Considering an LLC, looking for experiences

[Donna_Jean]

Hi we just purchased a used 40'Fleetwood Revolution from NC where it is now in storage. We live in MI and plan on bringing it home in late April, then we will be hitting the road full time in June. The big question is where to title and register it. Besides the taxes MI has a pretty high registration feel, over $1,000 since we will not be using it or living in MI we don't really want to register it there. We have been looking into obtaining a Montana LLC which almost sounds to good to be true, besides no sales tax and after paying the LLC company their fees of about $1,000.00 we can get a permanent MT plate for $275.00. The company we are thinking of using is Montana Corporate. I would love to hear from anyone that has done this and any pro or cons you know of. Thanks for your help

https://www.montanacorporate.com/formllcfaq.asp?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_MCfxtrI6QIVTvDACh3O2ACMEAEYASACEgIsRPD_BwE

[dedmiston]

Donna Jean wrote:
Thank's everyone for your responses but i am good for now 🙂

This sounds like a good ending point.

Good luck to you.

[ferndaleflyer]

+ you are hearing from people that don't know what they are talking about. I mentioned above that I never transferred my vehicles from MD to NC when I moved 15 years ago and still maintain MD as my primary residence (I own homes in 3 states). Simple fact was it was going to cost me $10,000+ then I would have to pay personal property tax and vehicle inspection forever. Tax loop holes are not limited to the rich, you to can take advantage of them. I pay enough taxes!

[Donna_Jean]

time2roll wrote:
Unless you are going full time two+ years I would not bother with the LLC.
Have you not registered the RV or paid sales tax yet? This whole thing works better if you buy in a no sales tax state such as MT.
Have you figured out your insurance?

I don't think you are going to save much after all the headache.

I am pretty sure we nixed the LLC idea. You can't title/buy the RV in a state you can not prove residence in and MT is not that easy you have to live there for a certain amount of time. Our best route will be to set up residency in SD 4% sales tax and no state income tax and they are friendly to RVers. Then when we come off the road and move to TN register it there.

Thank's everyone for your responses but i am good for now 🙂

[Donna_Jean]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Donna Jean wrote:

way2roll wrote:
If you know you will set up domicile in TN after your FT adventures and you have family there now, what are you looking to get out of the MT LLC? Is it to lower your tax liability?

Sales tax in TN is about 8.5% That's a lot to pay a state that you might not live in for a good year

You DO realize that you ONLY pay that "sales tax" ONCE? Right?

Same with your CURRENT STATE.

Instead of wading through all of that legal jungle with LLC, just register in your CURRENT STATE and just pay the blasted taxes you owe to your CURRENT STATE.

Treat it as if you have no plans to move, when you do move, you simply transfer tags to your new state, you will not need to pay sales taxes on it again. You might, depending on the state or local city/town have to pay a "property tax" depending on age but you are not going to evade that for the rest of your life even with a LLC, eventually it will cost more down the road.

Most states make that title/tags transfer a fairly easy process.

In the end it will be most likely cheaper than setting up and maintaining a LLC.

Besides, most states to counteract the out of state LLC loophole will require some proof that your "residency" or place of living is not in in that state.. Often will be limits on just how long you can be in your current state of MI without the need to transfer title to your current state.. Get caught (pulled over or turned in by a jealous neighbor) and you could potentially face fines..

I don't understand this whole thing of tax evasion, if everyone evaded taxes then the gov would not have money to dole out to maintain roads, infrastructure, ect..

It's so hard to answer on a thread when it obvious half of my posts have not been read. You may have missed it but within a month of bringing the RV home to MI we will NO longer be living there or anywhere for that matter so I am not afraid of nosey neighbors. NOT all states are friendly when transferring a plate from another state some have high fees and or taxes, check out IN and GA for example. We have paid high taxes in MI but it is never enough our roads are one of the worst in the country yet are gas tax is one of the highest. We plan on traveling allot so I assume we will be paying plenty of taxes in the states we travel in. But I will say MI is not getting one penny of of the sales tax from the RV

[time2roll]

Unless you are going full time two+ years I would not bother with the LLC.
Have you not registered the RV or paid sales tax yet? This whole thing works better if you buy in a no sales tax state such as MT.
Have you figured out your insurance?

I don't think you are going to save much after all the headache.

[Gdetrailer]

Donna Jean wrote:

way2roll wrote:
If you know you will set up domicile in TN after your FT adventures and you have family there now, what are you looking to get out of the MT LLC? Is it to lower your tax liability?

Sales tax in TN is about 8.5% That's a lot to pay a state that you might not live in for a good year

You DO realize that you ONLY pay that "sales tax" ONCE? Right?

Same with your CURRENT STATE.

Instead of wading through all of that legal jungle with LLC, just register in your CURRENT STATE and just pay the blasted taxes you owe to your CURRENT STATE.

Treat it as if you have no plans to move, when you do move, you simply transfer tags to your new state, you will not need to pay sales taxes on it again. You might, depending on the state or local city/town have to pay a "property tax" depending on age but you are not going to evade that for the rest of your life even with a LLC, eventually it will cost more down the road.

Most states make that title/tags transfer a fairly easy process.

In the end it will be most likely cheaper than setting up and maintaining a LLC.

Besides, most states to counteract the out of state LLC loophole will require some proof that your "residency" or place of living is not in in that state.. Often will be limits on just how long you can be in your current state of MI without the need to transfer title to your current state.. Get caught (pulled over or turned in by a jealous neighbor) and you could potentially face fines..

I don't understand this whole thing of tax evasion, if everyone evaded taxes then the gov would not have money to dole out to maintain roads, infrastructure, ect..

[Donna_Jean]

wanderingaimlessly wrote:
x2 on South Dakota, dont even have to come back but once every 5 years for DL renewals, no vehicle inspections or personal property taxes.
If you haven't researched them yet the mail forwarding service Dakota Post has a lot of information on their website.
We changed everything out back in August, and are about to register the new (sorta) Winnie there using their services.
It helps having a representative in the state.

After a lot of reading and searching i think the best option will be the SD one, I spoke to the Dakota Post people, very nice and helpful. Good chance we might uses them. Thank you so much for your suggestions. Donna

[Donna_Jean]

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

pitch wrote:
How about you being honest upright citizen and PAY YOUR FRIGGEN TAXES!!!!

He is just shopping for the state that will cost the least, nothing wrong with that. Do you buy from the highest price store in town? Because of taxes I buy my fuel in the state next door because my state priced themselves out of my business.

You are almost right. The OP is asking about a MT LLC which are notorious for being a loophole to avoid the normal tax burden. This is beyond just looking for a state with lower taxes.

You are exactly right we are looking for the least expensive legal option. We will not be living in MI when we start using the RV, and God knows how much they have made off us in the last 20 years so why hand them 6% in sales tax and over $1,000.00 to get a plate. We will also not be living in TN for probably a year so why pay them 8.5% to buy a used motor home.

[dedmiston]

way2roll wrote:
To the OP, while it's perfectly fine to ask for advice here on a forum, it's always best to consult certified professionals that do this sort of thing for a living. I'd read an article a few years ago that there was a crackdown on MT LLC's and some of the leads had come from the state monitoring forums just like this one.

I couldn't agree more.

While you're likely to get some interesting input here, seeking tax and legal advice on an RV forum seems pretty risky to me. I recommend you consult licensed and experienced professionals.

It's an interesting first post though. Usually we help new members find the black tank dump handles first, and then move on to issues like solar or wifi boosters.

[Donna_Jean]

way2roll wrote:
If you know you will set up domicile in TN after your FT adventures and you have family there now, what are you looking to get out of the MT LLC? Is it to lower your tax liability?

Sales tax in TN is about 8.5% That's a lot to pay a state that you might not live in for a good year

[PA12DRVR]

Routine questions to investigate by looking at Montana law:
- Must a Montana LLC be "owned by" (have Members who are) residents of Montana?
- If so, what are the requirements to establish residency?
- Are annual meetings required? If so, do they need to be physically held in Montana?
- Must the LLC have a registered agent?
- Must the LLC conduct business in Montana? Is a business license required?
- Must the LLC file an annual tax return? Annual report?
- Can there be single-member LLC's?

Don't know the answers to the above for Montana, but these questions typically come up when setting up LLC's in other jx. I'd have concern about ownership / residency issues and how to comply with any requirements for that.
FWIW, this forum probably isn't the most effective place to get accurate and applicable advice about legally establishing and using a Montana LLC.

[way2roll]

Lynnmor wrote:

pitch wrote:
How about you being honest upright citizen and PAY YOUR FRIGGEN TAXES!!!!

He is just shopping for the state that will cost the least, nothing wrong with that. Do you buy from the highest price store in town? Because of taxes I buy my fuel in the state next door because my state priced themselves out of my business.

You are almost right. The OP is asking about a MT LLC which are notorious for being a loophole to avoid the normal tax burden. This is beyond just looking for a state with lower taxes.

[Lynnmor]

pitch wrote:
How about you being honest upright citizen and PAY YOUR FRIGGEN TAXES!!!!

He is just shopping for the state that will cost the least, nothing wrong with that. Do you buy from the highest price store in town? Because of taxes I buy my fuel in the state next door because my state priced themselves out of my business.

[way2roll]

pitch wrote:
How about you being honest upright citizen and PAY YOUR FRIGGEN TAXES!!!!

While I personally don't agree with MT LLC's and the like, there is nothing legally wrong with them provided they are set up properly and follow the law. There are lots of totally legal advantages to lessen one's tax burdens that people leverage every day. Don't confuse moral or ethical opinions from legal facts.

To the OP, while it's perfectly fine to ask for advice here on a forum, it's always best to consult certified professionals that do this sort of thing for a living. I'd read an article a few years ago that there was a crackdown on MT LLC's and some of the leads had come from the state monitoring forums just like this one.

My biggest personal complaint is in the obvious questions, why is an individual consumer starting an LLC to own an RV with no real business? An LLC is a limited liability company. Is the RV used for actual company purposes? Is there a legitimate business? These questions are rhetorical of course. The reason is that it's a shell company set up for the sole purpose of limiting one's tax liability. It's a loophole, and while possibly legal if set up right, the ethical side of this is that you evade your tax burden.