Transferring Out of State Tag? (renter, insurance, transfer to)

[SeaSpur]

Question for those of you with experience:

Are there any methods to saving money on transferring tags into Florida?

My girlfriend has a car that she is moving down next month. It has SC tags on it and they expire at the end of January.

Should she pay her taxes in SC then do a transfer here? Or should she just go ahead and register here from the start?

She thought she had read that it was $225 fee to register any vehicle upfront in FL. Then taxes on top of that. OR she could do a transfer for $28 from SC to FL...and with her taxes being only $110 in SC, that would save almost $100 for her first year.

I'm sure many of you have had to deal with this and we just want to be prepared when we go to the DMV and also do it the cheapest way; no reason to pay an absurd FL rate for the first year.

My vehicle and all responsibilities are paid for by my company so I have no experience in the matter.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[druthb00]

Originally Posted by SeaSpur

Question for those of you with experience:

Are there any methods to saving money on transferring tags into Florida?

My girlfriend has a car that she is moving down next month. It has SC tags on it and they expire at the end of January.

Should she pay her taxes in SC then do a transfer here? Or should she just go ahead and register here from the start?

She thought she had read that it was $225 fee to register any vehicle upfront in FL. Then taxes on top of that. OR she could do a transfer for $28 from SC to FL...and with her taxes being only $110 in SC, that would save almost $100 for her first year.

I'm sure many of you have had to deal with this and we just want to be prepared when we go to the DMV and also do it the cheapest way; no reason to pay an absurd FL rate for the first year.

My vehicle and all responsibilities are paid for by my company so I have no experience in the matter.

Thanks in advance for the help!

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert here (and trust me, I'm sure I'll be immediately corrected if I'm wrong...) but when we moved down at the very beginning of 2010, they had just increased the initial registration fee to $225 (up from $180 or so I believe). The title transfer (which takes place at the tax collectors office, not the BMV, just so you're aware) was around $85. As far as I know, it doesn't matter which state you transfer the title from, because it's a FL tax you are paying. I suggest she just pay the FL fees, because I think she'll have to pay them regardless, and they won't go down just because she already pays SC fees/taxes. Just what I recall of course.

[blueherons]

The problem she will face is that she will have to transfer to Florida insurance as her SC insurance will not cover her.

I am currently going through this.

When she transfers her insurance (she can keep her SC insurance but when they find out she has moved here they will not pay, it is a mess), she will not pay it in SC then they will suspend her drivers license and want the plates back.

If she ever goes back to SC and get pulled for any reason, they will throw her in jail for driving on a suspended license even if she has a Florida one.

She should get her Florida plates and drivers license, and surrender her SC plates to SC.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I'm in the middle of straightening out a beaurocratic nightmare because I kept my SC plates for my first year here.

[nycgirl1616]

I can't break the charges down for you because I don't know what I did with the itemized bill (I'll see if I can find it) but I just changed my tags over and got a drivers license here 2 weeks ago.

For the license, 2 years registration, a specialty plate (which is only $25 extra a year) it cost me between $570-80.

You might be able to save a little bit of money by just doing the one year registration, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually last a full 12 months, and then they will charge you a higher price at that time.

[nycgirl1616]

Originally Posted by SeaSpur

Question for those of you with experience:

Are there any methods to saving money on transferring tags into Florida?

My girlfriend has a car that she is moving down next month. It has SC tags on it and they expire at the end of January.

Should she pay her taxes in SC then do a transfer here? Or should she just go ahead and register here from the start?

She thought she had read that it was $225 fee to register any vehicle upfront in FL. Then taxes on top of that. OR she could do a transfer for $28 from SC to FL...and with her taxes being only $110 in SC, that would save almost $100 for her first year.

I'm sure many of you have had to deal with this and we just want to be prepared when we go to the DMV and also do it the cheapest way; no reason to pay an absurd FL rate for the first year.

My vehicle and all responsibilities are paid for by my company so I have no experience in the matter.

Thanks in advance for the help!

She will not pay taxes on the vehicle unless she bought the car less than 6 months ago. I would just transfer everything to FL and call it a day. FL is not going to care that she paid for a registration already in FL, she will have to pay for everything again.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by nycgirl1616

She will not pay taxes on the vehicle unless she bought the car less than 6 months ago. I would just transfer everything to FL and call it a day. FL is not going to care that she paid for a registration already in FL, she will have to pay for everything again.

What she said. Just be sure you have insurance established in Florida, as without it you can't get your registration. No way around that one.

Florida does not "transfer" plates or tags from other states. If you come here and establish residency, you pay, period. As someone stated previously, the only potential break you get is if the vehicle was purchased less than six months ago, and that only works in your favor if you paid more in taxes in the other state....

RM

[TXRyan23]

When I moved from Tennessee to Texas, I renewed my registration in Tennessee before I moved. They tell you that you have x-amount of days to get tags in your new state but they rarely enforce it, especially in a tourist state where there are literally hundreds of thousands of out of state plates on the road daily.

After my 6 month term had expired on my insurance, I alerted my insurance company that I had moved, and they (Farm Bureau) alerted me that I was covered for the full term of my current 6 month policy (since it has just renewed) but that I'd have to get Texas insurance after that term had ended.

Personally, I'd just drive on your SC tags/insurance and God forbid, an accident happens, I'd just tell them I was on vacation. I've taken vacations that have lasted several months before..

Better than paying taxes and impact fees to the State of Florida.

[nycgirl1616]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

When I moved from Tennessee to Texas, I renewed my registration in Tennessee before I moved. They tell you that you have x-amount of days to get tags in your new state but they rarely enforce it, especially in a tourist state where there are literally hundreds of thousands of out of state plates on the road daily.

After my 6 month term had expired on my insurance, I alerted my insurance company that I had moved, and they (Farm Bureau) alerted me that I was covered for the full term of my current 6 month policy (since it has just renewed) but that I'd have to get Texas insurance after that term had ended.

Personally, I'd just drive on your SC tags/insurance and God forbid, an accident happens, I'd just tell them I was on vacation. I've taken vacations that have lasted several months before..

Better than paying taxes and impact fees to the State of Florida.

I have relatives that work for a big insurance company. Believe me, they know when people are lying about having their car registered in one place and living in another. This is pretty bad advice to tell the people not to change the tags over as required by law. All they have to do is prove that you are working in Florida or have any bill in your name here and that is enough. On top of the being dropped from your insurance, you can be arrested for committing insurance fraud.

In Florida, they do enforce it. When I moved here and took out renter insurance, the agent told me to change my tags and insurance ASAP, no matter if I go with him or another company, because they do enforce it and the fines are really heavy.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by nycgirl1616

I have relatives that work for a big insurance company. Believe me, they know when people are lying about having their car registered in one place and living in another. This is pretty bad advice to tell the people not to change the tags over as required by law. All they have to do is prove that you are working in Florida or have any bill in your name here and that is enough. On top of the being dropped from your insurance, you can be arrested for committing insurance fraud.

In Florida, they do enforce it. When I moved here and took out renter insurance, the agent told me to change my tags and insurance ASAP, no matter if I go with him or another company, because they do enforce it and the fines are really heavy.

I've done it in many states (including Florida, drove for a year and half on Tennessee tags/insurance.) and never had a problem.

It's nice to assume that everyone has an additional $400 per vehicle just laying around though..

[druthb00]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

I've done it in many states (including Florida, drove for a year and half on Tennessee tags/insurance.) and never had a problem.

It's nice to assume that everyone has an additional $400 per vehicle just laying around though..

Well if you can't afford it, then don't move. No one is assuming anything, but if you can't afford $400, then it's going to be pretty hard to afford to move to another state. And just because you didn't have a problem doesn't make it right. Our insurance costs are high enough without other people not ponying up the money they should to do things correctly. But you're right, if you don't have the $400 then just lie and let everyone else pay for it through higher insurance costs and fees....