Mailbox Services - Updates?

[graham59]

I have used ShippingCart (UK) also. A bit slow, despite being airmail, but the system worked, and delivered to my door here in the jungle. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

9 hours ago, JDDavao said:

They lost a bag of tea at the height of the Covid lockdown in California

I heard that Americans are famous for tossing tea into a harbor.  Perhaps have your tea shipped from Canada? 

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

On 7/3/2021 at 4:15 AM, HappyJack said:

Texas, no state income tax.  SMART!!!!!!!!! 

One of the disadvantages one reads about Texas is that it has one of the highest nominal property tax rates in the U.S.; however, once I did my due diligence and really dug into it, Texas offers some very generous property tax exemptions, especially for the school district portion, for those who own their homes once they turn age 65.

Because Texas has no state income and once one understands the way property taxes are actually applied, Texas goes to the top of the list of favorable states for retirees who own their own home and have enough of an income that they would be subject to state income taxes elsewhere.

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

On 7/1/2021 at 7:51 AM, OnMyWay said:

I looked at them and at first it seemed good, with one central facilty in Houston and a low base rate.  However, the internal scanning is too high!  $3 + .50 per page.  I get all my banking, tax and investment mail sent there and I need it opened and scanned.

Truth be told, the best way to get one's bank, investment, and tax documents is electronically from the issuer rather than as paper, no matter how it's delivered. Nowadays, way too much can go wrong with the physical delivery of paper documents.

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

On 7/1/2021 at 11:07 AM, HappyJack said:

 

Can you use the addresses these services provide to show residency? I would be interested in that to avoid state income taxes on Social Security once I start collecting.  There could be a big savings as Florida has no state income tax.  I would think changing all mail to a service in Florida along with my drivers license would be good enough to show residency.

There's a lot more to changing one's legal domicile and residence than just getting a "street address" at a mail forwarder and filing a "declaration of domicile" with the Clerk of the County Court in, for example, Florida.

For example, both Florida and Texas require at least some physical presence in the state, for some period of time, before one can be considered a "resident".

This becomes very important if one is trying to change legal domicile and/or legal residence for state tax purposes; the "tax hungry" states like California and New York go to great lengths to ensure that folks previously subject to taxes in their states are bona-fide residents of their new states and have cut all ties with them.

It's also important for things like bank and brokerage accounts because it's very easy for them to figure out if one's physical address belongs to a mail forwarder.

[Gator]

1 hour ago, Gentleman.Jack.Darby said:

There's a lot more to changing one's legal domicile and residence than just getting a "street address" at a mail forwarder and filing a "declaration of domicile" with the Clerk of the County Court in, for example, Florida.

For example, both Florida and Texas require at least some physical presence in the state, for some period of time, before one can be considered a "resident".

This becomes very important if one is trying to change legal domicile and/or legal residence for state tax purposes; the "tax hungry" states like California and New York go to great lengths to ensure that folks previously subject to taxes in their states are bona-fide residents of their new states and have cut all ties with them.

It's also important for things like bank and brokerage accounts because it's very easy for them to figure out if one's physical address belongs to a mail forwarder.

Not quite. When transferring your drivers license all the DMV in Florida requires is two pieces of mail to show residency. A cell phone bill, bank or credit card statement meets their requirements. The same with the Tax Collectors office, which is the agency that handles vehicle registrations (private and small commercial, not IRP for large commercial trucks). 
 

As a side note, if you’re planning to keep a vehicle registered and use the mail forwarding address, then check the rates for that address with your insurance company. The one I use is considered a rural area; so my insurance rates are significantly less then had I used an address in a city like Orlando, Miami or even Tallahassee. 
 

Banks are only really tough on residency requirements when opening a new account. Once you have one, they don’t care where the mail goes. 

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

13 hours ago, Gator said:

Not quite. When transferring your drivers license all the DMV in Florida requires is two pieces of mail to show residency. A cell phone bill, bank or credit card statement meets their requirements. The same with the Tax Collectors office, which is the agency that handles vehicle registrations (private and small commercial, not IRP for large commercial trucks). 
 

As a side note, if you’re planning to keep a vehicle registered and use the mail forwarding address, then check the rates for that address with your insurance company. The one I use is considered a rural area; so my insurance rates are significantly less then had I used an address in a city like Orlando, Miami or even Tallahassee. 
 

Banks are only really tough on residency requirements when opening a new account. Once you have one, they don’t care where the mail goes. 

For What It's Worth and Your Results Will Likely Vary:

I'm a CPA and not an attorney and I can say with certainty that financial institutions such as banks and brokerages and tax hungry states such as California and New York care very much about one's physical residence; that's why financial institutions make a clear distinction in their systems between one's physical address and one's mailing address.

As an example, one of the prime criterion for establishing residency, and in some states legal domicile, is voter registration. I've put in a link below to a web page of the Supervisor of Elections, Department of State of Florida in which the subject of physical residence and mail forwarders is addressed very clearly and very succinctly.

Item 3 and Footnote 5 make it very clear what status the State of Florida gives to mail forwarding services for voter registration and that's important because voter registration is a one of the major ways most people establish residency for other purposes:

https://soe.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/DE Guide 0003- Voter Residency Updated 06-2019 Final.pdf

The principles outlined in the items I noted above as applied to voter residency are generally applied in other areas of establishing residency as well. Physical presence in, and contact with, a state, usually for varying periods of time, are important criteria in making the distinction between who is a bona-fide resident and who is simply trying, for example, to avoid another state's income tax or some other state obligation.

The State of Florida makes clear that there is no specific languages in their statutes defining residency and that requirements for residency can vary depending upon a specific program, such as in-state college tuition.

However, I would never advise anyone to try and establish residency in a specific state solely for the purpose of state income tax avoidance and I would also point out that it's even worse idea to try to do it using only a mail forwarding service address without satisfying other criteria that generally establish bona-fide residency and legal domicile. 

 

[OnMyWay]

18 hours ago, Gentleman.Jack.Darby said:

One of the disadvantages one reads about Texas is that it has one of the highest nominal property tax rates in the U.S.; however, once I did my due diligence and really dug into it, Texas offers some very generous property tax exemptions, especially for the school district portion, for those who own their homes once they turn age 65.

Because Texas has no state income and once one understands the way property taxes are actually applied, Texas goes to the top of the list of favorable states for retirees who own their own home and have enough of an income that they would be subject to state income taxes elsewhere.

I may be moving to Texas and I am 65.  I recall reading about exemptions but I seem to remember the exemptions can vary by country.  Do you have any good links for more info?

[HappyJack]

2 hours ago, Gentleman.Jack.Darby said:

For What It's Worth and Your Results Will Likely Vary:

I'm a CPA and not an attorney and I can say with certainty that financial institutions such as banks and brokerages and tax hungry states such as California and New York care very much about one's physical residence; that's why financial institutions make a clear distinction in their systems between one's physical address and one's mailing address.

As an example, one of the prime criterion for establishing residency, and in some states legal domicile, is voter registration. I've put in a link below to a web page of the Supervisor of Elections, Department of State of Florida in which the subject of physical residence and mail forwarders is addressed very clearly and very succinctly.

Item 3 and Footnote 5 make it very clear what status the State of Florida gives to mail forwarding services for voter registration and that's important because voter registration is a one of the major ways most people establish residency for other purposes:

https://soe.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/DE Guide 0003- Voter Residency Updated 06-2019 Final.pdf

The principles outlined in the items I noted above as applied to voter residency are generally applied in other areas of establishing residency as well. Physical presence in, and contact with, a state, usually for varying periods of time, are important criteria in making the distinction between who is a bona-fide resident and who is simply trying, for example, to avoid another state's income tax or some other state obligation.

The State of Florida makes clear that there is no specific languages in their statutes defining residency and that requirements for residency can vary depending upon a specific program, such as in-state college tuition.

However, I would never advise anyone to try and establish residency in a specific state solely for the purpose of state income tax avoidance and I would also point out that it's even worse idea to try to do it using only a mail forwarding service address without satisfying other criteria that generally establish bona-fide residency and legal domicile. 

 

Interesting stuff, thanks.  I have been living in the Philippines full time for 10 years using my sisters house in NY to get mail.  The house is sold and she is moving out of state so I guess I am "moving" too.  I will most likely end up with a Florida or N. Carolina address and drivers license.    Will I be considered a resident of my new address if I am living in the Philippines?  Can NY still  consider me a resident and try to collect taxes from me if I have no address and don't really reside there?  All interesting questions that I guess need to be answered.

[OnMyWay]

50 minutes ago, HappyJack said:

Can NY still  consider me a resident and try to collect taxes from me if I have no address and don't really reside there?

Have you been paying state taxes in NY?

I have heard that NY is bad like CA.  I used my sister's address in CA for all my banking, etc., until two years ago.  Every year I would get a letter from them saying that I owed CA taxes from 2 years prior.  Then I would write them a letter saying I lived in the Philippines, and they would go away until the next year.

Now I switched to a mailbox service in Orlando and no more worries.  I already had ties to FL because I lived there 03-06 and owned a rental house there until 2020.  Also, Broward County kept my voter registration alive for all those years, and I voted absentee there in 2020.