We have been fulltiming for 4-months now and are giving real consideration to doing this long-term. Part of that decision is selecting a domicile.Now, about us... I am in my mid-30s, work fulltime (regular 9-5 gig on a W2; company is based out of Virginia), have health insurance thru my work, and have 2 kids (ages 11 & 3; we are roadschooling the 11 year old). I have a bit of money in retirement accounts but won't be touching that for at least 30 years. And I make decent money at my 9-5. I still own our home in Maryland but are renting it out via a property management company (I figure I can rent it for up to 3 years before dealing with capital gains taxes). We already bought a truck and camper (back in 2012).At this time, I'm not interested in buying land or establishing a home anywhere.I know the classic answer is pick a state with no income tax and I can find those lists. I can also find a state that is more amenable to homeschooling than Maryland is- I can find the lists for that.I guess I'm trying to figure out how I look at the other things (car registrations and insurances, I guess). What else is there to look at? And how do you look into those things?(Edited to add answers to questions mentioned in replies.)

There are good and bad with all states. Some states have no income tax but charge high taxes in other areas. You have to look at all taxes in a state. Plus other living costs like insurance etc. We like rural but there are more driving expenses. We like being able to rent out our farm ground. It pays the expenses and also allows us to to keep our agriculture property taxes. In addition they watch our property when we are gone. WY kind of nails us on MH taxes. Always some bad points. We don't FT. If I FT again I would be looking at SD. Of coarse I am partial about the west. I lived in the east for my childhood and younger years. I crossed the Mississippi and never looked back. Way too many people in the east. Living in NW WY is like camping every day just sitting on the porch.

You also have to factor in where you are physically located since you have a "9-5" job. Are you working online? Entrepeneur? Where is employer located? I'm not saying you need to answer those questions on a public forum but they matter. Example: You can be a resident of FL but if you are work camping in CA, then CA is going to want income taxes on money earned in CA. Professional athletes pay state taxes for every state where they have a game. Since you still have regular income, it is even more essential to consult a tax professional. Rent income on house plays in for MD as well.

I don't live there, but take a look at TN. They have no income tax, in certain sections (northeast TN counties) have really low property taxes, they have pretty easy home-schooling rules/regulations.Look at purchasing a small farm acreage in one of the counties that have little/no zoning (yes, those do exist), where you can park your RV if/when you need to sit for a spell for health reasons or whatever.I'm not an attorney, CPA, tax expert, etc., but I do have a few friends that have done this and have a few acres of property in a county with few zoning, have a camper pad with services that cost them less than $15,000. During the spring and fall, they will park there, then head off to other areas during the winter (think warm weather) and during the summer (think cooler, northern weather). Grainger, Hawkins, Unicoi Counties are 3 that I know of that have fewer zoning regulations, they are just on the borders of Kentucky/Virginia, but have quick access to healthcare at Knoxville or the Tri-Cities (Bristol,Kingsport,Johnson City).

We were Maryland residents before going fulltime. Our address is now Crestview, Florida. We chose Florida because it was the closest to MD of the no tax states and had the best general/year 'round climate. We still have family in MD so we knew we would be back fairly frequently.Florida taxes are better than MDs (we have no property so pay none). The car/rv registration fees aren't bad. Auto insurance is cheaper, at least in the Crestview area (we checked online through progressive as our previous insurer didn't cover FL).For us, the other consideration was health insurance - it is cheaper in FL than TX and SD. We seriously considered Tennessee but the residency requirements were too difficult to get around. With Florida, it was really easy. We got a mailbox. We changed the address on our bank account, credit cards, and retirement accounts (waited for proof of address, took about 3 weeks). We went to Florida, got car insurance (took 5 minutes in the parking lot) then went into the DMV and transferred everything over (took about an hour).

Interesting running in to you here...This is E. Powers.Anyhow, I have some advice. If your employer is located in MD, MD is still going to to collect income tax from you even if you don't actually 'live' in MD. As you already know, the tax rate is high and even if you domicile in a non-tax state you still have to pay MD tax. The good news is that PA and MD have income tax reciprocity and PA's tax rate is about 1/3 (for me personally) less than MD. Insurance (auto) rates are less (maybe county based?) and vehicle registration is also much less. As an added bonus, NO impact fee or excise tax when titling in PA. If you are a gun toting person PA carry permits are very easy to get and widely accepted around the country. Also, for the little ones PA offers vouchers (in most cases) for schooling and options include access to online learning opportunities and support for homeschooling. For us splitting our time pretty evenly between FL, MD, and PA and earning the bulk of our income in MD, i choose PA.If/when we are of retirement age i think there are better options but for now PA is the best option i could find.If you want specific numbers or info i'd be happy to share.

Age old question - where to domicile | Good Sam Community

WyoTraveler
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
There are good and bad with all states. Some states have no income tax but charge high taxes in other areas. You have to look at all taxes in a state. Plus other living costs like insurance etc. We like rural but there are more driving expenses. We like being able to rent out our farm ground. It pays the expenses and also allows us to to keep our agriculture property taxes. In addition they watch our property when we are gone. WY kind of nails us on MH taxes. Always some bad points. We don't FT. If I FT again I would be looking at SD. Of coarse I am partial about the west. I lived in the east for my childhood and younger years. I crossed the Mississippi and never looked back. Way too many people in the east. Living in NW WY is like camping every day just sitting on the porch.
OutdoorPhotogra
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
You also have to factor in where you are physically located since you have a "9-5" job. Are you working online? Entrepeneur? Where is employer located? I'm not saying you need to answer those questions on a public forum but they matter.

Example: You can be a resident of FL but if you are work camping in CA, then CA is going to want income taxes on money earned in CA. Professional athletes pay state taxes for every state where they have a game.

Since you still have regular income, it is even more essential to consult a tax professional. Rent income on house plays in for MD as well.
Merrykalia
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
I don't live there, but take a look at TN. They have no income tax, in certain sections (northeast TN counties) have really low property taxes, they have pretty easy home-schooling rules/regulations.

Look at purchasing a small farm acreage in one of the counties that have little/no zoning (yes, those do exist), where you can park your RV if/when you need to sit for a spell for health reasons or whatever.

I'm not an attorney, CPA, tax expert, etc., but I do have a few friends that have done this and have a few acres of property in a county with few zoning, have a camper pad with services that cost them less than $15,000. During the spring and fall, they will park there, then head off to other areas during the winter (think warm weather) and during the summer (think cooler, northern weather).

Grainger, Hawkins, Unicoi Counties are 3 that I know of that have fewer zoning regulations, they are just on the borders of Kentucky/Virginia, but have quick access to healthcare at Knoxville or the Tri-Cities (Bristol,Kingsport,Johnson City).
dahkota
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
We were Maryland residents before going fulltime. Our address is now Crestview, Florida. We chose Florida because it was the closest to MD of the no tax states and had the best general/year 'round climate. We still have family in MD so we knew we would be back fairly frequently.

Florida taxes are better than MDs (we have no property so pay none). The car/rv registration fees aren't bad. Auto insurance is cheaper, at least in the Crestview area (we checked online through progressive as our previous insurer didn't cover FL).

For us, the other consideration was health insurance - it is cheaper in FL than TX and SD. We seriously considered Tennessee but the residency requirements were too difficult to get around.

With Florida, it was really easy. We got a mailbox. We changed the address on our bank account, credit cards, and retirement accounts (waited for proof of address, took about 3 weeks). We went to Florida, got car insurance (took 5 minutes in the parking lot) then went into the DMV and transferred everything over (took about an hour).
shutdown
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
Interesting running in to you here...This is E. Powers.

Anyhow, I have some advice.

If your employer is located in MD, MD is still going to to collect income tax from you even if you don't actually 'live' in MD.

As you already know, the tax rate is high and even if you domicile in a non-tax state you still have to pay MD tax.

The good news is that PA and MD have income tax reciprocity and PA's tax rate is about 1/3 (for me personally) less than MD. Insurance (auto) rates are less (maybe county based?) and vehicle registration is also much less. As an added bonus, NO impact fee or excise tax when titling in PA. If you are a gun toting person PA carry permits are very easy to get and widely accepted around the country. Also, for the little ones PA offers vouchers (in most cases) for schooling and options include access to online learning opportunities and support for homeschooling.

For us splitting our time pretty evenly between FL, MD, and PA and earning the bulk of our income in MD, i choose PA.

If/when we are of retirement age i think there are better options but for now PA is the best option i could find.

If you want specific numbers or info i'd be happy to share.
ependydad
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
At this time, I think I'm not interested in buying land anywhere. My rental is covering the cost of my mortgage and I'm not sure that I want to add another bill into the mix of things.

The company that I work for- I'm just a plain ole employee on a W2. They're based out of Virginia, so I'm already doing the 2-state thing. Though, I don't know of what kind of reciprocity there is between VA and MD.

I lived in PA for my childhood, but don't know what kind of residency requirements that they have for fulltimers. We will likely go back from time to time as we have family up that way.

As for states we'd visit on a regular basis- we go to Florida more than anywhere else. I'm not sure how that'll play out in the future, but I do know up to this summer at least- we'll be there once, if not twice. However, I've heard that insurance costs more there (though, dahkota makes a good point in that it'll likely be less than we're paying in Maryland).

I've also considered Texas as we'll be driving through there in January and could likely take care of any residency requirements when we're there.

A few of you mentioned contacting a tax person- does anyone know of someone who is in tune with fulltiming and taxes?
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Oct 22, 2015
This office is endorsed by the Escapees RV Club and could help you with domicile questions or lead you in the right direction. They deal with full-timers all the time.

http://www.loringlaw.com/
opland
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
I highly recommend looking at St. Brendan's Isle, Green Cove Springs, FL. The company provides quality mail services and a legal address to call your own. I was a full time RVer for three years and really liked St. Brenden's Isle mail forwarding services that also allows you to read your mail online. Checkout SBI at http://www.sbimailservice.com.
ependydad
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
opland wrote:
I highly recommend looking at St. Brendan's Isle, Green Cove Springs, FL. The company provides quality mail services and a legal address to call your own. I was a full time RVer for three years and really liked St. Brenden's Isle mail forwarding services that also allows you to read your mail online. Checkout SBI at http://www.sbimailservice.com.

That's a really awesome feature. I could almost do without mail if I could see it, at least.
ependydad
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015
2gypsies wrote:
This office is endorsed by the Escapees RV Club and could help you with domicile questions or lead you in the right direction. They deal with full-timers all the time.

http://www.loringlaw.com/

Thanks!