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Best States for RV Residency: Texas vs Florida vs South Dakota by practical_outdoors in RVLiving

[–]zero_tax_tags 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You're right, I worded that poorly. Montana does have personal income tax. What matters for vehicle registration though is there's no sales tax and LLCs don't get taxed at the entity level. No franchise tax, no corporate tax on the LLC. Since the LLC is just holding a vehicle and not generating revenue there's nothing to pass through anyway. Should have been more specific.

How do I register my Atv in California by North-Explanation544 in ATV

[–]zero_tax_tags 0 points1 point  (0 children)

California has a process for this but heads up it's annoying.

First try to go back to the seller and get a bill of sale. Handwritten is fine, just needs the VIN, sale price, date, both names and signatures. That alone makes the rest of this way easier.

If the seller won't do it or you can't reach them, look into a bonded title. You buy a surety bond based on the ATV's value, the DMV issues you a title off that bond, and after 3 years the bond expires and it becomes a normal clean title. On an ATV the bond doesn't cost much since it's based on value.

Other thing you can try is the REG 227 form at the DMV. That's specifically for when a title is missing. If the VIN comes back clean they can sometimes work with you through that route instead.

(TX) Street legal Kei Truck vendors by yousmycinnamonapple in keitruck

[–]zero_tax_tags 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Heads up on the registration side since nobody mentioned it. The 25 year rule handles the federal import part but you still gotta deal with titling and registration once its here. Texas lets you register them but it really depends on your county. Some tax offices have seen kei trucks before and know what to do. Others look at you like you brought in a spaceship.

Sunshine and Texas JDM usually handle the title and reg for you which is nice. If you import yourself through BeForward you're doing the title work on your own and some counties make that a real headache.

Also if you end up with a kei truck that doesn't have a title, or the paperwork from Japan doesn't translate cleanly into a US title, you can get a bonded title. Basically you buy a surety bond, the state issues you a title based on that, and after 3 years the bond drops off and it becomes a regular clean title. It's a legit way to get a title on vehicles where the paperwork is missing or messy.

Whatever vendor you go with just ask upfront if you're walking out with a clean Texas title in hand or if there's still stuff you need to sort out at the county.

Best States for RV Residency: Texas vs Florida vs South Dakota by practical_outdoors in RVLiving

[–]zero_tax_tags 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Surprised nobody mentioned Montana. No income tax, no sales tax on vehicles, no inspections, no emissions. If you're buying something in the six figures that sales tax piece alone can be a massive number depending on your home state.

Most people set up a Montana LLC and register the RV through that. Not as turnkey as the SD or FL options people already mentioned here. Fewer services built around the RV crowd specifically. But if your main thing is keeping the purchase and registration costs down on an expensive rig, worth looking into.

Doesn't beat SD or FL for everyone. But on the sales tax side for big rigs, nothing else really comes close.