Mail Forwarding

[Hayduke]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place.

 

Trying to find a US based mail forwarding business. Someone who can forward certain mail, scan and email other items and destroy/shred junk mail. A street address, telephone connectivity and overall reliability are important.

 

Especially interested to hear from anyone with personal experience to include potential problems, other things to be aware of, and any general observations regarding this process.

 

Specific recommendations via PM will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by Hayduke

[Mavideol]

have same request, if and when you do receive any feed back be so kind to share, thks

[gk10002000]

mail service is in some posts somewhere here on ThaiVisa.  I tried a quick search and didn't find the original posts so I gave up.  Try some different word searches across the forums and you should find it.  There were one or two USA based that as I recall would do everything you mentioned

 

[cmarshall]

I have been using sbimailservice.com for several years.  Very happy with the service for following reasons:

 

1. auto shredding of junk mail

2. base monthly cost $20 which includes scanning front of each envelope

3.  opening and scanning contents at reasonable fee.  Scans viewable next day on website.

4.  forward packages

5.  on the few occasions that I have had an issue I called them and spoke to one of the principals, Scott, who always made it right.  I always want to deal directly with a small business owner, if possible.

6.  street-looking addess is in FL which has no income tax, so I am not exposing myself to an inquiry from the FL tax collection agency as to where is my tax return

7. many options for forwarding mail, packages at different price points

 

The only "negative" I have encountered is that they will not agree to provide customs documents that do not correctly value the contents, since they are agents of the USPS, Fedex, etc. and doing so would violate the terms of their contract.

[Pib]

Selecting a mail forwarding company officially called a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) can be challenging.   Like most products/services a person can google Best Mail Forwarding or something similar and come up with all types of comparisons....and of course comparison can be biased if a particular CMRA didnt' want to participate in the comparison which ends up in the CMRA not even being in the comparison which implies they are not a good company or they get a lower rating.  

 

Almost all of them will offer a street address, scanning, shredding, fax receiving, reforwarding, etc.  And several will offer addresses in different states/cities in addition to their main address at their central facility.  And having an address in a certain state or city can be important for state tax or business purposes. 

 

But keep in mind those CMRA's that offer address in multiple states/cities that those addresses will really be addresses at a UPS-type store that simply receives your mail and then remail it to the CMRA's main facility for processing/scanning/etc.  CMRA's have contracts with UPS-store which allows certain CMRA's to offer multiple addresses in multiple states/cities. UPS-type stores can have a tendency to move locations periodically like they just want to move to a better business location, the building/mall they are located in undergoes a renovation, etc....this would mean you getting a new address issued.  And such UPS-type store locations may be more easily recognized as not a real address like you want to present.

 

And definitely closely evaluate the CMRA's remailing costs to include do they offer low cost USPS First Class mail.  Repeat, really drill down on remailing costs. This remailing cost will be important for those that want to have all/most of their mail remailed to them vs primarily having mail scanned and just the occasional remailing like to get a debit/credit card.....all other stuff just gets shredded since it's really not cost effective to have it remailed especially if remailing to your Thailand address.  Also, do they offer X-amount of free scans per month...or is it X-amount per scan.  Then you have the service's monthly fee to evaluate....one might have a lower monthly fee but not offer any free scans....depending on how much and what type of mail you get that can be important.  And even the CMRA signup process is a factor as a USPS PS-1583 Application for Mail delivery must be completed and "notarized" (in person or online) or a notarized-equivalent method used.   Other factors need to be considered also...just mentioning some.

 

Yeap, many CMRA's out there....been there, done that in evaluating CMRAs.  I'll will just recommend two to begin your search at:  TravelingMailBox and USA2Me....they will come up in your googling.

 

[NokNokJoke]

Yourbestaddress.com

South Dakota mailing address and residency possible, including drivers license. You do have to spend one night in SD. I'm heading there as soon my non o a shows up, then to a Thai bound plane

Sent from my Nokia 6.1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[sleepingpills]

I've been using https://www.thaimailforwarding.com/ They are very good indeed. using them for 2 yrs now. 

[Langsuan Man]

https://www.postscanmail.com/

 

[JimGant]

On 7/18/2019 at 9:21 AM, Pib said:

I'll will just recommend two to begin your search at:  TravelingMailBox and USA2Me...

Have used USA2ME for all the years I've been here. No complaints. And, like CMarshall's choice, it's located in a state with no income tax (Texas). It's address is in Houston, so that's where I put my MagicJack phone number. Only a couple of burps, where using the address pointed out that it wasn't a real address, but a mail forwarding address. Believe this would be the case with all mail forwarding addresses (they're in the data base as such), but would be nice to know of one that has slipped under the Fed's radar...

[taxout]

"Only a couple of burps, where using the address pointed out that it wasn't a real address."

 

Were those banks or brokerages?

 

But more importantly, have there been any banks or brokerages that HAVEN'T had a problem with that address?

 

And did you get a Texas driving license with that address?

 

[JimGant]

Brokerage, Schwab or Fidelity, can't remember which. Defaulted back to my old Virginia address of record, so I just kept it there. My bank, USAA, has no problem with the address. No Texas driving license, as I believe I'd have to be physically there to get one. Thus, my only driving license these days is a Thai one.

[cmarshall]

8 hours ago, JimGant said:

Brokerage, Schwab or Fidelity, can't remember which. Defaulted back to my old Virginia address of record, so I just kept it there. My bank, USAA, has no problem with the address. No Texas driving license, as I believe I'd have to be physically there to get one. Thus, my only driving license these days is a Thai one.

That means that you will get 1099s sent to the tax collection dept. of VA which is the most aggressive in asserting ongoing state income tax liability for people who have moved out of VA.  VA is famous for taking the position that your tax domicile remains VA until such time as you establish domicile in another state.

[Langsuan Man]

25 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

1099s sent to the tax collection dept. of VA which is the most aggressive in asserting ongoing state income tax liability

 Next to California that is

 

When I left Virginia the last thing I did was stop at DMV on my way out of my small town and surrendered my VA drivers license because that is the fastest way to get off the VA tax rolls.  Since that is the mechanism that puts you on the VA income tax rolls in the first place

 

I had a second license from North Carolina that I used to "trade " for my new Pennsylvania license.  Voter registration and drivers licenses are the two major things that can trip you up in trying to break a particular state's residency requirements 

[JimGant]

2 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

When I left Virginia the last thing I did was stop at DMV on my way out of my small town and surrendered my VA drivers license because that is the fastest way to get off the VA tax rolls.  Since that is the mechanism that puts you on the VA income tax rolls in the first place

Yeah, I studied up on the Virginia Tax Commissioner rulings. A common thread is that keeping your Virginia drivers license after you abandon Virginia is ok -- but if you try and renew, then you may get a tap on the shoulder from the revenuers. So, I kept the license but then let it lapse. No other connections remain with Virginia (tho' I'd best change the broker address), including voter registration cancellation (no one worth voting for anyway these days...).

 

Quote

The Department has found that an individual may successfully establish a domicile outside Virginia even if he retains a Virginia driver’s license. See Public Document (P.D.) 00-151 (8/18/2000). However, obtaining or renewing a Virginia driver’s license is considered to be a strong indicator of intent to retain domiciliary residency in Virginia. See P.D. 02-149 (12/9/2002).

https://www.tax.virginia.gov/laws-rules-decisions/rulings-tax-commissioner/19-108-0

 

[JimGant]

3 hours ago, cmarshall said:

VA is famous for taking the position that your tax domicile remains VA until such time as you establish domicile in another state.

Yeah, they actually say another state. But rulings of the Tax Commissioner have been fairly lenient in allowing a new domicile in a foreign country.