South Dakota residency and car reg.

[BryansRose]

I'm currently still a "resident" of Illinois, living in Mexico permanently. I'd like to reduce my costs and hassles with Illinois taxes and car registration.

I'd appreciate any input about experiences with South Dakota mail services used as a residency, and experience with South dakota car registration. It's my understanding at this point that there is no S.Dak. income tax, and no vehicle safety inspections, emissions inspections, or insurance proof requirements to get license plates there.

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

[sailorsloopy]

I need to look into that, also. I believe a lot of folks are doing that. In fact, in an issue last year or year before, of The Gringo Gazette, a newspaper in English for those in Baja Calif. South, there was a story of a fellow in Cabo San Lucas who now provides that service (registering your car for you in SD). You don't need residency there, either.
Guess we can either Goole it or request a copy of the DMV Book from SD?

sailorsloopy

[sparks]

The registration that expats use is only done thru Clay county SD. Don't know anything about taxes or residency

[RVGRINGO]

Caution: Please do not contact South Dakota DMV online or otherwise. Only the Treasurer's Office, Clay County, SD, will provide this service and you'll have to contact them directly, by phone. They'll give you instructions for your vehicle. You must have a US address and Social Security number, as well as a MasterCard.

[m55vette]

Originally Posted by RVGRINGO

Caution: Please do not contact South Dakota DMV online or otherwise. Only the Treasurer's Office, Clay County, SD, will provide this service and you'll have to contact them directly, by phone. They'll give you instructions for your vehicle. You must have a US address and Social Security number, as well as a MasterCard.

Must be a sweet income source for them!

[Hound Dog]

Originally Posted by m55vette

Must be a sweet income source for them!

Corruption is corruption whether in corrupt Clay County, SD USA or corrupt Tapachula, Chiapas Mexico. Maybe those South Dakota plates would be a good way to transport illegal drugs to the states. Until responsible citizens stand up to these abuses of civility, they must accept abuses committed against them personally.

Hypocrites.

[conklinwh]

Let's not jump on the corruption bandwagon yet. I don't think that this constitutes a legal SD residency but rather allows you to register a car there with another address that you must establish. This is a real service to people that no longer have a US residence but can't import car into Mexico. It's the legal residence that carries tax implication.
Does anyone know if possible to use a Texas mail drop address with SD registration.

[elchante]

Conklinwh: You can use a Texas mail drop address, but you also have to provide a physical address in the US. If, for some reason, you do not have a physical address in the US that you can use, Clay County requires a notarized statement explaining why. This is, I believe, a fairly new development. A couple of weeks ago a friend sent off her paperwork and just received a letter asking for the notarized statement about having no physical address in the US.

[conklinwh]

If have to have a physical address in the US which then establishes a tax base, then I'm not quite sure of the value other than not requiring inspections.

[conklinwh]

Point not addressed from base note is insurance. My understanding is that US plated cars require US insurance before a Mexican policy can be issued. Other option I guess is no insurance at all.