Some Iowa MH owners facing big tax problems.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Is having an out of state license plate legal grounds for an officer to ask for your registration documents and gather information as to the ownership of a vehicle? I would say there might be a problem with probable cause. They say they are going to be going to patrol Iowa football games and the like. How are they going to determine if the owner of that RV registered in Montana lives in Iowa, or Michigan , or New Jersy, or heaven forbid, actually Montana. If they run the license plate and it is registered to a Montana LLC, they will have no information as to where the members of that LLC have residence. Are they going to be knocking on doors and demanding driver's licenses and the residency documents? And what happens if you answer that knock and tell them to pound sand? You aren't driving and you aren't on a public road, what right do they have to start questioning your residency? Sounds like a lot of sabre rattling without the ability to have a true sword fight.

If a police office wants to stop anyone at anytime they will have a reason. You failed to use your turn signal, you were not staying in your lane, etc. etc. And if you want to protest to the officer be prepared to be arrested for resisting arrest, If you believe otherwise please PM me I have some wonderful beachfront property near Phoenix AZ and bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

in 2006 I purchased a new fiver in Ok. I was fulltiming and used Tx as my home state and wanted to plate it in Tx . I called that law firm in Mt and talked to the head man on LLCs. He advised me to check with my state laws to see if I could evade the sales tax on it. I did as he suggested, called the AGs office and was told that I would not have to pay a sales tax, but since I used an LLC, I would be expected to pay the Use Tax on the thing.

Strange, the use tax was the same as the sales tax, I was also advised if I was in an accident in Tx in that thing and did not pay sales tax or use tax, I could lose the rig plus a big fine. Or if I got stopped and the officer checked to see if I paid the taxes, they could impound it and fine me until I went to court.
Guess what I did ?

Bumpyroad wrote:

Bigrick wrote:
I seem to remember a certain Secretary of State (and former Massachusetts senator) who registered his yacht in Rhode Island to avoid taxes. Everybody was up in arms, including me. If you don't like your state's laws, move. Or elect people who will change the laws to your liking.

let's be fair. IIRC he actually moored his yacht there and was able to legally register/tax it there so he was not breaking any laws.
the same as Iowan's who leave there RV out of state for all but 90 days, etc.,etc.etc.
bumpy

Actually, he didn't. He had to keep it out of MA waters for a certain period (30 or 90 days), but did not do so.

willald wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
so much for those threads where folks here say that a LLC in montana is totally legal.
bumpy

It still is, really. The big 'catch' is, like said so many other times this subject was discussed, you have to abide by the state laws where you reside, also. In this case, Iowa, the law states, as noted in the article:

...The law provides that if a vehicle registered in another state is in Iowa annually for more than 90 days and is operated by an Iowa resident during that time, it is not considered to be in the state temporarily.

Soooo, as long as you keep your Montana LLC registered RV out of Iowa all but 90 days of the year, and you can provide proof of such...Welll, you aren't violating any Iowa law, and they got nothng on you.

Granted, abiding by that law makes the whole Montana LLC thing not worth it for many folks, which is exactly what they want to do.

Unless....You lived close to a state border, could store the RV when not in use in another neighboring state with different laws, and only bring it in state when camping with it, and only camp (in Iowa) 90 days or less a year? ;)

Of course, THEN you'd have to worry about the laws in the state where you're storing the RV, and them eventually cracking down same way Iowa did.

Its a never-ending battle, folks trying to find ways to avoid taxes, and politicians finding ways to stop them and get more taxes.

This^^^^^^^^^

#1. Have a skilled lawyer set up your LLC.

#2. Follow the law.

#3. Read #2 again.

#4. If you don't understand #2 have #1 explain it to you.

I personally do everything I can to boycott states that tread on other states rights.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Is having an out of state license plate legal grounds for an officer to ask for your registration documents and gather information as to the ownership of a vehicle? I would say there might be a problem with probable cause. They say they are going to be going to patrol Iowa football games and the like. How are they going to determine if the owner of that RV registered in Montana lives in Iowa, or Michigan , or New Jersy, or heaven forbid, actually Montana. If they run the license plate and it is registered to a Montana LLC, they will have no information as to where the members of that LLC have residence. Are they going to be knocking on doors and demanding driver's licenses and the residency documents? And what happens if you answer that knock and tell them to pound sand? You aren't driving and you aren't on a public road, what right do they have to start questioning your residency? Sounds like a lot of sabre rattling without the ability to have a true sword fight.

I think if they find an expensive motorhome with Montana plates tailgating at an Iowa football game and run the plate and find it is registered to a Montana LLC, they probably will stick around after the game and have a chat with the owner/driver.
bumpy

This is why Montana LLCs only work for true fulltimers who don't "garage" their rig in one location for any period of time.

Is having an out of state license plate legal grounds for an officer to ask for your registration documents and gather information as to the ownership of a vehicle? I would say there might be a problem with probable cause. They say they are going to be going to patrol Iowa football games and the like. How are they going to determine if the owner of that RV registered in Montana lives in Iowa, or Michigan , or New Jersy, or heaven forbid, actually Montana. If they run the license plate and it is registered to a Montana LLC, they will have no information as to where the members of that LLC have residence. Are they going to be knocking on doors and demanding driver's licenses and the residency documents? And what happens if you answer that knock and tell them to pound sand? You aren't driving and you aren't on a public road, what right do they have to start questioning your residency? Sounds like a lot of sabre rattling without the ability to have a true sword fight.

gotsmart wrote:

Fair? Bigrick was referring to the hypocrisy of a professed pro-tax US Senator from MA (in 2010) who parked a $7,000,000 yacht in RI to avoid a $437,500 MA sales tax & $70,000 MA excise tax - who only did a mea culpa and 'voluntarily' paid the taxes after being exposed.

I repeat, he broke no laws. he took advantage of legally mooring the yacht in RI. he was exposed and was embarrassed and coughed up the cash.
bumpy

If governments were fiscally responsibile, I wouldn't mind paying taxes/fees.
But, they are not, so I do whatever I can to avoid paying.

Bumpyroad wrote:

Bigrick wrote:
I seem to remember a certain Secretary of State (and former Massachusetts senator) who registered his yacht in Rhode Island to avoid taxes. Everybody was up in arms, including me. If you don't like your state's laws, move. Or elect people who will change the laws to your liking.

let's be fair. IIRC he actually moored his yacht there and was able to legally register/tax it there so he was not breaking any laws.
...

Fair? Bigrick was referring to the hypocrisy of a professed pro-tax US Senator from MA (in 2010) who parked a $7,000,000 yacht in RI to avoid a $437,500 MA sales tax & $70,000 MA excise tax - who only did a mea culpa and 'voluntarily' paid the taxes after being exposed.