Moving to Florida Soon?

[jbcarioca]

When you say "sales tax" do you mean property tax? I don't really care about sales tax. I'm worried about the real estate taxes since they can be pretty high. That and any taxes on the expensive Tesla I made the mistake of buying. I've had it more than six months, so it sounds like there won't be a sales tax on the car. I think someone also told me there is no annual car tax in FL.

With the lack of income tax, it sounds like I'll be better off just moving to Fl and skipping the idea of PA and their 3% income tax. Right now I'm in TN with no income tax to speak of and very low car taxes. But that situation is coming to and end. Oh well.

Thanks to everyone for all the info. Now I just need to figure out what part of Florida might be best.

Sales tax is the tax extracted at purchase. Property tax is typically annual and is based on assessed value of the thing taxed. In Florida there is no property tax on vehicles. I just renewed by Model 3 license for two years, the cost of which was less than $100.

We seem to be having problems with definitions. I suggest you refer to the official site:
License Plates & Registration - Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

This is repetitious but I'll try again. I have had vehicles bought and registered in six US States. The cheapest by far is Florida. I have owned real estate in six US Staes and five countries. My real estate taxes in Florida have been the lowest in ad valorem terms of any other place. The absence of an income tax and more modest sales taxes than in most major States makes Florida a tax bargain. Not only that but even vehicle sales tax, when bought from a dealer, is based on the sales price less tradein. Since I traded a P85D for my P3D my sales tax was not material.

Florida is very EV friendly with charging infrastructure rapidly increasing. There are EV charging stations (including Tesla Superchargers) at many major highway locations and the Governor has promised to have EV charging at every Interstate and Turnpike intersection, intending to make EV charging as ubiquitous as are gasoline stations.

I hope that clarifies some of your questions. Please refer to the official sources, they will give you definitive answers and all of them are easily found on the relevant websites.

 

[XLR82XS]

As someone mentioned, it is humid but I believe it's only excessively humid July-August. We do have drier air and ~80 and sunny September-May. This is why the snow birds love it.

To each their own but I love it here and Tesla optimal operation temp is 80F according to them. No cold winters: no reduced range.

 

[Watts_Up]

I would love to move to Florida, but....

20 Reasons Not to Move to Florida

FLORIDA HAS BEEN RANKED THE WORST STATE IN THE U.S.: HERE'S WHY

11 Reasons Florida Is The Worst

/Sarcasm (I'm just jealous)

Note: I would prefer living around Tampa on the west side because I'm not an earlier person and I'd like better sunset than sunrise,
but I know the Sun Also Rises on the other side of the state.

 

[winfield100]

Sales tax is the tax extracted at purchase. Property tax is typically annual and is based on assessed value of the thing taxed. In Florida there is no property tax on vehicles. I just renewed by Model 3 license for two years, the cost of which was less than $100.

We seem to be having problems with definitions. I suggest you refer to the official site:
License Plates & Registration - Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

This is repetitious but I'll try again. I have had vehicles bought and registered in six US States. The cheapest by far is Florida. I have owned real estate in six US Staes and five countries. My real estate taxes in Florida have been the lowest in ad valorem terms of any other place. The absence of an income tax and more modest sales taxes than in most major States makes Florida a tax bargain. Not only that but even vehicle sales tax, when bought from a dealer, is based on the sales price less tradein. Since I traded a P85D for my P3D my sales tax was not material.

Florida is very EV friendly with charging infrastructure rapidly increasing. There are EV charging stations (including Tesla Superchargers) at many major highway locations and the Governor has promised to have EV charging at every Interstate and Turnpike intersection, intending to make EV charging as ubiquitous as are gasoline stations.

I hope that clarifies some of your questions. Please refer to the official sources, they will give you definitive answers and all of them are easily found on the relevant websites.

Don’t forget the $50,000 homestead property tax exemption on a home if you are a Florida resident
Drivers license, own a house etc.

 

[jbcarioca]

Don’t forget the $50,000 homestead property tax exemption on a home if you are a Florida resident
Drivers license, own a house etc.

I will not disclose the tax savings I realized by changing my US domicile from California to Florida, other than to sate that all my moving expenses were covered 200% by the first year income tax savings. At the time I owned a one year old Porsche 911 and a year old BMW. The savings on annual license fees were thousands, coupled with a halving of insurance rates. Of course housing cost less than half my 90275 housing cost, with roughly comparable dwellings. Luckily I managed to roll over the capital gains with another property not in Florida.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Gotta look at the full picture when you are a Tesla owner.

In SoCal, buying my Tesla in 2017 was a great equalizer against moving to low cost states. Fed gave me $7,500 tax credit. State sent me $2,500, Utility sent me $850 check plus $500 to offset a garage charging unit. Since I am a small business owner, I was able to depreciate that year the full $85,000 cost with Section 179 SUV deduction. Got Free Supercharging for life to reduce electric bills as a bonus. California lets EVs use the car pool lanes with single occupants and gives free or discounted use of their toll roads as well. Pretty good deal, and don;t have to put up with Florida bugs and humidity.

Guess my point is that everybody's financial situation is different. Gotta look at the big picture.

Now that I am retired, I have friends that moved to Panama for economic reasons. They seem pretty happy there, so probably going to take a trip there to check it out.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Florida has a super bonus for those with large estates. No matter how much you spend on a home there, it is totally protected and judgement proof.

A rich person that might have risk built into his portfolio can put Millions into a house. Not only is it a great lifestyle and good investment, but the bonus is that it is totally protected by homestead against creditors.

One of the reasons Rush Limbaugh moved his business from NYC to Florida.
Many wealthy East Coast business people have made the jump to Sunny FLA....how do you start at flood?

 

[TMThree]

One problem with FL is car insurance. It's as high as NJ. Too many people who can't drive or aren't insured are on the roads.

 

[TMThree]

One of the reasons Rush Limbaugh moved his business from NYC to Florida.
Many wealthy East Coast business people have made the jump to Sunny FLA....how do you start at flood?

With homestead, your house is yours till you sell it. No amount of judgement can take it away from you.

Source: OJ Simpson

 

[Uncle Paul]

Lots of movie stars and pro sports celebrities in Florida for this reason.

Low taxes is one of the reasons their sports teams can attract top talent. Can pay them less, but the player still nets more after taxes.

 

[XLR82XS]

One problem with FL is car insurance. It's as high as NJ. Too many people who can't drive or aren't insured are on the roads.

Not for me. My vehicle rates are lower than when I lived in Michigan. (No, I didn't live in Detroit)

 

[Bill Price]

In a kayak, you are low to the water. It is seriously impressive watching a gator with tiny legs sprint for food.

Aren't there any titanium kayak manufacturers?

 

[T3slaOwner]

If you come here, just remember that the way y'all voted in that high cost state is why you moved!

You mean Tennessee? I had to leave because of personal issues. Think of the reverse of "All my Ex's Live in Texas".

I never voted for more taxes anywhere I've ever lived... not if I had to pay them anyway. lol

I lived in VA for a while and one governor got elected by promising to get rid of the annual car tax. Trouble is that's a county tax and the state had to compensate them. They bumped it down 20% a year for a while, but never got rid of it. In fact, it may have gone back up to the full amount again. I certainly am not moving there again with this car! I had to pay nearly $2,000 in SC last year and want to move before that tax comes due again.

 

[TMThree]

Not for me. My vehicle rates are lower than when I lived in Michigan. (No, I didn't live in Detroit)

It's going to depend where in FL you live, but overall the state of FL has very high rates.

Just looked it up, it's actually #3 in most expensive insurance in America. And I was mistaken comparing it to NJ, since NJ is ranked 20th.

#3 Florida: High-risk drivers, highest rate of uninsured drivers

The Sunshine state stayed in the third spot with an average premium of $2,219, which puts it 52 percent above the national average.

Uninsured drivers are a big factor for Florida with the IRC study ranking this state as having the highest rate of uninsured drivers in the nation. The survey estimates that 26.7 percent of drivers are out on the road without insurance. When a quarter of drivers are uninsured, it will absolutely increase the cost of insurance for everyone.

While Florida has more than its share of uninsured drivers it’s not the only factor affecting car insurance rates. It is home to an estimated 21.3 million people and not all of them fall into the right category for insurers.

“Florida has a larger percentage of riskier drivers,” points out Karen Kees, press secretary at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. “There are a high number of students due to the many universities in Florida, older drivers due to the large number of retirement communities, and drivers unfamiliar with the local roads due to our popularity with tourists.”

 

[XLR82XS]

True, it depends on where you live. I can imagine the amount of uninsured drivers in the northern areas/panhandle. Just watch LIVE PD....
Miami-Dade probably has it's fair share as well.

 

[TMThree]

I live near a town, my coworker drives 40 mins to the office, and he lives on farm land. His insurance is half mine.

 

[T3slaOwner]

Sales tax is the tax extracted at purchase. Property tax is typically annual and is based on assessed value of the thing taxed. In Florida there is no property tax on vehicles. I just renewed by Model 3 license for two years, the cost of which was less than $100.

The terms sales tax, property tax and many other taxes are defined by the state you are in. That's why I asked for clarification. People were talking about sales tax as if that was somehow important. I think I pay maybe $100 a year in sales tax other than perhaps on restaurants.

I care about the fees/taxes/costs I will have to pay for the expensive things in my life. Car, income, housing. I don't know what they call all this in Florida since many places have different terms.

I have registered cars in three states in the last year and I learned a new term, "Millage Rate". Bet you don't know that one!

The point is nothing is simple about government and how they tax citizens.

We seem to be having problems with definitions. I suggest you refer to the official site:
License Plates & Registration - Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Thanks for the link, but that's not what I am asking about.

This is repetitious but I'll try again. I have had vehicles bought and registered in six US States. The cheapest by far is Florida. I have owned real estate in six US Staes and five countries. My real estate taxes in Florida have been the lowest in ad valorem terms of any other place. The absence of an income tax and more modest sales taxes than in most major States makes Florida a tax bargain. Not only that but even vehicle sales tax, when bought from a dealer, is based on the sales price less tradein. Since I traded a P85D for my P3D my sales tax was not material.

I'm not sure why you repeated any of that. It was all totally general which is not what I am asking about. I am asking about specifics. The fact about the trade in value coming off the taxed amount is interesting though.

Florida is very EV friendly with charging infrastructure rapidly increasing. There are EV charging stations (including Tesla Superchargers) at many major highway locations and the Governor has promised to have EV charging at every Interstate and Turnpike intersection, intending to make EV charging as ubiquitous as are gasoline stations.

Did he provide a timetable? Without specifics it's hard to say just what he is promising.

I hope that clarifies some of your questions. Please refer to the official sources, they will give you definitive answers and all of them are easily found on the relevant websites.

Unfortunately the "official sources" offer little in the way of concrete and complete information. I was on the PA web site where they list locations where you can title and register your car. The nearest one to where I was thinking of buying a house was some 20 miles and not even a DMV. Eventually I figure out they don't title cars at the DMV, only at third party locations. Only when I posted to this site about moving to PA do I find that there are many, many locations that aren't listed by the DMV, but show up with Google. WTF??!! Why is the PA DMV so dysfunctional in that regard?

 

[GoCanes]

Thinking of moving to Florida? One word of warning - hurricanes. Not my beloved football-playing Hurricanes, but the type that make the late summer/early fall a season of worry and terror. Oh, also the low tax burden results in diminished social services and unskilled workforce. But what do I know? Only lived here for 50 years.

 

[T3slaOwner]

Thinking of moving to Florida? One word of warning - hurricanes. Not my beloved football-playing Hurricanes, but the type that make the late summer/early fall a season of worry and terror. Oh, also the low tax burden results in diminished social services and unskilled workforce. But what do I know? Only lived here for 50 years.

If I do come down, I'd be a snow bird. I wouldn't be around so much in the summer. Maybe Fall would be ok.

Right now the problem is when I was looking at PA, it was a tiny subset of PA near the places I spend time in. Looking at FL means I'm looking at the whole state. Tough to narrow any of it down. I have a second cousin in Fort Myers. But I'm actually interested more in good kayaking than spending time with 80 year olds, lol.

 

[winfield100]

If I do come down, I'd be a snow bird. I wouldn't be around so much in the summer. Maybe Fall would be ok.

Right now the problem is when I was looking at PA, it was a tiny subset of PA near the places I spend time in. Looking at FL means I'm looking at the whole state. Tough to narrow any of it down. I have a second cousin in Fort Myers. But I'm actually interested more in good kayaking than spending time with 80 year olds, lol.

Cape Coral just across the Caloosahatchie from ft Myers has 400 miles of canals. Sarasota area is hotbed of renewable energy folks