# General Info



## chulor (Aug 19, 2013)

After living in Lake Chapala for 3 years (2013-2016) I kept my CA residency & address in the states, so I had my D License, Bank, etc and was taxed in CA.

I plan to move back soon, only this time I don't have any address I can use in the states. (Unless a UPS box can be used on those items) 

I do plan on using the TX address at Handy Mail again, for forwarding, but;

Can someone please tell me, once you give up any US residency,
- what address do you give your US bank? 
- on your d License to rent a car on vists?
- With the IRS, and social security, what address do you use?
- with your reirement accounts (IRA, etc)?
- Do I still pay fed taxes in the US? 

And lastly, if I needed medical can I use my Medicare still in thae states? And if so, which state would I go to?

Thank you for any help.
Chulor


----------



## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

Once you move back to the U.S.you will have a residence in whichever state you choose to live in. You can choose to establish a driver's license.

You then can reestablish your Medicare choice, Advantage, Supplement (if you still currently pay for Part B),

Before that you can see any doctor that takes Medicare Part A and B.


----------



## chulor (Aug 19, 2013)

Sorry. I didn't word that right.
I'm moving BACK to MX.

This time with no US address.

Same questions.

Thanks


----------



## EmilyTravels (May 19, 2018)

I believe that unless you intend to relinquish your US citizenship, you have to have a US address for legal reasons. You can't escape the IRS! 

We have lived outside the US for a couple of periods of time (18 months and one year), and we've also been full-time travelers in the US, so we established domicile in Florida back in 2013 after returning from Belize. Florida is nice because they don't have state income tax. We use our St. Brendan's Isle (SBI) mailing address as our legal domicile address no matter where we happen to be traveling (although we are in Florida at the moment, go figure). 

SBI provides a mail-forwarding service with digital scanning as well as other services, and the address appears as a physical address -- it looks like an apartment or condo number. We have been using this address with no problems; voting absentee, obtaining health insurance, and car registration/driver's licenses. We will continue using this address since we are moving to Mexico this fall. 

Not sure if this would work for you as you do have to spend a little time in Florida in order to get everything set up, but it was a pretty easy process back when we did it in 2013.

This blog post gives excruciating detail on how one full-time RVing couple established domicile in Florida using SBI.

Texas is also a popular state for setting up domicile for full-time travelers. I am sure a google search would reveal some details on that. Make sure to include the word "domicile" in your search.

Good luck!


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

EmilyTravels said:


> I believe that unless you intend to relinquish your US citizenship, you have to have a US address for legal reasons. You can't escape the IRS!


Probably true, but folks on the forum have come up with different ways to keep a U.S. address-- a family member, trusted friend, or as you suggest, some sort of full-service mail-drop. Relinquishing U.S. citizenship seems rather extreme, although I've heard of billionaires doing it to dodge the IRS. My guess is that'd only make sense if one has investments or business in the U.S. that generate a big income. Most expats I know, along with those on this forum, don't have that "problem". Plenty are like me, with a modest pension and nest-egg with little tax exposure, who came here to retire decently and enjoy the cultural wealth that Mexico has to offer, but not to live large.


----------



## EmilyTravels (May 19, 2018)

perropedorro said:


> Probably true, but folks on the forum have come up with different ways to keep a U.S. address-- a family member, trusted friend, or as you suggest, some sort of full-service mail-drop. Relinquishing U.S. citizenship seems rather extreme, although I've heard of billionaires doing it to dodge the IRS. My guess is that'd only make sense if one has investments or business in the U.S. that generate a big income. Most expats I know, along with those on this forum, don't have that "problem". Plenty are like me, with a modest pension and nest-egg with little tax exposure, who came here to retire decently and enjoy the cultural wealth that Mexico has to offer, but not to live large.


Exactly -- this is our situation as well. Perhaps I am wrong about needing to maintain a US address, but it definitely simplifies some things. Using the address of a family member or close friend is a good choice and the most budget-friendly, if you have someone you can trust who is willing to take on the sometimes tedious chores of scanning and possibly forwarding mail to you. We didn't want to burden anyone with our mail responsibilities, so that is why we choose a service.

I'll defer to someone else on the larger question as I don't know the legalities or other issues of not maintaining a US address. Having one has worked well for us, as we've been back and forth between the US and not-US, and it has really simplified matters not to have to change our address with financial institutions, IRS, businesses, etc. every time we move (which is often). lane:


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

EmilyTravels said:


> Using the address of a family member or close friend is a good choice and the most budget-friendly, if you have someone you can trust who is willing to take on the sometimes tedious chores of scanning and possibly forwarding mail to you. We didn't want to burden anyone with our mail responsibilities, so that is why we choose a service.


 It all depends. We use our son's address, and while our banking stuff is on-line, every once in a while he needs scan and forward something urgent. The advantage is that he's a recently graduated professional that needs little reminder of how much of a burden, economic and otherwise, and what a painintheass he was not too long ago.... but I'll still play the _you-owe-us_ card if necessary.


----------



## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

No, you do not have to choose between keeping a US address or relinquishing citizenship. I was born and raised in the US, but I’ve lived in Canada for decades with no US address. For absentee voting I was asked to register in the jurisdiction I last lived in, and had to provide the county clerk with my last address in that town, although they knew I hadn’t lived there in many years. They also had my Canadian address, which they used as my mailing address. 

I agree there may be advantages at later stages in life to keeping a US address, but it is certainly not a requirement for citizenship purposes.


----------



## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

EmilyTravels said:


> I believe that unless you intend to relinquish your US citizenship, you have to have a US address for legal reasons. You can't escape the IRS!
> 
> We have lived outside the US for a couple of periods of time (18 months and one year), and we've also been full-time travelers in the US, so we established domicile in Florida back in 2013 after returning from Belize. Florida is nice because they don't have state income tax. We use our St. Brendan's Isle (SBI) mailing address as our legal domicile address no matter where we happen to be traveling (although we are in Florida at the moment, go figure).
> 
> ...


I don't think this is true: "unless you intend to relinquish your US citizenship, you have to have a US address for legal reasons. You can't escape the IRS!"

I've been filing tax returns from Mexico and Thai addresses since 2015. You have to do it physically from abroad, I think, that is, mailing in form, but IRS has never said a word. By establishing residence outside U.S., even if you keep a US home (or homes for the more fortunate, not me) you get I think $124,000 or more free of state and federal income taxes, though if you're working, you have to pay FICA on that working portion.

If you paid federal income taxes if you lived outside U.S. 11 months in each of your former three years in Mexico, I think you're due for a refund for the under $124,000 (or whatever), though I'd be leery of poking the IRS bear.

When I worked in Mexico tax-free in the 1980s for a U.S.-based company, IRS misplaced my final return and sent me a bill two years after my return to the States with late fees and penalties for about $50,000. Glad I had a strong heart. The IRS didn't quibble a bit when I claimed they misplaced my mailed return (making you wonder how organized they are), accepted the refiling and sent letter saying I owe nothing. That US company had many foreign offices and just stopped deducting federal state and local income taxes (lived in Manhattan at the time which gloriously adds city income tax on top of federal and state income taxes) from my check but paid FICA without any request from me. My transfer happened at end of Jan., fortunately for me, so that I had 11 months out of country from very first year.

Still, if you lived outside US 11 months of any given year and you paid income tax, I'd file an amended return with proof - Mexican rental agreements, dates of entrance and exit from both US and Mexico in your passport, if you got it stamped. If you drove across, maybe they just waved you through. Don't know how that would work then. Well, with tin foil hat firmly in place, I can safely say maybe DHS already implanted a chip in each of us (- joke, joke ... I hope).


----------



## EmilyTravels (May 19, 2018)

Thanks for the info folks, I stand corrected.

I had always read that one had to maintain a US address for various reasons, but now it appears that is not the case. 

For us, it works and simplifies a lot of things, but I understand why it might not be desirable or necessary for some expats. Thanks for sharing your experiences and opening my eyes!  :clap2:


----------

