RV Registration fraud case "sends a clear message"

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Bretman	The real reason for the crack down in Oregon is that the services that were registering out of state RVers were registering many people with the DMV at the same physical Oregon address which raised a big red flag on the operation. (Hey, how can all of these people be residing at the same address ??) As others have mentioned, Montana offers the LLC for RV registration to out of staters where you can keep your home state driver's license, however, you usually cannot drive your RV back into your home state for a period of up to one year without being hit by your home state's use tax. The use tax is designed to catch out of state purchases (vehicles, furniture, etc.) by residents that intend to use the item in their home state. The use tax can be as much or more than your local sales tax, but often states give credit for out of state sales tax paid. I personally would prefer to establish residency in a low cost state where my driver's license, tags, voter registration, mailing address, and tax return all matched. Then there is nothing that another state can do to you unless you visit for too long a period. For instance, California can insist that you register in their state if you are there for more than 20 days, buy/lease a dwelling there, or work there.
Sebastian	I BELIEVE MONTANA IS THE BEST PLACE TO REGISTER A NEW VEHICLE IF YOU SET UP A LLC 100.00 AND DO THE PAPERWORK CORRECT THEIR LAWS ARE FAIR BUT MUST BE FOLLOWED ,YOU DONT HAVE TO LIE JUST FOLLOW MONT. LAW,SAVES YOU LOTS OF MONEY & NO HASTLES FROM YOUR HOME STATE.
Chris	We may be missing the bigger picture. It's descrimination. Why should I have to pay sales tax on my primary (and only) dwelling because I choose to have it mobile and someone that chooses a primary dwelling that is connected permanently to the earth does not? I think we need a movement that designates someones primary dwelling as not subject to sales tax. I am a NY resident and paid 8% sales tax on my permanent and only residence, a Class A RV. Each time I purchase a new residence (RV) I pay again. This seems like descrimination to me. Let's have a movement to end this residence descrimination.
Jolene	A friend of mine lives in Mo., travels to Texas in the winter for 4 months. Has a home in Mo. and 2 vehicles. Has her drivers license, car and RV regisitered in South Dakota. Is this legal? Is not staying in SD any of the time. What could happen when they realize what is being done?
Mad Jayhawk	We travel about 7 months out of the year. We live in AZ the other 5 months in a B&M house. Our legal residence is in SD where we pay low vehicle registration fees and no income taxes and support fewer illegal aliens. We maintain a mail box in SD and everything is handled by the mail forwarding company. We did go to SD to get driver's licenses. Saves us probably $2,500 a year. IF we lived in AZ for more than 6 months out of the year we would be committing fraud.
Pete	A Montana LLC is a safe and legal way to avoid sales taxes. You can erase any questions by storing your vehicle here when you're not on the road.
riggarob	Hey, come to NH. NO income, or sales tax. The other poster is right. MAINE is one of the BIGGEST tax rip-off states there is !! I could go on all day about the stupidity of the maine legistrators, and their continual milking of the people and visitors of Maine.
Tom	So what about South Dakota? Won't there be a similar issue evenutally with that State too? I've found three companies on line who do essentially the same thing as Hardin did in Oregon.
Windrunner	I have a PA drivers license with my sons address, but no longer live there as I have been travelling all over the West in Summer, and mostly in FL. in the winter. I am planning on buying a used motor home (Georgie Boy 27'Pursuit)in AZ. very soon and it will be my first. Since I have no fixed address and do not want one as I move around continuously,(true road warrior who goes with the sun and is financially secure) can someone give me some advice on registration and insurance possibilities for maximum benefits?
RVing4Life	California's confiscatory vehicle registration fees and taxes are legendary, but beyond belief in some cases. Last year I bought a car on Ebay in Kansas City and then drove it home to Los Angeles only to find that California charges their high sales tax on the transaction EVEN THOUGH it happened out of state! While I totally sympathize with the State of Oregon for going after these crooks, when states seek to raise revenues via insanely high taxes on big-ticket items like RV's, they're asking for people to try to "game the system" however they can.
David	There is a discussion on this subject going on on RoTi and we've linked this post to it. Be careful where you register, you could save money but might have long term problems. Particularly if you still own property in NH. And each state has its own emmision regulation. I think you should find out about NH first
The Kid	Wonderful community you have here. I am leaving NH in June on an opened ended journey, may turn into fulltiming. Now, my registration is due in November. Without having to sift through pages of posts, what do I do? I will be far from NH by then,,,,,,do I choose a new state to set up residency in? What is the most recomended state for this? What about emmissions? I have an older camper van. Maybe a crash course on this topic,,,,,,,or a link to a page on this topic. I would like to start a dialogue, you folks seem like a knowledgeable bunch!
Oregon Airstream Dealer	I am a Rv Airstream (and other brands) Dealer here in Eugene Oregon. Lots of people have tried to avoid paying taxes, but honesty is the best policy. There are ways people can get around this issue, legally, but I sure would be careful. We try to sell Rv's the old fashion way...all the facts on the table and nothing hidden. My dad always told me to tell the truth, that way I wouldn't have to remember what I said...ain't that the truth!
Fulltimerz	If I can add my 2 cents here...my husband and I are full time RVers for several years now. We looked at Oregon but after doing extensive research, became residents of South Dakota (an easy thing to do) by using a mail forwarding service and home base service and we paid only a 3% sales tax...a lot cheaper than what it was where we came from, almost 10%. We no longer pay the high taxes, state income taxes, personal property tax, no vehicle inspections, no wheel tax and our insurance is a lot lower. Of course, this only applies to people that are full timers like ourselves or people getting ready to be as this can be set up ahead of time. To do this if you're not is tax evasion, which governments take a dim view of.
Josephine	If you are traveling most of the time this works well as you can own a corporation in another state or property and attach to that entity. If you are primarily using it in one state and licensing in another state, you will have problems. But if you use the vehicle out of you primary state for the six months or better you will be okay.
Fultiming	This is a sticky one. My wife and I are fultime RVers and I have been looking into changing my home state for sometime now. In my case this change is driven by the need for better RV insurance options that are not available in my current (MA) home state. I We have already paid the 5% sales tax and for 6 years have been paying exise taxes as well. I think if you live in a state, where you actually own or rent, you should pay the fees your home state is charging. Don't like the fees, do something to change them....
Jerry	Oregon dealers and others have been doing this for years and I think the buyers should all be nailed for fraud. I bought my coach in Ohio and paid the high sales tax in WA but it was legal.
Rover1	If people's home states would charge a reasonable sales tax, say 2% on such large purchases, buyers would just pay and be less likely to try and go out of state. The states are just greedy and make it hard on motorhome owners.
Honest taxes paid	Prior to 2006 CA DMV & Sales Tax Laws allowed you to register your vehicle in CA but if you took delivery say in NV and then used it out of state for the first 90 to 180 days after delivery you would avoid the sales/use tax. But they have lengthened that time period to 12 months to somewhat close the loop hole.
Murphy	I was tempted to do the same in Montana. The people I was talking to that were selling their service wanted me to set up a corporation in Montana. I figure that there's a good chance you'll end up paying more in legal fees and penalties. Sooner or later someone is going to establish that you're just circumventing taxes and then you'll really get hit. I think you just have to bite the bullet and pay the taxes wherever you call home.
razorback	Don't think of registering any RVs' in Maine. They have an excise tax that is highway robbery. It is based on the Manufacturers recommended purchase price and NOT what you paid after trade in or whatever price you settled on. You do not get a rebate for your treade in. A campsite is going to be raised from 7% sales & lodging tax to 10% in order to get the out of staters. No slack or waivers for those of us that are residents. I am only one that camps more in NH & VT just to avoid a stupid tax.
bradnjan	It would be entirely likely that they go after RV owners. Motorhomes cannot be registered in OR by non-residents. Period. If you are a resident, you are subject to OR income tax, which is 9%. Not that hard for them to check names on registrations and then compare that to their income tax database. They don't find your name...all they have to do is check for a Federal tax return. If they find you or don't find you, it is no great leap to send you a letter asking you why you failed to file an OR tax return when you attested that you were a resident (on your registration form).... Anyone playing this game in OR is a disaster waiting to happen..
Bill Keene	I wonder if they're now investigating the out-of-state rv owners and if they'll charge them? I think it's better to be honest. I think you should register in your home state and get proper registration and insurance.
Stephie	Ouch! We came this close to using this "opportunity", I mean registering with a lawyer who will set us up so that we could "register" where we would not pay tax and fees. For eight years we have been paying hugely for tax and fees on our luxury motor homes, and each time it is time to renew we seriously think that we are being foolish. So many people use this service...Now, I will never entertain the thought again. If Oregon is really clamping down - count me out!

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