Bus Registration in FL

[Seangie]

Is anyone familiar with registering a bus in Florida when moving in from another state?  I am trying to plan what the costs will be.

We bought a bus here in NC and are planning (desperately trying) to get back to the Orlando area in the next few months.  I thought I might wait until we move to Florida to register the bus and drive it down and not have to pay the 3% here in NC and then again in FL when we move.

thanks.

-Sean

[oldmansax]

 I know I'm in the minority here but I would go the Montana route for registration.

TOM

[Depewtee]

Sean,

Florida registration is not bad unless you have not paid sales tax yet from the purchase.  Normally, out of state registration requires paying a one time $225 impact fee along with the annual registration fee - around $40.  If you have not paid sales tax on the purchase yet then you are subject to 6% sales tax on the purchase price.  Most of this is from memory, so visit Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for de facto information.

Brian

[Seangie]

Brian,

Thanks - The sales tax is what I'll have to pay here in NC, the 3% Highway use/sales tax.  I guess that's better to pay than the 6% in FL. I'll take a look at that Florida DMV again and see if I can find some more information on the sales tax.

-Sean

[luvrbus]

Drive to AZ no sales tax on out of state vehicles and registration on your bus will probably be 35 to 50 bucks for 2 years not far out of the way lol plus you can fill at the rv pump and save 8 cents a gal on fuel

good luck

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Clifford, there is no sales tax if you buy from a private party out of state. If you buy from an out of state dealer like i did, and don't pay that states sales tax, then you end up paying in Az.  There is a new deal for tabs. I just paid $65.50 for tabs for 5 years for my 68 5A. I imagine a newer bus might be a little more than that. 

[thomasinnv]

you have to be careful about registration in Montana now. As of mid November there regs have changed, and they make it more difficult for an LLC owner to title and register a vehicle. If you are not a Montana resident you are no longer allowed to process the registration yourself, you must use a "title service". I have always handled my own registrations for my LLC in Montana, but with the car I just bought I had to jump through their hoops. The "title service" charges a "handling fee" of $550 just to take my title application and payment slip, stuff it in their envelope, and mail it to Motor Vehicles. They don't actually process anything. They just hand off the paperwork that I still had to do anyway. At least it's a permanent registration so I never have to deal with it again.

[technomadia]

Brian,

Thanks - The sales tax is what I'll have to pay here in NC, the 3% Highway use/sales tax.  I guess that's better to pay than the 6% in FL. I'll take a look at that Florida DMV again and see if I can find some more information on the sales tax.

-Sean

One thing to be sure to check out is if you'll need to pay the 3% delta in sales tax rate when you register in FL.  I believe there is several month period of time in which you could be held accountable for that difference (as it's still considered a new sale by FL, but they credit you what you paid in NC).

If you're considering residency in FL as your domicile base - St. Brenden's Isle (http://www.sbimailservice.com/) is the mail forwarding/residency agency that a lot of full-timers use (I believe I mentioned them to you).  They're known to be quite helpful in answering questions like this, as they deal with them all the time.

Was awesome to meet your family at Arcadia... so glad we connected!  See you guys on the road!

- Cherie

[papatony]

Check on getting a 20 day tag in NC drive it to Florida to get a permant reg.&tags If you move it to florida you have only 30 days to change it from any state.  check the law in Florida you can open up a bad can of worms tyring to skirt their laws.. 

[DMoedave]

also double check to see that your weight is on your registration and find out what the Fla DMV policy is about weights. This morning i switched my trailor over from NY to Fla and had to have it weighed as they wanted to charge me for its total gross capicity as thats all my ny reg had on it and i said no weigh! They said "weigh".(lol) so it was 780lbs not 2500 and total cost was 63. which was still high to me. My coach tagged in Fla as 22000 lbs MH is 73.60 per year. Right on about the first time 225. i saw the sign on the board. Good luck.