RV Registration by State - Which one is cheapest?

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

You need to look into registering in South Dakota. Go online and look at what they offer. You can become a resident in 24 hrs, change over your driver's license and vehicle registrations. Just type in how to become a South Dakota Resident. If you do go forward with the driver's license, you need to spend one night every 5 years to renew it. There are companies that will help you with the process and supply you with an address for mail services.

My snow-bird neighbor was a resident of South Dakota (until he moved to Wyoming) and used to tell me how inexpensive it was to register an RV in that state, but I was never sure exactly how the insurance worked, nor if living in Arizona with a vehicle registered in South Dakota was entirely legal as far as Arizona was concerned, In the end I just kept my RV registered here.

That does not mean that I have not thought from time to time about changing that. Pretty much every year when I have to renew my registration and fork over all that money to Arizona ($1800+ for this year) I wonder if the process is really seamless as far as Arizona is concerned. Surely they don't want to be losing all of that money, and surely they don't consider it to be entirely legal. Or is it one of those things that the state does not like, but can not do anything about?

[IDguy]

Originally Posted by ador

We live in Nevada. Yesterday, we registered our 2021 THOR ACE. State of NV is basing the registration on MSRP. And the registration is ANNUAL. Our total cost for 1 year is a whopping $2,650. We did got around $300 credit from our previous registration on the RV we traded. So we paid $2,350. Every year, the registration cost will go down, but not by much.

For example, when we got our 2015 Class C (MSRP $98K), our initial registration I remembered was around $1,580. Last year we paid $980 (after 5 years of ownership).

So, I would think in 5 year time, our registration will still be around 2K/year. In theory, I will be paying around 20K in registration fees in 10 years.

I remembered reading that there are some states that RV registration is every 2 or 3 years? Can we purchase a small property (piece of land) and register our RV in one of those states?


P.S. I am not asking for a loophole advise. Just want to know if there is a legitimate/legal way to purchase an out of state property, and register our RV in that State. NV is my home state where we live and work.

Travel north. That machine would be about $400 per year in Idaho. But to register in Idaho you’d first have to pay the sales tax...probably about $6,000.

[atreis]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

He's already left. Nobody said anything about Tesla leaving (yet, Elon has threatened to move the company out of state).

Ahh, you meant Musk the person, as opposed to Musk's companies. Okay.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by AJMike

My snow-bird neighbor was a resident of South Dakota (until he moved to Wyoming) and used to tell me how inexpensive it was to register an RV in that state, but I was never sure exactly how the insurance worked, nor if living in Arizona with a vehicle registered in South Dakota was entirely legal as far as Arizona was concerned, In the end I just kept my RV registered here.

That does not mean that I have not thought from time to time about changing that. Pretty much every year when I have to renew my registration and fork over all that money to Arizona ($1800+ for this year) I wonder if the process is really seamless as far as Arizona is concerned. Surely they don't want to be losing all of that money, and surely they don't consider it to be entirely legal. Or is it one of those things that the state does not like, but can not do anything about?

Having lived in Arizona before moving back to Washington state they don’t care. But in my case Washington state cares. If you bought the vehicle as a private party and didn’t have to pay sales tax, Washington state will make you pay sales tax here when you license it. If you paid sales tax in Arizona then Washington won’t charge you. I am not sure if it’s an agreement where since you are no longer a resident of Arizona so you lose that benefit so Washington is collecting and splitting it with Arizona or if Washington state is just screwing us. That would be something to check though. I guess though if you had to pay 1800 a year for tabs in Arizona if you can lower your tabs to a few hundred dollars you would break even pretty quick even if you had to pay sales tax if you registered it in another state.

[MaceMan]

I have a 2018 ACE and I paid $134.50 for my yearly registration in Smith county, Texas. I don't know what you have to do to claim residency here.

[marine6805]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

All of that said...
If you are active Military you fall into a different category.
I live by a marine base. There are lots and lots of out of state plates from active military in and around my town.
Military gets a special exception vs civilians.

The military falls under the "Tri-State-Clause" designed strictly for military life scenarios.
It intimates that the "military member" may have his/her vehicle registered in one state, drivers license in another state, and home of record in yet another state, but each case "must" be clearly defined.
That clause actually debunks (at least for military members) what many in this thread are suggesting.

USMC Retired 22y3m23d active and retired now for 30y2m20d

[GaTripster]

Wow! 😲 GA has a one time ad valorem tax based on the value of the vehicle. We bought a 2014 Freedom Elite 28H in 2/2019 with 13k miles on it. Our registration last year was $1628. This year, renewal was $20 and will be $20/year from here on out unless they raise it. This is also the case with cars and trucks and motorcycles.

[marine6805]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Having lived in Arizona before moving back to Washington state they don’t care. But in my case Washington state cares. If you bought the vehicle as a private party and didn’t have to pay sales tax, Washington state will make you pay sales tax here when you license it. If you paid sales tax in Arizona then Washington won’t charge you. I am not sure if it’s an agreement where since you are no longer a resident of Arizona so you lose that benefit so Washington is collecting and splitting it with Arizona or if Washington state is just screwing us. That would be something to check though. I guess though if you had to pay 1800 a year for tabs in Arizona if you can lower your tabs to a few hundred dollars you would break even pretty quick even if you had to pay sales tax if you registered it in another state.

Washington State ensures that the vehicle has had the taxes paid at the Washington State rate. If you only paid 4% in Arizona (and it is documented) then that 4% is substracted form the Washington State rate (mine is 8.3% in Whatcom County WA) and the registering party pays the difference . . . .it is usually based on current market value and Washington State is not real kind to "legitimate market value"!

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by marine6805

The military falls under the "Tri-State-Clause" designed strictly for military life scenarios.
It intimates that the "military member" may have his/her vehicle registered in one state, drivers license in another state, and home of record in yet another state, but each case "must" be clearly defined.
That clause actually debunks (at least for military members) what many in this thread are suggesting.

USMC Retired 22y3m23d active and retired now for 30y2m20d

Thanks.
It was such a narrow niche, I just didn't bother to give the correct answer.

Thanks for the facts.



I'm pretty sure an active duty military person with the wherewithal to have a MotorHome worthy of speculating about license fees knows the correct rules.

Changing home of record not a flippant thing to do.

[CampTap]

But you have to factor in sales tax as well when looking at this like in Cali we pay 10% sales tax when we purchase then my registration is based on GVRW and purchase price so at 150,000 for my 34j I paid 15,000 in sales tax as well as 1200 registration each year for registration then there is the "luxury" tax they throw on my property tax every year because my rv and boat. Thats another 1000 a year. So while my registration is "cheaper" in reality it is more they just hide it in other fees.

[Lt Keefer]

Texas isn't that bad. I paid 6.5% sales tax at the time of sale and then I pay $3.00 a year for DV plates. The annual safety inspection is around $7.50 and no income tax to boot.

[Scubawise]

Montana my friends..we paid only $300 at the dealer, no MH TAX, and $370 to register! Move here

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Lt Keefer

Texas isn't that bad. I paid 6.5% sales tax at the time of sale and then I pay $3.00 a year for DV plates. The annual safety inspection is around $7.50 and no income tax to boot.

Question: How hot does it get around Midland, TX in the Summer?

[Msdpok]

Wow even New York uses Vaseline, the initial cost on our 2018 which included sales tax was $5500. After that it’s less than $200.

[Pete'sMH]

Thread is about registration cost. But I didn’t see anyone mention personal property taxes. I live in Indiana and it used to be that registration was cheap but property tax could be in the thousands. People fussed about it so they stopped charging property taxes but then added a similarly sized excise tax on registration. They get your money one way or the other.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Virginia is one of those states where the tags are cheap but the Personal Property Tax every year can be a nightmare. There are a couple of counties (at least one) that does not assess the Personal Property Tax on RVs and boats that are garaged or stored there.

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

Virginia used to (I don't know about now) only charge 2% sales tax on vehicle purchases instead of the normal 4 or 5% sales tax on everything else. But they sure got it back on the annual PPT, plus they gotcha with income tax if you're a working stiff.

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

Thread is about registration cost. But I didn’t see anyone mention personal property taxes. I live in Indiana and it used to be that registration was cheap but property tax could be in the thousands. People fussed about it so they stopped charging property taxes but then added a similarly sized excise tax on registration. They get your money one way or the other.

Really?

[Lt Keefer]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Question: How hot does it get around Midland, TX in the Summer?

The summers in Midland aren't too bad. It probably tops out around 100 on a regular day in late April, early May. But it's a dry heat.

[Msdpok]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

Thread is about registration cost. But I didn’t see anyone mention personal property taxes. I live in Indiana and it used to be that registration was cheap but property tax could be in the thousands. People fussed about it so they stopped charging property taxes but then added a similarly sized excise tax on registration. They get your money one way or the other.

Pete, correct here in NY like I said even though we purchased in RI when we registered we had to pay Sales tax plus registration plus $20.00 per year excise tax. But that’s a one time hit! Except for registration and $40 excise tax every two years. We don’t pay propert tax every year.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Lt Keefer

The summers in Midland aren't too bad. It probably tops out around 100 on a regular day in late April, early May. But it's a dry heat.

Thanks: Texas is back on our list.

[Hardroad]

In Georgia, you pay the initial Sales tax which is also the 'Value Added Tax' and then every year, you pay a small premium. We have a 2016 Sightseer and after paying sales tax, pay $70 a year for the tag. - not bad.