I’ve been a Traveling Mailbox member for about a year. My last year’s tax return, all financial institutions, vehicle registration, and driver’s license all reflect this address.
It looks like an apartment address: 75 N Woodward Ave #####, Tallahassee FL.
In the last few weeks, I’ve been having problems.
- I requested a voter registration renewal in Florida and it was denied on the grounds that I am using a business address
- My bank (Ally) contacted me, saying that my address was a “maildrop” location, and needed to be a physical domicile.
My theory is that this Traveling Mailbox location has been flagged as a maildrop in whatever database these agencies use and will continue to be a problem, so I’m looking for a new strategy.
Questions:
- What am I supposed to do? I don’t have or want a permanent home.
- If these agencies object to my address, will the IRS or the California tax board? (audits? residency challenges?)
Some ideas:
- Use a “next of kin” address for legal reasons, and traveling mailbox as a mailing address. My bank allowed this. I think this means I need to declare residency in the state of my next-of-kin, which is not preferred.
- Find a smaller mail services provider that is less likely to be flagged as a business/maildrop location (They may be flagged later and I’ll have to change addresses. I’ll miss the digital scanned mail feature. Also, is any mail service legal to use as a residence now?)
@nickdanforth, you had this same problem in Apr 2015, any solutions work well for you?
@nomadicme, sounds like you’ve had the same problem, too.
What can we do about this, folks? Seems like as full-time travellers we should be able to pick any state in the US to be our residence, but banning certain types of addresses is really making it difficult.