Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Topic: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch (Read 1019 times) previous topic - next topic

Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

May 03, 2012, 08:46:03 am

Time to renew inspection and registration. $353.50 for one year. This has really increased since last year.
Appears Texas is looking to tax anywhere they can. My only complaint is that other states are so low. Now I feel a
little better but my pocket book is still a little lighter. And they did not even say "Thank You". DAN

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #1 – May 03, 2012, 09:21:48 am

Texas does not have a state income tax. They gotta get revenue from somewhere else, right? In doing research about cost of living and where to retire, Texas still comes in as a very good place to retire.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #2 – May 03, 2012, 09:24:49 am

I have 10K in personal property tax every year but the tags are cheap. 6000 of which is for the coach. It cost more than my house. Texas is a great deal....

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #3 – May 03, 2012, 09:28:54 am

OK OK OK I do feel better now ---Thank You. DAN

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #4 – May 03, 2012, 09:52:38 am

Yes, Texas doesn't have an Income Tax and frankly, I sort of wish they did, as you can write that off of your Federal Taxes. Texas taxes every thing and they changed how they tax registration's now. I'm just waiting for that little piece of mail. Ours is due in August. yikes!

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #5 – May 03, 2012, 10:07:52 am

I'm not sure when it went up. I had a motorhome prior to 2008, and don't remember it being that much. I bought and licensed it last year and noted that the cost has gone up considerably. I at first thought they had made a mistake when they told me how much I had to pay. I will get to pay the 350 again real soon. I don't like the idea of a state income tax though. God Bless Texas!

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #6 – May 03, 2012, 10:30:28 am

No state tax or property tax in FL

Just a hefty 6.5% sales tax on every vehicle bought. Buy a $200K RV and pay $13K in sales tax. Tags & renewals are cheap too.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #7 – May 03, 2012, 10:41:22 am

Washington (the state, not the district) has no income tax and an 8% (approximately, it varies slightly from place to place) sales tax on everything but food and pharmaceuticals. Not too long ago we had a seriously regressive motor vehicle registration fee. As an example, my 5-year-old Harley motorcycle was over $600 a year for tags. In a state where riding a motorcycle 5 months a year would be a good year. I sold that and bought a glider which was much cheaper.

Faced with yearly registration fees amounting to $10k for some motor homes the tax paying public finally revolted and instituted a new - and much lower - system. Much to the chagrin of the state's politicians everywhere. In fact, the politicians have managed to water down that new system to some extent but they tread lightly now.

Every now and then they try to bring in an income tax but our state's constitution forbids it and getting that changed is a more formidable task than simply taking a voice vote in the legislature. They've tried to get us to vote one in but since they always just reduce the sales tax to around 2% no one trusts them. Perhaps a complete substitution of income over sales might work but I don't think it's occured to the politicians to try that.

So, at least for now, I think I pay less than $100 in license registration fees and no personal property tax at all.

Craig

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #8 – May 03, 2012, 10:41:57 am

Quote from: Steve & Kathy B – May 03, 2012, 10:30:28 am

No state tax or property tax in FL Just a hefty 6.5% sales tax on every vehicle bought. Buy a $200K RV and pay $13K in sales tax. Tags & renewals are cheap too.

Unfortunately, when we lived in Miami, FL the largest expenditures were property taxes then followed by property insurance...cars and home. The traffic was terrible and still is, but we still miss not being close to family & friends. That's worth more than anything.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #9 – May 03, 2012, 11:20:19 am

I had a discussion with the tax assessor about this yesterday. When I tiled my coach in Tx I had it weighed and it came in a little over 26K lbs full of fuel and some water. I'm going to have it reweighed, this time with dry tanks and superflous stuff removed. If it comes in under 26K the tags will drop to the 200.00 level. The assessor said if I provide them with a valid weight cert the title can be changed to reflect. We'll see.....

I think the state is looking at the number of people claiming Tx as a residence and sees a cash cow.

Chuck

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #10 – May 03, 2012, 11:30:54 am

Quote from: Chuck Pearson – May 03, 2012, 11:20:19 am

When I tiled my coach in Tx I had it weighed and it came in a little over 26K lbs full of fuel and some water. I'm going to have it reweighed, this time with dry tanks and superflous stuff removed. If it comes in under 26K the tags will drop to the 200.00 level. The assessor said if I provide them with a valid weight cert the title can be changed to reflect.

Chuck,

As I recall, when Pat and George Hatfield titled their coach in Texas, the tax assessor accepted a photo of the weight plate next to the driver's seat showing VIN and UVW.

Full-timing - establishing a domicile

Michelle

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #11 – May 03, 2012, 11:33:07 am

Quote from: drcscruggs – May 03, 2012, 10:07:52 am

I'm not sure when it went up.

Last August. registration fee

Michelle

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #12 – May 03, 2012, 12:07:21 pm

Steve and Cathy B-- the tax on anything we buy here in Canada (most Provinces) is 12% so on the $200k unit you mention here that would be $24k. Now that hurts!! plus we pay a lot more for fuel that includes 42% taxes.
John H

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #13 – May 03, 2012, 06:29:12 pm

South Dakota works very well for us as full timers.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #14 – May 03, 2012, 08:43:30 pm

AHHHH Whiners they are. Just remember the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Yup, South Dakota is probably the best state in the lower 48. 3% excise tax on any new or used vehicle one buys. No Income tax or Property tax if all you own in that state are vehicles with wheels. Even better than that is if you use a certain mail forwarding service located only in Sioux Falls, you are exempt from being called for Jury Duty. Cost to register a motorhome is on a sliding scale based on weight only.

Now I said LOWER 48. I personally think Alaska is by far the best state to be a "bona-fide" resident of. For each person in the household that is 65 or older, they get one exemption from paying registration fees for ONE vehicle of choice. ie. Husband and Wife each can claim one vehicle of choice...so one claims the motorhome and the other the toad. No income taxes. Drivers License & vehicle registration can all be taken care of via the internet/US Mail. Several other advantages to being a bona-fide resident in the State of Alaska...just ask anyone you see with an Alaskan license plate. Oh, one more thing...if you do have an Alaskan Drivers License, don't forget to show it everytime you go into any store in the State of Washington (maybe other states offer this bonus too), but you will not have to pay one cent in sales tax for anything you buy!

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #15 – May 03, 2012, 09:55:30 pm

so the 68 bucks i payed for mine in cali looks pretty good now

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #16 – May 04, 2012, 09:22:18 am

Quote from: Steve & Michelle – May 03, 2012, 11:30:54 am

Chuck,

As I recall, when Pat and George Hatfield titled their coach in Texas, the tax assessor accepted a photo of the weight plate next to the driver's seat showing VIN and UVW.

Full-timing - establishing a domicile

Michelle

Yes, and that opens up what I hope remains kind of a gray area. Those numbers on the data plate indicate gross weights. I am told that I can use actual coach weight for registration calculation. It seems somewhat akin to what you're faced with when registering a pickup truck....my truck can and has carried a 5K lb camper, pulled a 20K gooseneck trailer. It is, however, registered as an 8000 lb vehicle.

What Texas doesn't collect in personal property taxes (though they do collect that tax on anything they consider to be commercial such as a boat that sometimes runs charters), they make up in user fees, high sales tax rates, and outrageous property taxes. The money gotta come from somewhere and they're shakin every money tree they can find.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #17 – May 04, 2012, 10:25:11 am

Quote from: Chuck Pearson – May 04, 2012, 09:22:18 am

Those numbers on the data plate indicate gross weights. I am told that I can use actual coach weight for registration calculation.

Chuck, I used the photo below (which I took) for registration (without the VIN blurred, of course) back in late 2009.

As you can see, it includes not only the VIN plate showing the GVWR of 34,880, but also the adjacent weight information showing a UVW (unloaded/dry weight) of 28,614 (in the red circle).

I just looked at the title and the weight they listed was 29,000... clearly, they used the unloaded weight for registration purposes, not the GVWR.

FWIW... we titled the coach and Honda CRV in the Livingston office. Hopefully, the use of the UVW is a consistent practice.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #18 – May 04, 2012, 12:02:59 pm

Patricia, I have the data plate like yours, along with warning labels but not the sticker to the right which gives UVW. Wish I did, I looked under the dash and other likely spots but it doesn't seem to exist.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #19 – May 04, 2012, 12:48:44 pm

Quote from: Chuck Pearson – May 04, 2012, 12:02:59 pm

Patricia, I have the data plate like yours, along with warning labels but not the sticker to the right which gives UVW. Wish I did, I looked under the dash and other likely spots but it doesn't seem to exist.

Rats! Guess the only alternative is to off-load as much as possible, then weigh it. What a pain!

I don't know when the weight info stickers first appeared, but it sure was helpful. Even the spec sheet (brochure) for our 2003 doesn't have the UVW data, only GVW.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #20 – May 04, 2012, 01:19:16 pm

The 99 320 40ft I am currently occupying has a UVW placard reading of 29155 lbs. if that is any help. jc

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #21 – May 04, 2012, 07:28:59 pm

Call the factory with your Unit Number and I am sure they must have it for that unit.

Re: Cost of Texas Registration--ouch

Reply #22 – May 04, 2012, 08:47:23 pm

Quote from: Mike – May 03, 2012, 09:55:30 pm

so the 68 bucks i payed for mine in cali looks pretty good now

I guess! My 1999 U320 cost me $486 in CA registration fees last month.

best, paul

Affiliate Notice