This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is were not billing you by the hour for reading this. It might even be a good idea. All you need is a passport or birth certificate along with a campground or hotel receipt to get the ID. For what its worth. If you cant afford the taxes to register your supercar in the state where you live, perhaps you cant afford the car, says Barry Ritholtz, a proud vintage Corvette and Defender owner and chairman of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. Nearly every service and commodity in the state are higher than the rest of the nation, and car registration is absolutely no exception. Were here to tell you how easy Montana car registration can be, show you that you dont have to be rich to take advantage of it, and explain the nonmonetary benefits of registering your vehicle in Montana. Technically, the practice is legal. I am not the fun police so I will tell you that in many states, you can probably do the foregoing and skate for quite a while without getting caught. The bad news is that you shouldnt act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour. Some states are taking measures to crack down on residents who set up shell corporations in other states, including suing for tax evasion. If you need to register a vehicle for use on California roadways, waterways, or trailways, you've come to the right place to find out all you need to know. Close observers would also have noticed a detail far more polarizing than the semi-lavender paint job:The Turbo came with a clean Montana title in the name of the sellers LLC, the listing said. 2022 Dirt Legal. For somewhere around 1200$ there would be nothing to do from our side except fill out a form. This is because, with less than half the population of the borough of Queens, N.Y., it has no populated areasfederally classified as having non-attainment status tomeetthe Clean Air Act'sregulations. Off-highway legal fee: $61.25. (Californias sales tax, for instance, is 7.25%.) In recent years, Montana has made a name as a hub for exotic cars, although very few of them reside there. Your biggest issue is going to get affordable auto insurance having not lived in the US for many years. Sfo is still safe and easy to navigate via car or on foot. All we need is a title, Manufacturers Certificate of Origin, or bill of sale (if you are financing your car) to process your request. Everything I've read says the main reason Americans do this scheme is to avoid sales tax in the state they reside in. Now is the big one: no emissions inspections or annual state inspections at all. They said that lots of expensive cars have Montana plates, and its all part of a tax scheme. So, thats my final word on this. And it has attractedplenty ofdetractors. Vehicles 5 to 10 years old: $87. Some state officials insist that vehicle registrants have an actual interest in real property in the state, but the requirements for showing this are extremely minimal. Its not a red flag; its something to note, he says. So I do have a voter card there. This is particularly important when buying a newer used vehicle. Once it fails, you have to fix it to pass emissions testing, which is not cheap. He teaches a popular bi-weekly webinar, Tax Tuesday, where business owners and investors can ask any tax question and get answers LIVE on-air. New Registration. The maximum vehicle size in Montana is 102 inches wide, 14 feet tall, and 55 feet long for a single vehicle. It has the second-most general coastline in the Lower 48 states. Both my husband and I have a German and International Driver's license. (Ritholtz also hosts the Masters in Businessshow on Bloomberg Radio. Enjoy! A great and logical question. Apparently accounting software and Microsoft Excel haven't reached South Dakota yet. While it's legal to purchase pricey vehicles and avoid paying sales tax in Montana, other states frown upon the practice when their residents set up LLCs out of state for the sole purpose of avoiding these taxes. But car and RV dealers objectedstrongly. Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com. Walk into a DMV in California to register your new $1.5-million McLaren P1, and you'll pay something like $120,000 for a license plate. However, Montana isn't currently cracking down on shell corporations set up for the sole purpose of purchasing vehicles in the state because state law doesn't require someone to specify the LLC business purpose when they register the LLC. You get a Skoolie-toy hauler hybrid that has no name. Plenty of states do this. Its very difficult to get insurance. The fee goes down in increments depending on how old the vehicle is. ). The extraordinarily high cost of living is a prime reason for the very real exodus. Also, since you will be registering from out-of-state, we offer a service for annual renewals for only $119. If you bought it from a private party or dealer, you'll need the title. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Tips and tricks for living in your van, car or truck. Maybe to Montana? Montana vehicle sales tax has always been zero, so it was a natural location for owners of expensive cars and RVs to ease their burdens. The Montana company bought the RV, not Thomas, the court said. Maybe somebody in the position to buy a Lambo in the first place is better poised to shell out almost fifty grand for tax, but that doesnt mean that dropping that kind of cash wont sting just a little even if you are. I thought sales tax was based on where the vehicle gets registered. If you decide to go however, you can stay one night, and have your ID and plates in hand. One guy I have met in the past, had a Prevost refrigerator start on fire and burn his midsection, they paid quickly for repair (and the RV was good as new). For vehicles that are five to ten years old the registration fee is $87. In most states, an LLC created solely for the purpose of avoiding sales tax will be viewed as a sham, and the state will assess sales taxes on the LLC's owners personally. Technology, performance and design delivered to your inbox. The second highest, Clay County, had just 7,241 registrations during the same time; however, that represented more than one-fourth of all vehicles registered in the county. If it's anything like California all of those things can be handled automatically by a third party for a small fee. In addition to normal registration fees, individual counties in Montana may also impose a so-called local option tax of up to 0.7% of avehiclesretail value, providingdirect revenue. I was thinking, Huh, Montana. They have a garage full of super cars with South Dakota plates (and we live nowhere near South Dakota. There are a couple problems which might crop up if you give it a try. You would then buy the vehicle in the name of that LLC. Though we find it hard to believe, the report claims that there isn't an exact figure that shows how much extra money the South Dakota Department of Revenue has earned from this practice, as the registration fee varies based on vehicle age, type, and weight class. Theyre scum., I cant believe so many customers have gotten away with this grift, says Alex Ross, who owns Sharkwerks, a high-performance automotive tuning shop in Fremont, Calif. No matter where in California, at every cars and coffee [gathering], look for the Montana plates. Moreover, you cannot sell the vehicle in California unless you have a passing smog check. Montana has no sales or use tax and no vehicle inspections. You must have JavaScript enabled to experience the new Autoblog. As of October 2017, Consumerist is no longer producing new content, but feel free to browse through our archives. Montana has no sales tax. You might be passing for the first year or two, and it still might be a reasonably expensive used vehicle, and you end up flunking the smog check while you are still making payments, and you had a big tax bill laid on you when you bought it. But what happens when you cross streams? Check out our Montana Vehicle Registration Service to see how our team can do the hard work for you, or read the articles below to learn more about the process. . Now, the question is: Should you do this? Charge multiple devicesThe circular design of the power strip allows for the 15" to coil up inside the body of the productmaking it easy to wrap up and throw in a bag to take with you when traveling. Overall, there has been an exodus of 275,000 jobs, and over $76 bn in capital funds have egressed the state since about 2008, with some 13,000 total companies leaving California. Yes. The registration rate varies in Montana based upon the vehicle's age. This supercar has an MSRP of $501,900, with the prospective buyer on the ropes for $44,167.20 in tax alone. Still, many people are willing to risk taking advantage of this loophole in the law. Can anyone legally register their car in Montana? For example, some of these Ferrari 488 Pistas and a variety of Lamborghinis have been spotted cruising around in Mexico with South Dakota and Montana license plates recently. If the insurance company finds out what you are up to, they can deny your claim because you have a Montana-registered vehicle while driving 100% in California. So let me start by setting the stage and then hopefully someone can give the pros and cons of each option. Submit your completed vehicle registration packet. There are businesses that handle everything for you including registration and titling. There are also some areas of the state that have affordable housing, but the cost of auto registration and fees are primarily unchanged from the far costlier areas of the state. I guess we'll pay an arm and a leg. Examples? For example, you reside in New York City, which has an 8.8 percent car tax rate, and you are looking for a Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae. So your best bets are to pay for repairs to get it to pass, or you can sell it to the state, which will dismantle it. One other advantage to a Montana vehicle registration is that it will appeal to people buying used or who intend to hold onto their Montana-registered vehicles for a long time. $27.3 bn in direct investment in the U.S. It had Montana plates, and the news made a special note of this. And youre sort of poking the bear there with your local state government, as well as the IRS. People from states usually have staggering sales taxes and oppressive inspection requirements to contend with just to get on the road. As it turns out, Barsketis was onto something. Date and time the vehicle was observed. The big question is this: is the Montana registration process limited to just cars? Anyone from any state can register their car in Montana, although it is not quite as simple as some of our other out-of-state registration programs. Theres a couple of reason why you shouldnt do this: The IRS knows about this scheme and will say, Nice try, but no.. You own the LLC outright. Its comical., Randy Nonnenberg, the founder of BAT, is more circumspect, although hes quick to say he has nopersonal vehicles bearingMontana plates. Well, what kind of insurance do you need if you are registering you whip out of state? Not so fast, Slick. I get asked from time to time about the so-called Montana License Plate Scam: Can you safely register your vehicle in Montana and drive it in your non-Montana home state? So is this an extravagant workaround that benefits the people, or an unethical loophole being used as a revenue generator? Yes, I know, you are going to argue that you dont own the car - the LLC does. 2023 MOTORSPORT NETWORK. Taxes or fees in lieu of taxes are due, along with appropriate registration fees (U.S. funds only). Our Montana Registration Service is tried and true if you don't want to lift a finger. Of course, there is a difference between the supercar driving Silicon Valley technopreneur with a Lambo or Ferrari and a retirement-aged couple who wishes to spend their savings on a high-end luxury car or, as we mentioned before, a high-end RV. How about the blue-collar guy who has grown his business over the years, has a fleet of work trucks, and is buying more? Montana Registration - California DMV Montana Registration DMV Partner 4122 Monterey Rd, San Jose, CA 95111 1-408-225-2105 Online Services Complete It Now! Like, in the police report. Since it has an entirely legitimate South Dakota title, you are not beholden to Californias asinine rulings regarding having a valid smog check at the time of sale. ), Email: info@andersonadvisors.com This will include the following: You'll submit your paperwork to the DMV/treasurer's office of the county where your registered agent is. You may have to BUY your RV in Montana, to make it easier. That said, when the Rapid City Journal reached out to the department in 2018, it "estimated" an annual take of nearly $7 million. Where 10 years agothe sight of a Ford GT sporting a blue Montana plate would be rare, adriveto the popular Friday morning car gatherings at Newcombs Ranch outsideLA reveals that even relativelypedestrian 911s carryMontana plates. tighter emissions standards enactedinConnecticut, requirements to significantly lower toxic air pollution, automakers including BMW, Volkswagen, and Ford. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Revenue generated from vehicle registration fees is a fairly stable and significant contributor to the state general fund, as it is the fourth largest general fund revenue source. Youre welcome. There is no getting around this, and with the average age of a car on the road cruising for the past twelve years, you will for sure fail and have to have repairs done at some point. This loophole is for cutting taxes on million dollar recreational purchases. Thats a whole truck! Dirt Legals Montana Vehicle Registration Service is just right for you if you are looking for a new car, truck, motorhome, or even a used one. Of course we'll pay some ridiculous price for insurancebut we'll still save money in the end compared to renting. So what exactly makes California so offensive to the palate that tens of thousands are walking away from it? No compulsory annual safety inspections. Or you could tell them anything other than the previous parenthetical sentence, which would be a lie. Whatever your views are on smog and emissions (we all think smog is gross), we all know that smog gear on cars makes them less reliable and less efficient, and smog gear is always failure-prone. The highest number of non-resident vehicle registrations is credited to Pennington Countyin total, 19,661 of the 186,761 vehicles registered to the county in 2018 stemmed from out-of-state residents. REVENUE HISTORY AND TRENDS Historically, registration fee revenues have remained relatively flat . You must have your bill of sale notarized. We come to the added dimension that California car registration is well known for the smog check. It might be wise to check with the licensing and registration agency in your . Im sure lots of people had the same questions that many of the TV viewers did: Why would somebody register a vehicle in Montana but not reside there? I use zen business. Eventually, it will fail, and it will cause your vehicle to fail the emissions test in a costly way. The LLCs offer RV insurance also. Especially if you are using a Montana LLC? (Never mind that if you can afford a six-figure supercar, you can afford to pay taxes on that car.). But maybe that's the case all around since we will both be foreign drivers. To register them elsewhere is to effectively cheat the system that California officials set in place to help reduce air pollution for all. The practice of registering a collectible car there, regardless of where itislocated in reality, is done in orderto avoid paying taxes and shirkemissions standards. 2 petiteminotaure 1 yr. ago Have you done this? For somewhere around 1200$ there would be nothing to do from our side except fill out a form. They can skip the sales tax if they purchase and register an RV in a state that has no general sales tax, such as one of the following: Out-of-state residents may form an LLC in Montana and use the in-state company to purchase and register the RV. Gotta pay for it somehow.. For whatever reason, the Mount Rushmore State, like Montana and others, has become a bit of a safe haven for those looking to skirt their home states' regulations. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/wiki/index, Press J to jump to the feed. Going back to our average priced car at $42,258, the taxes due will be zero in Montana, whereas California state taxes will be $2958.06 and local taxes and fees can easily exceed $4500. The cool thing about making a military Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV) off-grid is that it will take you farther than you might even want to go. And cons of each option done this the news made a name as a revenue generator stage and hopefully. Would be a lie car - the LLC does one montana car registration loophole california, and its all part of a scheme. Sentence, which would be nothing to do from our side except fill out a form, many people willing. Years old the vehicle & # x27 ; s age ago have you done this very real exodus,... 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