Wow, Nevada residency is apparently expensive!!

[bullfrog]

They do Florida as well I believe. When you are dealing with important decisions like which state to be a resident of the cost of travel and time is a minor one, especially if you are a traveling anyway. Domicile and residency are important enough and individual situations varied enough to seek out the opinion of one of Escapee’s advisers. For example if you are working seasonally in other states, your vehicle inspection is an issue, you have assets you want to protect or your health insurance is based on using facilities in a particular state. As stated previously there are lots of considerations and all have important consequences. My pension which is not taxed in the state where I receive it but the state I am a resident of and the state I seasonally work in do. Didn’t realize that till I went to file my taxes my first year on the road! Would have saved more than Escapees’s dues and a few months expenses.

 

[wayne49]

In Nevada, only Clark (Las Vegas) and Washoe (Reno-Sparks) counties require annual smog checks.

I renew my registrations on line. Just renewed my Tioga's, while camped in the Why, AZ area. The new tag will be waiting for me in my mailbox, when I return to home base before the current tag expires in December.

 

[user 423]

Worth noting is that none of the 3 nomad-oriented states, (SD,TX,FL) have expanded Medicaid coverage.

 

[rruff]

Worth noting is that none of the 3 nomad-oriented states, (SD,TX,FL) have expanded Medicaid coverage.

Exactly... benefits are a priority for those in that category. <$18,754 is the current cutoff for qualifying, which is pretty generous IMO. This is a map of the states that have it.

 

[dhuff]

<snip>

In Nevada, it is no state income tax, but a higher combined sales tax rate.

Yeah, Texas is the same way + really high property taxes, too. Our total tax rates are right up there with Calif., just in different ways...

 

[aytee]

My experience with Nevada: I was traveling in the north-western part a couple of years ago and as I usually do I began looking for a campsite early afternoon. No luck. I ended up in Reno, still looking, so decided screw it, I will just go the KOA, they always have places for tents.

However, when I arrived, they told me that this part of the world (not sure who made the law, county or state or whatever) no tents were allowed. Anywhere. Not even in campgrounds. I said I will sleep in my car and not put the tent up, but that was even more against the law.

Because it was so late, I just found the nearest truck stop. No way was I going to pay for any accommodation and give the law-makers my money. I will NEVER set foot in that part of the world again - that sort of self-righteousness turns my stomach and is against everything I believe in.

 

[BelgianPup]

Yeah, Texas is the same way + really high property taxes, too. Our total tax rates are right up there with Calif., just in different ways...

Some states stir and juggle the taxes, hoping you won't notice.

 

[rruff]

However, when I arrived, they told me that this part of the world (not sure who made the law, county or state or whatever) no tents were allowed. Anywhere. Not even in campgrounds.

I think it might have been the campground host. Plenty of campgrounds all over the state allow tents, and most of the state is public land where any kind of dispersed camping is allowed. https://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/Nevada-am-tentsallowed.htm

 

[wayne49]

One specific Nevada ******* trying to sound like they're not being a waste of breath and flesh, while they turn you away.

Most Nevada NF campgrounds usually allow tents. It may be an area set off. The NF websites will have the official rules.

Private RV parks, it just depends on their target clients. Those willing to shell out $$$ to be among newer Class A's with newer toads.

Other RV parks, you can sleep in your vehicle or a tent next to your vehicle, if need be. Cash is king.

 

[wayne49]

PS I think I figured out where the idea about having to stay 30 nights at a nightly rate.

The DMV says a receipt for 30 days, that doesn't mean literally 30 nights, it means one month.

A financial year is 360 days with twelve 30 day months.

If you didn't mind freezing your nethers, you can stay 28 nights in in a non leap year February.

 

[rruff]

If you didn't mind freezing your nethers, you can stay 28 nights in in a non leap year February.

Actually you don't have to stay in the place you are renting at all... I wouldn't, but it might be nice to use it for showers or something.

 

[user 423]

If you didn't stay there wouldn't you have to have an agreement with the park so you can get your mail there?

 

[Markw]

If you didn't stay there wouldn't you have to have an agreement with the park so you can get your mail there?

What they are saying is you don't have to actually stay there once you pay the rent...just like renting an apartment doesn't mean you have to actually live there.

 

[wayne49]

Nevada is probably not a good choice for people who don't want to be on a knife edge of legality. Maybe time to update Bob Wells' advice.

Bob Wells pushed getting a DL in Nevada, but he acknowledged that one had to lie to the DMV about a physical address. At one point he advised finding a vacant house and using that address. That opens up a can of worms with the USPS when one grabs their DL from somebody else's mailbox.

Nevada won't accept a commercial mailbox as a residence.

The choices then are SD or TX using Escapees or a similar service provider for nomads. There are plenty of prior threads on the topic of mail forwarding and driver's licensing.

SD only requires a one night stay, a long drive that you don't want to do in Winter, but you would be legal, and mail forwarding is acceptable.

I don't see the purpose of getting a Nevada DL and registration, if one is not planning on ever legally residing in Nevada.

 

[shadowmoss]

I live in AZ. I use a postnet mailbox for my address and have a drivers license and voter registration card to that address. When I opened it I was only asked for my previous address. I originally opened a mailbox at a UPS store in Flagstaff and was told that it would be accepted at the DMV. Flagstaff has no emissions testing and you can register a vehicle for up to 5 years at a time. I personally don't find the taxes here to be bad but YMMV.

 

[bullfrog]

^^^I believe as of May 2023 you will be required to get the new driver’s license that requires a couple documents showing you are a resident of Arizona but your current driver’s license, voter ID, car insurance, birth certificate or passport all are accepted.

 

[user 423]

Some things in SD you need to stay at least 30 days for. A CCW permit and eligibility for lower income people to have Medicare premiums paid for are a couple that I'm aware of.

 

[rruff]

I live in AZ. I use a postnet mailbox for my address and have a drivers license and voter registration card to that address. When I opened it I was only asked for my previous address. I originally opened a mailbox at a UPS store in Flagstaff and was told that it would be accepted at the DMV

Those are not mail forwarding, correct? How do you get mail on the road? I guess it might be as simple as getting a mail forwarding service and sending all non-gov mail there, but aren't there occasions where government stuff will go to Flagstaff and you won't know if you don't check?

 

[rruff]

Nevada is probably not a good choice for people who don't want to be on a knife edge of legality. ....I don't see the purpose of getting a Nevada DL and registration, if one is not planning on ever legally residing in Nevada.

It seems like we are on a knife edge of legality with many things. Everybody wants a physical address and we don't have one! So we find ways to get around it. Even if the state doesn't seem to care (like SD) I don't know of any insurance companies writing vagabond policies.

Good reasons to choose NV are if you want to pay minimal taxes and fees (no income tax) and you need non-medicare healthcare, and NV is convenient to where you will spend your time.

 

[LauraNSasha]

My husband and I got our NV domicile set up in 2015. We had previously been TX domiciled but the healthcare rates were astronomically high for the both of us not yet on SS.

We stayed in a Pahrump RV park for a month before heading down to Yuma for the winter.

Pahrump’s high seasons are in October and April. Shoulder season is November and March. The low season, when it is the hottest is July and August, usually $300 plus electric. I think we were there in November, and it was $450 plus electricity. We were not there the whole time.

The driver’s license said the campground address. That is the physical but DMV also accepts mailing addresses because we are rural. Mail, Messages, and More was perfect as a mailing system. ~$110 a year.

Our health insurance went way down, so did our vehicle insurance, as Pahrump is nothing like Vegas.

Registration package = government services fee (MSRP - the age of the vehicle) + registration fee of ~$30.

However, there is no sales tax for private party buying. And you don’t have to change your title to NV if you don’t want to. When we bought our van by a private seller this year, we did not have to pay the 6.6% Texas sales tax on the sale of a used vehicle. New is a different story, of course.

And now that my husband is on SS, he gets other benefits as a NV resident that we would never see as TX, SD, or FL residents. Plus, I love being in Nevada, so much outdoor experiences.

And KOAs are ridiculous. You can tent in state and federal parks all over. I never went to one in our 13 years of Full-timing.