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Florida vs Texas for tax benefits

incubus852

Member
pilot
Everyone is always saying how you should take advantage of the no state income tax for military personnel in florida and texas. I just moved to florida and just bought my car and it will take a while for the DMV to ship my plates, so I may be leaving Florida before I get them. Let's assume Texas is my next stop... Is there any real benefit or difference between having Florida or Texas as your state of residence for tax purposes? Thanks guys.
 

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Another question, can I declare FL residency the day I get commissioned even if I might not report to Pcola much later? I'm currently a MD resident now and I would love not to pay that income tax on anything I make once I commission in May.
 

IrishNavy05

Registered User
pilot
Contributor
Another question, can I declare FL residency the day I get commissioned even if I might not report to Pcola much later? I'm currently a MD resident now and I would love not to pay that income tax on anything I make once I commission in May.


Generally you have to live in the state before you declare residency. That being said, many people before you have come down, stayed in a hotel for the night, and gone to the Courthouse with a military ID in hand and declared residency. I'm not saying I recommend doing this, as I'm sure it could be deemed fraud, but people have done it before and I just wanted to warn you that some people are going to say "go for it, it's no big deal". You also need an address to write on the declaration of domicile.

Bottom line, I wouldn't worry too much about saving a few hundred dollars - you'll more than make up for it in 10+ years of not paying income tax during your time in the military.
 

Bevo16

Registered User
pilot
Stop by a post office and rent a box. Then you can use that address as your residence for the state to ship you plates to, and you can claim Florida as your residence and never pay MD taxes.

There is no real difference between Florida and Texas IRT state taxes. You will not pay any either way. I would definately reccomend Corpus for primary, but that is a pretty biased opinion.
 

FLYTPAY

Pro-Rec Fighter Pilot
pilot
None
Bottom line, I wouldn't worry too much about saving a few hundred dollars - you'll more than make up for it in 10+ years of not paying income tax during your time in the military.
Or collecting 10+ years of per diem...zinger! whoah! Declare Florida as your residence. There are numerous ways to establish residency ranging anywhere from having a connection to the place, intent, actually there, etc. I rec FL. Another nice thing about Florida is the exemption from sales and useage tax on vehicle purchases outside FL, when you are not living in FL, and you register and title in FL. FL you can't go wrong.
 

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I'm going to be a SNFO so I'll be in Pcola for awhile so I figured FL would probably be much easier than TX.
 

a_m

Still learning how much I don't know.
None
What would be necessary to keep FL residency when one moves away? Would having a post office box that nothing ever gets mailed to be all that is needed?
 

HH-60H

Manager
pilot
Contributor
What would be necessary to keep FL residency when one moves away? Would having a post office box that nothing ever gets mailed to be all that is needed?
Assuming you are still in the military, nothing is required. Florida will even put your out of state address on your car registration and mail it to you.
 

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
pilot
None
Contributor
Another nice thing about Florida is the exemption from sales and useage tax on vehicle purchases outside FL, when you are not living in FL, and you register and title in FL. FL you can't go wrong.

Most, if not all, states don't make you pay sales tax on a car purchased out of state when you register it in the state. You just have to show you paid taxes in the state you bought it in. I'm gonna assume that you paid sales tax on the cars you bought in whatever state it was?
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
Here is how I will save money on my next truck.

Parents live in NH. No sales tax. None.
I am a FL Resident, that will probably be living in VA.
I buy truck and save 2-4K by driving to NH, which I would have done anyways to visit.
 

incubus852

Member
pilot
Most, if not all, states don't make you pay sales tax on a car purchased out of state when you register it in the state. You just have to show you paid taxes in the state you bought it in. I'm gonna assume that you paid sales tax on the cars you bought in whatever state it was?

when you register the car you have to pay either the registration state's sales tax rate or the state in which you bought the car. so for me, i bought a car in california (sales tax 8.25%) and want to register it in FL (6%). I had to pay CA sales tax at the time of the sale and since it is more than FL's don't have to pay any addition fees to Florida. follow?

i want to try and get it registered in florida. but like i said, the california DMV is slow at mailing the title out (which you need to register obv), so I might not get it until after I leave florida to go to corpus (assuming i'm going there). thus the original question...does it matter one state or the other.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
If you've had the car for less than 6 months when you register in FL, you have to pay the diff between sales tax where you bought it and FL tax (6%, as mentioned). If it's been more than 6 months, you don't have to pay the diff. Military or not doesn't matter.

However, if you're a FL resident and active duty, you can move wherever you like and keep the plates, license, etc. They'll put out-of-state address on your license. I think most states will do this for military nowadays.

The easiest way to establish residence in FL is to register to vote. I don't believe there's any minimum time before you can register; you just have to have some sort of local address, and I think a PO Box will suffice. The Escambia County Courthouse is downtown.

To answer the original question, no, I don't think there's any particular advantage to FL vs TX residence, taxes or cars or anything. As you'll no doubt gather from the responses, plenty of sailors change their residence to FL. I've never talked to anyone in the military who was a TX resident and changed to FL...then again, that might just be a pride thing. :D
 

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
pilot
None
Contributor
when you register the car you have to pay either the registration state's sales tax rate or the state in which you bought the car. so for me, i bought a car in california (sales tax 8.25%) and want to register it in FL (6%). I had to pay CA sales tax at the time of the sale and since it is more than FL's don't have to pay any addition fees to Florida. follow?

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. My specific example is I bought a car in Maryland, paid tax up there, then registered it in Tennessee. Tennessee has a ridiculous tax rate, like 9.25%, which is more than Maryland. I didn't have to pay taxes on it when I registered it in Tennessee. Saved several hundred bucks.
 

Tom

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
I recency changed my residency to Florida. Once I got an apartment I brought in my driver's license, passport (not military ID, won't work), registration, title and proof of insurance. 130 bucks later I walked away with my Florida driver's license, plates and no state income tax. Later I went to PSD and filled out a simple form declaring Florida as my state of residency. Not that difficult of a task but it can save a lot of money for an hour or two of time.
 
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