Best states for "Home Address" for car registration, driver's license, mailing address, low taxes, and remote working online & taxes?

[Lance22]

I heard South Dakato was a good one but I heard they were cracking down. I have a few months before I hit the road again mostly in the desert south west of the states but I'm OK with twice yearly road trip to check the mail lol.

Looking for low taxes, low registration, insurance rates, and ease of not having a physical address. I know nothing is perfect but what are the best options?

Some day I would like to buy a small clump of land and live on it for a few weeks of the year and have a physical address even if I can't stay year-round (due to weather or camping limits) but right now I'm not in a place where I can slap down 2-10+K for some dirt.

I don't have friends or family I trust well enough to mix my address in with theirs so that is out of the question. Any advice be helpful so I can do further research. Thanks in advance.

 

[bullfrog !]

Get a seasonal job with a full hookup lot. Get written verification of your physical address from your employer. Get a local post office box, driver’s license, voter registration card and passport if you don’t have one, you should get one now before you hit the road.Get an account at a local Credit Union for direct deposits and local bank branch of a National Bank for a credit card. Insurance both vehicle and health as well as state benefits/taxes should be a main concern but your personal situation will be different in different states so there is that. Escapees Club is well worth joining and using as a resource when it comes to this and can work with you to figure it all out so give them a call. They have been doing it for RVers for years.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Bullfrog beat me to it but yes, Escapees is one option..there are many others.

https://escapees.com/what-is-an-rv-mail-forwarding-service/

 

[WanderingRose]

I know someone who just established residency in South Dakota.

I don’t know what this involved, but she apparently had no problem.

 

[maki2]

Research it by the region you prefer for your home base. Driving long distances across country is not cheap should you need to return. For instance if you stay mostly in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado then Nevada would be a good choice of state that does not have a state income tax. Even if you need to find a cheap RV park for a month to establish residency it would cost less than the fuel to travel to South Dakota. Or you can volunteer camp host for a month in Nevada to establish residency, the Nevada residency requirement rules say that also qualifies for establishing residency. Then the bonus is you are not a long drive to your primary doctor. That can be very important for unexpected or ongoing medical care.

 

[Lance22]

Right now im in Oklahoma but eventually I want to be spending the summers in Montana or Wyoming. I think I might just get an 8 year ID here and transfer over my tags here before I move out of my apartment..

I eventually want to buy a small piece of land where I can have my forever address and I can stay there at least 2 weeks or better yet seasonally. I was looking at Arizona or Nevada they have cheap land. Looking to spend about 2,000 bucks and be near at least a small town/outpost within say 10 miles.

I likely won't stay there very often given I like to be in town anyways but NOT having to play the switching address game every few years and changing registration or paying for a mailbox would be NICE.

Even if I didn't have a mailbox I'd hope to be able to have the ability to pick up my mail from the local postoffice assigned to my land as in having an actual address. Still might have to forward my mail seasonally to a temporary box but still it be better having a permanent address at least.

I guess I'm just kicking that can down the road for 8 years to figure it out..

 

[bullfrog !]

Best increase you savings as land isn’t getting any cheaper overall.

 

[kfrimr]

We’ve been domiced in SD for 16years, and it is great. We’ve used Dakota Post and they are dreat. Make it easy to register car, you need to do there and stay one night to get your drivers liscance, and go back every 4 years for a mug shot. DakotaPost takes care of the rest.

 

[user 37446]

You pretty much cannot just buy raw land and get an address. The Post Office won‘t deliver to raw land, it usually requires an established home of some sort in order to receive an official address.
One forum post (from somewhere else) said in their county, you had to have a certificate of occupancy before the local postmaster will authorize delivery.

You will want to look into this before you commit to a purchase, unless you can live without mail.

 

[kazak9999]

I use Dakota Post for SD residency. Works for most of what I need but the one negative is that most banks/credit card companies don't recognize your Dak Post address as a "physical" address so you need to provide them two: mailing address via Dak Post and a physical street address of someone who knows you (I use a relative's.) It's due to the way most financial institutions interpret the Patriot Act. The recent news about SD cracking down has more to do with voting. Nothing has passed yet but they are looking at making hard to vote in local elections if you are a wanderer.

 

[rruff]

I guess that is only for credit cards, and the permanent address can be in another state?

 

[kazak9999]

I guess that is only for credit cards, and the permanent address can be in another state?

More than just credit cards. Checking/savings banks, brokerage accounts, etc... nearly all require a physical street address but the physical street address can be anywhere and they will use the SD mailing address to send things.

 

[Morgana]

Every once in a blue moon, mistakes do happen and mail that should be sent to a PO box goes to the physical address. It's only happened very rarely to me and has never caused a problem (knock wood!) but it can happen. The varied offices that require you to give them a physical address are staffed by humans after all, and there's a labor shortage on.

Some things you can do to reduce your risk: (1) put a forwarding address on the physical address so that any mail that /does/ go there gets sent on to the PO box; (2) clearly write "do not send mail to this address" on any form where you have to list the physical, (3) opt for paperless (email) notifications wherever possible, (4) if it's a small/friendly enough town, make friends with (or at least meet) the postmaster so you're a little better known, (5) stay aware of any sensitive mail you think you should be getting and don't ignore if it's late.

@Tony's Dream (resident mail guru), agree/disagree?

 

[kazak9999]

Every once in a blue moon, mistakes do happen and mail that should be sent to a PO box goes to the physical address. It's only happened very rarely to me and has never caused a problem (knock wood!) but it can happen. The varied offices that require you to give them a physical address are staffed by humans after all, and there's a labor shortage on.

Some things you can do to reduce your risk: (1) put a forwarding address on the physical address so that any mail that /does/ go there gets sent on to the PO box; (2) clearly write "do not send mail to this address" on any form where you have to list the physical, (3) opt for paperless (email) notifications wherever possible, (4) if it's a small/friendly enough town, make friends with (or at least meet) the postmaster so you're a little better known, (5) stay aware of any sensitive mail you think you should be getting and don't ignore if it's late.

@Tony's Dream (resident mail guru), agree/disagree?

All excellent points! Thanks!

 

[Tony's Dream]

Every once in a blue moon, mistakes do happen and mail that should be sent to a PO box goes to the physical address. It's only happened very rarely to me and has never caused a problem (knock wood!) but it can happen. The varied offices that require you to give them a physical address are staffed by humans after all, and there's a labor shortage on.

Some things you can do to reduce your risk: (1) put a forwarding address on the physical address so that any mail that /does/ go there gets sent on to the PO box; (2) clearly write "do not send mail to this address" on any form where you have to list the physical, (3) opt for paperless (email) notifications wherever possible, (4) if it's a small/friendly enough town, make friends with (or at least meet) the postmaster so you're a little better known, (5) stay aware of any sensitive mail you think you should be getting and don't ignore if it's late.

@Tony's Dream (resident mail guru), agree/disagree?

Your ideas sound good but unfortunately postal regulations get in the way. Postal regulations state that mail MUST be delivered as addressed, in fact its a crime to knowingly deliver mail to any other address but human error sometimes causes issues. Some customers have mail delivered to both physical address and a POB for privacy. What can be done....

1) If the physical address is not occupied by anyone, you can ask the post office to "link" the address to your POB. When the sorting machines see your physical address on the mail piece it would automatically route it to your POB.

2) If someone is living at the address, linking the address would cause all the mail to go to your POB....including the mail for the people living there. In that case you can do a change of address from your physical address to the POB. They will forward your mail for the first 12 months, but it will get returned to to sender after 12 months. To get around that, do a change of address but do a "cancel and resume" before the 12 months expires. Wait 3 days and submit another change of address (don't overlap or try to do a back to back on the dates)......and repeat as needed. Change of address processing can add 7-10 days delivery time.

3) The absolute best way is to talk with your postmaster or delivery supervisor (depending on the size of the office) and let them know who you are. Most delivery personnel want to get it delivered to you to avoid complaints. It would also prevent them wondering if you might be doing something fraudulant and reporting you to the postal inspectors.

 

[eDJ_]

I'd choose to register in South Dakota for it's more central location climate wise. I wouldn't have to go to the southern tip of Texas in winter to be warm enough.....I don't believe. But staying cool in the summer would be more important to me.

I'd use a re-mail service there for travel and working remotely. I would likely travel in the Central Atlantic States using the 2-2-2 system to slowly drift, camp and sight see.

I often wonder if a person could employ a Lawyer to provide a physical address where the mail could be forwarded to the re-mail service. Even an Airbnb, which could be a revenue stream for one acting as a mail forwarding service. (from there it could be opened, scanned, and emailed as an attachment)

If you are only wanting to be a absentee resident so you can nomad, here is what shows up in Google:

Is it worth it to live in South Dakota?

Living in South Dakota comes with tax benefits like not having to pay state income tax and favorable requirements for small-scale businesses. South Dakota is considered the happiest State in America because its economy is one of the strongest in the country, giving small businesses the best environment for growth.

Cons of South Dakota Residency.

South Dakota requires that you spend at least 24 hours in the state before establishing residency. However, one major con is that you must return to the state once every five years to renew your license. You'll need a receipt from a campground, hotel, or Airbnb to prove your stay.

 

[rruff]

Your ideas sound good but unfortunately postal regulations get in the way.

This isn't a PO issue but I wonder about having various addresses. I thought it was weird when Bob bought land in AZ. He can't get mail there, and even though he can claim it for AZ drivers license or whatever, I thought he kept everything else in NV...? Like tax address, vehicle registration and insurance, healthcare. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

The address-linking deal sounds good.

I'd choose to register in South Dakota for it's more central location climate wise. I wouldn't have to go to the southern tip of Texas in winter to be warm enough.....I don't believe. But staying cool in the summer would be more important to me.

Altitude is what keeps you cool in summer, unless you can camp on the west coast. Southern UT is as far north as you need to go. I like ~9-10k ft. Some people stay in N AZ but that's a little too monsoony and crowded in summer for me.

In the winter, somewhere around Yuma is best. I camped around Tucson for a few years, but it can get too cold there. I've never tried the southern tip of Texas. It's probably ok in winter, but they have no BLM so the options are limited.

 

[TravelinTom]

We began canceling mail subscription services, established a mail service with Escapees and switched all banking needs online. Find the online selection to stop mail (saves them money!) and preset monthly payments of any debt months before setting off. This allows you to correct issues prior to not having your mailing address. Even IRS pays us online.
We maintain residence with our daughter. She only has to inform us of specific mail from official & government agencies. We usually get most email notifications before the mailman delivers any to us. Often USPS doesn't put our mail in the right box anyway! We rarely to never get certified mail and have instructed our daughter to refuse any for us. it's been great not dealing with junk mail too. Now to resolve all the spam email......

 

[Lance22]

You pretty much cannot just buy raw land and get an address. The Post Office won‘t deliver to raw land, it usually requires an established home of some sort in order to receive an official address.
One forum post (from somewhere else) said in their county, you had to have a certificate of occupancy before the local postmaster will authorize delivery.

You will want to look into this before you commit to a purchase, unless you can live without mail.

I kinda figured that, but wouldn't they permit mail being delivered to the physical post office where you can come collect it?

Or is this semi-status not a thing?

I know often the post office will hold mail if your box is full or if you request a vacation hold but if you legally own property don't you have a right to have mail access, even if it's not physically delivered it could be delivered to the local post office where they could hold it for pickup due to it not being deliverable.

I mean each piece of land HAS to have and address for a sale to be completed even if the address is not able to recieve mail it would still be delivered to the local post office and returned to sender if not collected in a timely manor?

I don't know how it all works but I kinda thought that would be the case.

 

[Lance22]

I use Dakota Post for SD residency. Works for most of what I need but the one negative is that most banks/credit card companies don't recognize your Dak Post address as a "physical" address so you need to provide them two: mailing address via Dak Post and a physical street address of someone who knows you (I use a relative's.) It's due to the way most financial institutions interpret the Patriot Act. The recent news about SD cracking down has more to do with voting. Nothing has passed yet but they are looking at making hard to vote in local elections if you are a wanderer.

Thank you for your post.


I greatly appreciate the information. I will keep Dakota Post in mind their website is awesomely helpful and great information. I very may go with them myself, although I will look for a more western location, although I'm just glad I have a solid option to start with.

Personally, I stopped voting after 2020 when I moved away from my home state. I've given up completely on politics and now that I don't feel connected to any specific community anymore I don't feel the need/desire/right to vote. Let the locals vote to shape their community, I can just drive away and find a better community if need be!

Right now I'm staying in the south, my plan for right now is to live here 12 months of the year and get a motel/extended stay for 3 months during the summer heat and then in a year or two try to set up with my job where I take a Leave of absence for the summer 2-4 months and head north to South Dakota, Wyoming, or Montana area.

I think that would be a great life for me at least. Might even get a temporary job up worth with a work agency for temp work. I been having a hard time figuring it all out. I know many people enjoy remote working but I don't think I could enjoy doing that since I would be in the minivan waaaay to much. Maybe if I had a workplace office share membership or rented an actual office space in a small town ( I looked into it before and they can be some really unique and fun spaces!) however that just starts to get to complicated right now.


I think eventually some day it would be kinda neat to have a home office in a small downtown where the rent is cheap and then I can travel and have a home base whenever I wanted. I think someday I want to write a book of how people can organzie their life in different ways while using vanlife.

I think much has been already said and educated on how to potty in a bucket and how to shower in a minivan but when it comes to making life fit together into a lifestyle that can be comfortable and affordable there is STILL much confusion and much guessing game, at least there was for me!

Enough of my rant.