Address, Insurance, etc

[Uisce Beo]

My wife and I are currently living as full time liveaboards in the UK. We are contemplating relocating to the PNW and need some advice. BTW, we have dual citizenship so no issues there.

We'd prefer not to have a home marina. What advice can you give regarding addresses, health insurance, residency, driver's license, etc? We currently have a mail service and North Carolina address through Traveling Mailbox.

I know Washington State has some particular rules regarding boat residency and taxes. Let's leave that aside for the time being and assume we will only stay in Washington State waters for the non taxable allowed time. And, I believe we can't easily stay in Canada for more than 180 days. Maybe we can look at Alaska residency. Or, will our NC address suffice?

How are you handling health insurance? Should we just use our NC address? We're a bit spoiled with easy access to England's NHS to be honest.

What about a driver's license? Our NC driver's license is good until 2030 so I think we should be good there.

I have a feeling I'm both overthinking it and missing something all at the same time!

 

[Portage_Bay]

I won't pretend to understand the Washington State laws for non-residents. I'd start here Purchase and use of vessels by nonresidents from the Dept of Revenue of Wash State. I'd also look into setting up a LLC. Wenthur Law Group is a firm that specializes in LLCs. I'm sure there are others. With a LLC you could be a Wash State resident and not pay sales tax. Annual registration will still need to be paid.

 

[Uisce Beo]

Thanks.
I do know this is a minefield so I'm trying to stay focused on the more mundane aspects like health insurance, address, etc.
I will get to the tax aspect at some point.

 

[Portage_Bay]

There's nothing mundane about health insurance in the US. It's a tangled mess of age, income if any earned in the US, residency and who knows what else. It's likely to change a lot in the coming months and years.

Address shouldn't be too hard. There are services to establish an address. Or find someone who will let you use their address. I've done that when a full time liveaboard in Wash state.

One of the big wrinkles is you will at some point need to renew your driver's license. That could be a big challenge. It was for me when I moved back ashore, hadn't paid utilities, local taxes etc in years. It was difficult to prove to the state's satisfaction I was legitimate.

 

[Lepke]

I live in Oregon. Politically very screwed up, but no sales tax. So many things a few percent cheaper. There is a state income tax, but my life is structured to legally avoid it. IMO Washington State is probably worse than Oregon. I lived there about 10 years long before it got so bad. I have a private dock on the Columbia. It's a little like living at anchor. I get my healthcare at the VA. Thank you America for funding it. I carry travel insurance for healthcare in Canada. Otherwise I use the VA.
I get my mail and packages at a private mail box company. They will collect it and ship it to me when cruising. I prefer Alaska and Canada for cruising because it's less crowded. Puget Sound at times is packed like a city park on Sunday. But coming from the East Coast you'll probably think it unpopulated.
I'm thinking of a bigger, better insulated boat and moving to Alaska for the quiet.

 

[JackConnick]

I won't pretend to understand the Washington State laws for non-residents. I'd start here Purchase and use of vessels by nonresidents from the Dept of Revenue of Wash State. I'd also look into setting up a LLC. Wenthur Law Group is a firm that specializes in LLCs. I'm sure there are others. With a LLC you could be a Wash State resident and not pay sales tax. Annual registration will still need to be paid.

Yes, you can use a state registered business to not pay ST at time of purchase, but you'll have to pay it on your state business tax return later. The seller has to report your Tax ID. They're kinda sticklers about paying one way or the other.
You can buy items and not pay ST if they are directly taken to the boat that is in transit.