Pennsylvania as domicile

You can check the specifics online at the PA Dept of Trans, but if you are out of state when your vehicle inspection comes due, you have 30 days (as I recall the number of days) after you return to the state to get it done.

You are still pretty young, but don't forget that PA also has a substantial estate tax - of course that doesn't effect you until you die!

John

We went fulltiming in 2003 after living in Penna. for all our lives. Moved everything to Texas. Penna. is not really fulltiming friendly. Can you renew your drivers license on line or regestration and have it sent to your location or to your mail service? Mail services in Penna. aren't really fulltime knowledgeable. As far as the state vehicle inspection the only time that would matter is when you came back in state. What about voting and jury duty? There are so many variables but there is no way Pennsy would have worked for us. In eleven years Texas has worked very well for us. Kind of like "path of least resistance".

IF interested in retaining PA residency first check with PA DMV about requirements for PA residency.
Biggest issue will be 'physical address'----what qualifies.

Reason many FTrs use SD, FL, TX is because of the mail forwarding services that provide a valid physical address and the residency requirements that can be meet without jumping thru hoops/hassles.

SD has become less friendly because of issues with medical coverage for those not yet eligible for Medicare. Doable but limited.
TX does have 'yearly' vehicle inspections BUT that just means you need to have it done NEXT time you are in TX

Find out about PA Residency Requirements and then proceed.

We used SD.
We used on-line banking/billing
Snail mail was so minimal that we only needed to have it forwarded 3-4 times a year. Junk mail------they threw away.

Although TX has vehicle inspections you don't have to go back each year. When you do go back you have some set time (maybe 30 days?) before you have to get the inspection done.
If you join Escapees you can use their mail forwarding service and address for voting,drivers licences, and vehicle registration.
The county also will excuse you from jury duty. That can be very helpful if you are a couple of thousand miles away in a warm place.

I see no problem moving and setting up residency for a couple of years. We sold our house Sept 2013 and moved into our trailer until May 2014. Couple change of address and setup all our bills for paperless billing and our mail delivery is now 95% junk mail. Love it that way!

You make a good point about yearly inspections....that would indeed be a pain. Since we're 58, we'll have to buy health insurance, and the latest info seems to indicate that SD isn't a good choice because of that. PA doesn't tax pension income, which is a plus. And, as you know our flat tax rate is just over 3% which is better than many states. Certainly if we decide that full timing is going to be a long term proposition it makes a lot of sense to move to TX. We just aren't sure if it makes sense if we only go out for a year or 2.

Tax friendly? How about yearly vehicle inspections? Insurance? Setup residency either in FL or SD. You will save a bundle in the long run. The key is finding a state that is friendly, no or low income taxes, and welcoms you. After 17 years working for a PA company and visiting often IMHO PA is not it.