Establishing Florida Residency
 

I'm looking for information on best method of establishing Florida residency while not having a permanent FL address yet. I have sold my home in Minnesota and will be building in the Eastport area when I finally procure the lot I am interested in. I am lining up a rental unit from June 15th thru the end of December. I'd like to get my FL drivers license and auto license plate switched to FL as soon as I get to FL in June. Any tips on how best to do that would be much appreciated.
I can't leave MN fast enough. Even though I will be out of the state for more than 6 months, my accountant is telling me they will prorate my taxes for 2024 so I want residency in FL ASAP.

You can get everything done at the DMV office at 7375 Powell Road in Wildwood. You will need to get a Florida car title and have Florida auto insurance.

Only matters to the state you are leaving. Selling your hosue is one thing they look at.

Where are your family photos? Do you have any other nexus to MIN?
They will use cell phone records.
If you and your stuff is really in FLA, you are fine.

I saw something that said you have to be out of Minnesota for 183 days to not be a Minnesota resident. June 15 is outside of that window? Isn't it? You'll need to find another 2 or 3 weeks outside of Minnesota to qualify for 2024. If you've been here looking for your house & lot, keep track of those days. Or I think if you've taken an out of Minnesota vacation for two weeks before June that would count too.

One thing you want to legally change as quick as possible is the residency of your money.
Delay any lump sum distributions and change your state of residency ASAP of pension money. Don't let the old state collect income tax on payments. See an attorney now and not later.

I did this last week. When i wanted to know the process simply googled how to establish FL residency, change vehicle title and the wonderful internet gave me the answers. I've deleted the link, you can find the info easily enough.

I went to Powell Rd office of Sumter County tax assessor since I live in Sumter, was able to register to vote, change vehicle title and get DL all at the same time. Be sure you have the 2 pieces of mail with your new address - many people did not and had to return another day. One of those documents can be your voter registration, for the other I used SECO account letter - SECO emails you a letter that you have started an account, which is accepted as proof. There are others listed on the website.

If you don't live in Sumter County you can register to vote and get DL at Powell Rd, AFAIK you need to go to your County for vehicle title.


Make sure your car insurance date starts on the date you are changing title.

I saw someone mention to move your money from old State - you do not need to do that. Just because your bank is a State other than FL doesn't mean that State collects taxes - you file taxes based on residency. I have no FL bank account and do not need one. No one look at your cell phone records or cares if you sold a house in old State - many people own multiple houses in many states.

The entire process to handle all 3 transactions - registering to vote, getting DL and transferring vehicle takes about 20 minutes. You can make an appointment time online of walk-up and wait.

Randy Mask - Sumter County Tax Collector
Read the applicable sections.
if you're going to live in Sumter County. If another jurisdiction check that webpage. I am wrong about non-Sumter county residents getting a DL, webpage says Sumter only. BTW I am a renter, not a property owner.

Only if he is renting in Sumter County per the official webpage.

I forgot to mention to have cash or check if you want to avoid credit card fee on vehicle tax. If you bought your vehicle in the last 6 months have a copy of your receipt showing where you paid old state the sales tax and in FL they will credit you that amount against the FL fee. That saved me $ since I had purchased my vehicle recently.

I live in Lake County and got everything done at the Powell Road office: drivers license, vehicle title, and vehicle registration. These are state functions, not county functions. Although, I was not a renter.

Good to know. The Sumter County webpage says SC residents only, so either that’s not applicable or it’s new since you used the service. Either way the office is efficient and easy to navigate, not always true.

First, your math is off. June 15 is only 166 days into the year.

Second, It doesn't matter. Whether he moves on January 15 or December 15, he has to file a part year tax return for the old state.

Another response about moving money was partially correct. If he is entitled to any lump sum distributions, arrange to receive them after establishing residency in FL and updating your address with the payer. If received while a resident of the old state, then the old state taxes it. But it doesn't matter where the bank account is located. If you receive pension payments while in both states, you should receive 2 form 1099R's - one for each state.

It is important that anyone who pays you money - including your investment accounts, have your FL address on file. Even if it's a temporary rental address.

Depends on your old state & how much money you are denying their treasury. If it is worth the state's time, they will try (varies, depending on the old state - mine does try). If you are a bazillionaire, they will try to audit you to prove you didn't leave. Yes, in general, in most states & in most cases, you just pick up & leave. If you win a big lottery on your way out of the door, they will try to get a piece. The best idea is to keep records & receipts & toss them once the state doesn't chase after you.

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The website is not correct on this. If you are not a Sumter County resident and they are busy, they can refuse to serve you. However, if you go when they are not busy, non-Sumter County residents can get everything done. That includes drivers license, vehicle title, vehicle registration, and voter registration. And, it doesn't matter if you are a homeowner or a renter.

See Post No. 15

Of course renter v owner is a non-issue when establishing residency. Good to know the SC website is accurate - somewhat! Knowing they have the SC residents only policy as stated, yet are willing to waive it if not busy is good customer service, something we know doesn't always exist. I was v impressed with the speed and professionalism of the entire process. Was surprised how many were turned away bc they did not have 2 pieces of mail with FL address - that requirement and what satisfies it are clearly stated on the website, apparently some think they can "get by". They can't. I read that and ordered my SECO a month in advance to start on X date so I'd have the letter in time.

My point also says change the address that pension, lump sum, and investment brokers have and stop tax deductions to the old state on those payments. Once they have your money , it will be much harder to get it back.

I believe that mandatory tax withholding of income tax only applies to wages and certain other earned income, not to other payments, such as pensions, social security income, IRA transfers, or other payments. I never allow anyone to withhold taxes from any of my payments. I pay all income taxes directly to the IRS with quarterly estimated payments. I don't understand why some people allow a third party to withhold money from their income.

When I retired in 2004 I lived in Pennsylvania. I moved into my motor home and lived in it full time for three years. Prior to that adventure I knew the endgame was to buy a home and live in Florida.

I contacted American Home Base, a mail forwarding company that is located in Pensacola, FL. They are familiar with and will enable you to have a legal residence almost immediately in Florida as they will provide you with both a post office box number AND physical Florida address. On our first trip to Florida in the motor home I stopped at their business address and they directed me to the The Florida Motor Vehicle Office where I got my Florida licence and plates. Back then their service was dirt-cheap $10/month, as I recall plus the actual postage for any mail I wanted forwarded. I would call them perhaps twice a month and give them an address where I wanted the mail. Check out their website and give them a call -- I expect they can/will answer all of your questions!

Florida Mail Forwarding Service ⋆ American Home Base, Inc.

Good luck and welcome (almost) to the Free State of Florida!

The USPS does the same - for free except the cost of the PO Box. I was between homes for the last 9 months, opened a PO Box which also you can use the physical address of that PO location. Changed address on DL, all accounts, etc. Never an issue.

There are many 3rd party services like AHB if for some reason you don't want to use the PO. The PO and 3rd party services like these are very common with the homeless & transient populations. All your mail will of course go through the PO before reaching AHB or another like service, good thing is very little critical business can't be handled online so there is little required "snail mail".

The OP is going to have a FL address, he is renting, so no need for an interim address if the timing works - hoping it does, there are plenty of nice rentals available.

I can't figure out how to edit, sorry.
The PO worth considering if you do not need to forward mail to multiple locations monthly as a 3rd party service does. If like the OP you need a FL address the PO works. Options are good.

Withholding triggers safe harbor rules when determining if there is an under-payment penalty.

Accurate calculation of estimated taxes avoids penalties also but that relies on the investment company to be timely and accurate - once was enough for me.

After changing drivers license, registration/titles, and registering to vote, you can severe all ties to your previous state if you also file a Florida declaration of domicile at the courthouse of whichever county that you plan to reside in. If I recall it has to be notarized and only cost $10 to file it.

exactly?

Withholding doesn't trigger anything. An underpayment of required taxes triggers the underpayment penalty calculation. I prefer my clients use withholding - such as from their social security checks - rather than quarterly payments. Two reasons: 1. they sometimes forget their quarterly payments 2. Withholding is treated as paid in equally during the whole year even if the withholding is started mid year.

Clients sometimes project they will have less taxable income so they lower their quarterly estimates. But then they get a windfall - i.e. lottery winnings - and they'll be in a penalty situation. Simply increase or start withholding on income items that didn't have withholding.

Many people like the idea of withholding as a means of smoothing out cash flow. Don't know if there's a interest income differential between withholding during the 12 months and making estimated payments 4/15, 6/15,6/15,1/15. Much prefer clients and clients prefer not having to come up with a "large" amount on these dates.

I would also mention that Florida has no income tax

Thanks. I understand that some people prefer to have money withheld. TurboTax calculates the quarterly estimated payments required to avoid a penalty for the following year. I make those payments online every quarter. To me, it is easier than depending on someone else to make withholding payments. Also, I never ask the IRS to send me a refund. I always apply any overpayments to the following tax year.

Perhaps trigger was the wrong word. Still, money that is withheld is treated differently than estimated payments in the determination of underpayment penalties. The calculations are avoided when a certain percentage of taxes are withheld even if there was an underpayment. Those calculations cannot be avoided even if the same amount was submitted with estimated payments. That is what I meant by triggering safe harbor rules.

NOTE: Not a CPA, just someone who has worked through this in the past.

In short: get permanent Florida address, ASAP. It can be a rental agreement. Change everything you can ASAP.

We purchased a home in August 2019, and closed 30 days later in September. When we put offer to buy home, we opened a bank account with Citizens First and got mortgage from them. Flew back to Oregon, wife retired Oct 1, and we both flew back to our empty new home in Florida. After closing, we changed all our bank and financial accounts in Oregon to our new address in Florida. Since we flew to Florida we only had a rental car, and everything was still back in Oregon. Oregon home wasn't even listed for sale yet.

In October 2019 got Florida drivers licenses, and added new residence address to our insurance company for auto and homeowners insurance.

Returned to Oregon, sold one of our cars, decided to sell placed home on market to sell. Sold within a day after listing in January 2020. Packed up only things we wanted to keep and move using PackRat pod service. Sold a few things, but gave away most furniture.

Drove from Oregon to Florida in 8 days with our dog, and were really ready to call Florida our home after 45+ years in Oregon.

Filed non resident Oregon income tax return as we had 2019 income. It was prorated based on our September 2019 declaration of domicile.

Made sure we did not have any Oregon income in 2020.

All done just before Pandemic messed up everything.

I really don’t think it matters whether they are busy or not. Have been to that office several times for drivers licenses and registration and never turned away and we are Lake.

Interesting anecdote. When we moved here in 2017 and bought a new car the dealer mistakenly told DMV we lived in Sumter County (we live in Pine Hills, which is Lake). Got the title and registration in the mail saying Sumter. When it came up for renewal, my husband went to Leesburg DMV office to pay renewal and get it fixed. They said they would fix it (fee the same). Next year renewal comes again from Sumter- go through same drill except this time we go to Powell Rd and talk to Sumter Co. again tell them we live in Lake. They said we’ll fix it. Now I just pay online and it still says Sumter! If they don’t care, I don’t either!

Another thing to consider is Homestead taxes. If I remember correctly, you have to file your homestead before March of the year that you want to claim homestead. The property tax department can answer any questions about that.

I come from a state without homestead taxes, so know nothing about them. What does this tax have to do with establishing FL residency? I don’t recall it being mentioned when I completed my transactions. TIA

If you haven't paid in 90% of your current taxes or 100% of last year's tax you've got a penalty. The IRS doesn't care if it's from withholding or quarterly estimates. That's the penalty part - there's also an interest calculation if it's not paid in as required.

Form 2210, Part 1, Line 6 says otherwise.

But enough of hijacking this thread. I'm out.

I would just point out, that if your income is high enough, you actually need to pay more than 100 percent (I think it is 110 percent) of the prior year tax in estimated taxes to avoid a penalty.

I'm wondering who is going to ask for incontrovertible proof that you are a Florida resident? And why? Is there a requirement to file a change of address with certain government agencies (e.g., tax collectors) when moving out of state? I assume the tax collection department of the state from which you are moving would be the only party to be interested.

What is it that triggers a requirement by that state for proof of residency change? And how many private accounts that you own are they entitled to go snooping through?

As far as I can tell, there's no way to reliably prove how many days per year a person lives in one house or another.

You need to put your address on your IRS tax return. Also, some states will use credit card receipts and other data to show that you are spending more than 6 months in their state. I think you are the one who needs to prove them wrong, not the other way around. You cannot just come to Florida for a few days, establish a residency, and then move back to your old state to avoid taxes.

It's better to get tax advice and what is required from the IRS and from your state's tax office.

Each state has different requirements.

The last thing you'd want to do is to ignore paying taxes that are due, and saying you weren't aware is not a good excuse.

The last thing you want to have happen is to owe taxes in a state you left behind, and the penalties you may also have to pay.

I made sure that my old state, Oregon, had me off the resident rolls whatever they are. No property, and no income from Oregon sources. Oregon has very high income taxes, a low estate tax threshold, and has limits as to what is deductible - for example they limit deductions for federal taxes paid to the federal government.