Best state to register your bus?

[pickpaul]

Hi,

When I buy my bus I will be fulltiming in it and could theoretically register in any state. I've read several ads that mention the buses just past inspection as a commercial vehicle. Which states don't require diesel buses used as RV's to be inspected? Also, which ones don't charge sales tax or property tax? Obviously one state that had all three would be perfect! Just wanting to do my homework ahead of time.

Cheers, Paul.

[Van]

Stay away from NY.Good luck!

[Songman]

I've heard Montana but don't know for sure.

[JackConrad]

Escapees (mostly Full Timers) seem to use Texas quite a bit.  I have heard several people say they use South Dakota.  I know several that bought expensive conversions and set up a corp. in Montana (something about saving a bunch in taxes).  It wouild probably pay you to do some research.  Jack

[Kwajdiver]

Florida doesn't do an inspection... hummm, not one that I know about away.
Of course have to pay sale tax and a tag.


Bill

[jjrbus]

I bought my bus in the state of Washington and I rented a lot for a few months and registered it in Salem Oregon. No inspection, cheap insurance, cheap plates, easy to change title, no sales tax.   This was in 2000 so things may have changed.

[HB of CJ]

Consider Oregon.  NO RV property taxes, (at least not 6 months ago) NO inspection for ANY vehicle titled/registered as a RV, BUT registration fees are high, but doable.

My 1974 Crown registration cost about $350 bucks for about 30 months.  NO special additional drivers license required as an RV as it's considered non commercial.

To register my stripped shell as a RV, all I needed was permanent cooking and sleeping facilities.  Also there was NO drivers test required.  Just pay and get your license plate.

The Crown was 40' long, had 3 axles, 10 wheels and weighed 24K stripped with a GVWR of 47K, which would be similiar to all the big MCI coaches and others.

I DO NOT KNOW if the registration fees are dependant upon the price of the Bus Conversion coach.  I don't remember the DMV asking how much the Crown cost.

No state sales tax.  Income tax high, but I don't know how much.  "Permanent Traveler"  drivers licenses available as I had one once.  Hope this helps.  HB of CJ

[kd5kfl]

State drivers license requirements for RVs:

http://changingears.com/rv-sec-state-rv-license.shtml

Which states have no personal income tax?

Seven states have no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Two others, New Hampshire and Tennessee, tax only dividend and interest income.

Motorcycle laws

http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/laws.asp

State firearm laws:

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/

[busguy01]

Look at South Dakota - no state income tax, low cost plates ( my eagle is $213) low insurance costs, no prop tax on bus, 3% sales tax on bus, can register by mail, more....

[Dreamscape]

In the FMCA magazine I have seen lots of classified adds with South Dakota mentioned, regarding RV Registration, Taxes and Mail Forwarding Services.

FWIW,

Paul

[HighTechRedneck]

South Dakota is one of the most popular among full time RV'rs.  There are several mail forwarding services there that will help with the registration and residency processes.  You do have to go there at some point to get your drivers license the first time.

Tennessee has no state income tax, no vehicular property tax, no inspections on diesels, reasonable vehicle sales tax and a $26/year vehicle registration on cars and RV's. But they are tough on proof of residency.  And depending on the county you register in, your toad may need annual emissions testing to renew its registration (in other words, don't register in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville or Memphis if that will be a problem for you).

Residency is an important issue in many, if not most states.  For example, Tennessee won't let you register unless you have a physical Tennessee address to receive your mail at.  They have a database of all the UPS stores and mailing centers and their computer will reject them as a physical address.  Texas as I understand it requires that you have a Texas drivers license in order to register a vehicle there and residency to get the drivers license.

[skipn]

For Montana here are the links for the costs.

  fees for corp, llc or llp.   You can have one of those and not be a resident of the state.
    what you are doing is basically stating that you are doing business in Montana. If the
    business makes no money then there are no taxes to pay. (way it was explained to me
   and I am not a tax expert or lawyer)

  http://sos.mt.gov/Business/forms/fees/Business_Filing_Fees.pdf

   Licensing is by vehicle type and age. We also have for vehicles over 11 yrs old a
permanent one time tax (tags) that are good forever (or until legislature changes the laws)
when new plates are issued (about 0nce every 5 years or so you still need to pay for the
new plates.

    http://www.doj.mt.gov/driving/vehicletitleregistration/motorhome.asp

    You would be licensing the RV under the business not your person.

     As with anything to do with laws and such these situations may change. Legislature only
   convenes once every 2 years so no changes in the interim. Were in session right now

    Hope this helps

    Skip

[pickpaul]

I have a friend who lives in Montana so that would seem to be the way forward when I get the bus. I love the idea of the permanent registration, no sales tax and no inspections. As a fulltimer I would do it as an individual, not an LLC. Thanks for sharing guys.

Cheers, Paul.

[JohnEd]

Paul,

The first thing I did when I arrived in "ORYGUN" was to get a space at the local RV hotel.  The very next morning I went over to the ODMV and got my drivers license, toad plate and registration and registered and plated my RV.  I had no proof of residency and was not asked for any.  That was in 91.  The reason I mention that is that Or charged me $36 for three year tags/registration and California was asking over $500 for the same single RV tags and my plates were only good for one year.  Stay out of Ca.

If you have a Military or Civil Service pension you might check with OR as they don't pay any income tax depending on your years of service.

[jjrbus]

When I did mine in 2000, I did not have an Orygun driver license nor did I ever obtain one.