their tax forms online.

Another thing to check in Wisconsin, is, if you use it as your domicile, do they tax pensions? That is another reason many use the states with no state tax. Their pensions are then state tax free.

is there a mail forwarding service in Wisconsin?

shawano wrote:
is there a mail forwarding service in Wisconsin?

There are UPS Stores everywhere. That's what we used in FL for 10 years.

As others have said, there are numerous considerations when selecting a "home" address.
(1) State income taxes?
(2) Health insurance considerations.
(3) Will it effect vehicle insurance rates?
(4) Voter registration and jury duty
(5) RV and vehicle registration fees
(6) If you die, how does that State's laws effect your estate?

It is my opinion that when you start full timing all the above has to be investigated. For us there were absolutely no benefits for establishing addresses in another state, for some people there could be a lot of benefits.

Agree with C-Bears on things to investigate. I would also include property taxes in that list. When I was in Wisconsin, the community I lived in had VERY high property taxes.