Mailing address in Oregon - state tax consequences

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Most of the info I've found on picking a state for a mail forwarding service is about avoiding the income taxes in your current state. I have the opposite problem. I'm a Nevada resident and want to use an Oregon address for my financial mail.

I am going to be living outside the US for an unknown duration. The definition of 'resident' for Oregon tax purposes on their state income tax looks clear but I'd hate to be surprised later.

One point of the definition says "You are a nonresident if your permanent home was outside Oregon all year." No problem.

However, another point says "You are a full-year Oregon resident, even if you live outside Oregon, if all of the following are true:
-- You think of Oregon as your permanent home, [I drove through it once]
-- Oregon is the center of your financial, social, and family life [I have zero family or friends there, but I will have a physical address there for my financial mail forwarding]
-- Oregon is the place you intend to return to when you are away" [I can't return to a place I've never been]

It looks like I have nothing to worry about - but I've known enough lawyers to not let that stop me from worrying. The only reason I'm using an Oregon address is that Earth Class Mail appears to be the best for my needs (I need to see scans of the mail, I don't want it actually forwarded). They have several physical addresses to choose from, all are in places with state income taxes.

Am I concerned over nothing?

 

[Brat]

Why not just use an address in Vancouver, WA with automatic forwarding to the Oregon address every week? Surely there is a Mailbox service that could do that.

 

[audreyh1]

However, another point says "You are a full-year Oregon resident, even if you live outside Oregon, if all of the following are true:
-- You think of Oregon as your permanent home, [I drove through it once]
-- Oregon is the center of your financial, social, and family life [I have zero family or friends there, but I will have a physical address there for my financial mail forwarding]
-- Oregon is the place you intend to return to when you are away" [I can't return to a place I've never been]

I think you are fine. You have to show some "intent to establish residency" and you have not. That's what those assertions above show.

You still have to have a physical address somewhere - I assume you have such a thing still in Nevada and that is where you "plan to return to when you are away"?

Make sure your driver's license, vehicle registration, voter's registration, insurance, etc. all have the same Nevada physical address and you'll be just fine. Banks will require both a physical and a mailing address.

Audrey

 

[Brat]

A few months back I was talking to my brother about getting rid of the car and using FlexCar. He advised against it because if I ever needed to buy auto insurance I would start out at 'new driver' rates. Assuming that is true, and were I to live abroad for an extended time, I would sell my nice car and buy a junker just to have something to insure (and not worry about sitting in a u-store garage).

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Why not just use an address in Vancouver, WA with automatic forwarding to the Oregon address every week? Surely there is a Mailbox service that could do that.

D'oh! I hadn't thought of that. Turns out Earth Class Mail has PO boxes in various states where they don't have physical addresses. I'll use the one in Vegas for everything except the banks.

 

[mickeyd]

I'm a Nevada resident and want to use an Oregon address for my financial mail.

I don't get it. Why not just use an mailing address in Nevada? What am I missing?

 

[Dudester]

A few months back I was talking to my brother about getting rid of the car and using FlexCar. He advised against it because if I ever needed to buy auto insurance I would start out at 'new driver' rates. Assuming that is true, and were I to live abroad for an extended time, I would sell my nice car and buy a junker just to have something to insure (and not worry about sitting in a u-store garage).

Going with Flexcar may not be as great an idea as it sounds. For one thing, Flexcar is now Zipcar. Apparently when the Flexcar became Zipcar, they got rid of the Flexcar location that was closest to me. Now there are no locations that are particularly handy.

I too would dearly love to get rid of my car, but I'm not convinced that that Flex/Zipcar is a viable alternative.

 

[Brat]

Flex/Zipcar availability depends on the city you live in. I live on Pudget Sound there is one Flex/Zipcar stationed at the ferry terminal, not practical in my case. One of these days I hope to return to Portland's core area where it almost seems that they are on other block.

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

I don't get it. Why not just use an mailing address in Nevada? What am I missing?

I could if the mail forwarding company I want to use had a street address in Nevada. Banks require a street address, as do FedEx and UPS. I suppose I could use one mail forwarding company in Nevada that has a street address and have them send it to my preferred company. Earth Class Mail allows me to look at scans of the mail online, a feature I must have.

 

[audreyh1]

You must have a physical street address (that establishes your residency), but you can have a DIFFERENT mailing address. Banks handle that all the time.

I'm set up that way.

Audrey

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

You must have a physical street address (that establishes your residency), but you can have a DIFFERENT mailing address. Banks handle that all the time.

That's what I thought. My primary bank had no problem with a PO Box, it was my secondary bank. The [-]Bozo[/-] highly trained customer service representative at Capital One I spoke with last week claimed otherwise. I called today and had no problems changing my mailing address to a Nevada PO Box. Problem solved.