Best Posts in Thread: Possible Useful Intel For US Vets re: State Residency

Hello All!

I have just returned back to my State of Oregon from my "recon" to the State of Texas.

As many of the regular readers on here are aware of, I'm preparing to launch my next chapter of life in SE Asia - Spring/Summer 2017.

So I'm wrapping things up here in the States, paying down debts, etc., and am going to establish Texas as my State of Residency prior to my departure to SE Asia.

There are several reasons for doing this, and here's a list of a few things that make Texas residency a favorable thing to do BEFORE I depart US soil for 3-5 years.

If you are a US Veteran, you may find this information of interest to you, too.

There are only a handful of states that do not have an State income tax - Texas is one of those states. This means you do not have to file a state income tax every year as Texas does not have an income tax. This is one less thing you have to do every year that can cost money to do. Plus, if you should ever have to return to the US and work, at least you won't have state income tax coming out of your paycheck when you work in Texas, either.

Your military retirement is not taxed like in many other states. This can be an automatic monthly pay raise for some of you if Texas is your state of residency.

Texas has a very generous property tax exemption should you become a resident of Texas and decide to buy a little home there. Property tax reductions are give to those over age 65, And, regardless of your age, if you have a VA rated disability, depending on the percentage of your VA rating, your primary Texas residence can be up to 100% property tax exempt. So for example, if you are rated 100% P&T or 100% IU, you could qualify for 100% property tax exemption.

Texas also has a Texas Veteran Land Board (TVLB). This is a Texas resident loan program whereby, if you are an honorably discharged Veteran and a resident of Texas, then you can make use of their low-interest loans on bare land (minimum 1 acre), or a home loan, or a home repair/modernization loan. This TVLB programs are in addition to your VA Home Loan rights. So, as a Veteran, you have many options of achieving home ownership, land ownership, and home repair loan products as you would have State and Federal options to choose and use from.

There are a few other things that Texas offers to Veterans, and all you need to do is to establish legal and bona fide residency in Texas in order to make use of their benefits - like no charge for getting your drivers license, no charge for your conceal/carry permit, no charge for your license plate, and a few other things that are free or low-cost like park entrance fees and hunting/fishing license.

Anyway, you can go on line to the Texas state Veterans and TVLB and check this all out for yourself.

Just putting this info out there should one of you who is a Veteran may need to return back to the States from time to time and might be looking for a place to hang out for awhile or might want to establish a US base and a foreign base.

As a Vet, this State offers me the best bang for my buck, and I don't have to worry about state tax filings and the costs of doing that every year.

V/R,
nwlivewire

 

Yep. I will be returning back to Texas after Jan 2017 for a 45 day stay. In order to get your Texas drivers license, you have to have a physical address and show 30 consecutive days of being in Texas.

I obtained a personal mail box (PMB) in Austin, but since I can't live in a Mail box, this address doesn't count toward establishing physical residency. However, opening up a Texas PMB does show intent to establish residency, which then starts the clock on other wait times for other state benefits (like qualifying for in-state tuition rates after 12 months).

So I need to stay at an extended stay hotel or something like that for about 45 days or so. On my 31st day, I simply take my hotel receipt down to the Motor Vehicle Office (called the Public Safety Office in Texas), and show them the beginning date of my stay. As long as I have a valid, unexpired state license from another state, I do not have to take a drivers test, just the vision test and my PMB can be used for them to send me my license. I can also get my voters card, too.

By law, it is possible to utilize and apply for the benefits of the TVLB as soon as the day AFTER the date of issue on your Texas driver's license. I found out a lot of info on the TVLB when I was in Austin as the TVLB just happened to have a day long conference going on when I was down there. Quite a nice coincidence! Got my eyes on the Hill Country area near Marble Falls as an area of interest - but that will happen after a few months of being down there to explore some more. The TVLB folks were surprised to have an Oregonian show up to their conference, but they really went out of their way to plus me up on their various loan programs. I also was introduced to TVLB lenders and builders and got a pretty good idea on how to work these benefits to my best advantage.

I also read the hotel tax can be exempted when you book at an extended stay hotel for a stay greater than 30 days. In other words, in Texas, as long as your original reservation is longer than 30 consecutive days, you are not required to pay the state hotel tax for that block of time. That alone will save a good 300 bucks as the hotel tax is the tourist/visitor tax and is about 9%.

V/R,
nwlivewire