Montana registration crack-down

They are beyond stupid.

 

last time I was in California (august 2019) I rented a very nice. AMG C63 from a rental car company (Hertz) interestingly the car had tags from Tennessee and the rental car was in California .. for who knows how long as not many people rent a car from San Fran to drive to Tennessee and the car only had 15 miles on it when I picked it up so it obviously did not drive from Tennassee in fact it was a new car I was the first renter,....
so if Hertz can do why can't Jamie do it...........

 

Because “real” rental car companies have a deal with the state and they do pay sales and use tax to California based on the rentals in the state. Jamie can do that too if he has a “real” rental car company. But I think his point was he has a sham rental car company in Montana and he uses that to avoid California sales and use taxes. Doesn’t work.

 

what use taxes does Hertz pay in California if the car is registered out of state they I suspect pay sales taxes and income taxes on money earned etc just like any other business but doubt they pay purchase sales taxes to California when they purchase the cars especially if they are registered out of state as many are....which is what this is about I thought ...so what's the difference.... ...

 

All leasing companies that lease cars are required to register the car in California within 20 days of the car arriving in California. Then they are required to collect sales and use tax as part of the monthly lease payment from the lessee and transmit it to California. Rental car companies, where the car moves around from state to state, are not required to register the car but they are required to qualify to do business in California (renting the car). And if you look at your rental car receipt you will see that they are collecting sales tax and transmitting it to the state.

 

yes they do pay sales tax but the point is they are using out of state cars that they did not pay California sale and registration taxes to California when they bought the car ... which is the point of this thread ... they did not use Montana but they did use another state .. my point is you can rent a car from any state and drive it in California for as long as you want it is done every day.....

 

Larry, with all due respect, no you cannot. If you are a “real” rental car company and the car “really” does travel from state to state and you “really” qualify the rental car company in California and you “really” pay sales tax to California on the rentals then you can do it. But the point of this thread is that you can create a sham Montana registration either by simply registering the car in Montana or with the added overlay of a sham LLC owner or sham rental car company and then drive it in California for free. No you cant.

 

Ron .. I have no idea if it is legal or not I am not an expert on California rental car laws or DMV laws...and don't care enough to check.... My point in interjecting in this thread is so many statements get made in this thread that are based on misinformation and assumptions ....... I do not know what makes Hertz any more able to keep cars in California that are licensed out of state .. while if the poster.. Jamie rents a car from a different rental car company why that is not ok......maybe neither is ok or maybe both or ok do not really see how one could be legal and the other is not..
but it does not involve me so that is all I have to say...

 

My experience with stuff liek this is you get away with it until you dont. And then in hindsight you kick yourself

 

Larry is right. How is Hertz paying registration to California if the car is there but registered out of state? I'm not aware of apportioned plates (International Registration Plan) for passenger vehicles...only semitrucks and buses. That system is made to pay a prorated amount of annual registration based on the commercial vehicle being in that state. But I don't see how Hertz or the others do that...they have regular plates.

Edit: And sales tax itself is not reliable. I typically rent in one state and do long out of state trips in that vehicle. So if I rent a car in Phoenix and drive to California for a 2 week trip, Arizona gets the sales tax revenue.

 

Guys, I would not cry crocodile tears over whether or not California is getting all the money from Hertz. CA can and does take care of itself in collecting tax revenue. Just look at how it pursued Amazon. CA gets more than its fair share because it is the 1000 lb gorilla in the state tax enforcement world. I am sure Hertz is paying its due to CA (and from painful experience you do not want to take on CA state tax bureaucrats—they are punitive, vengeful and punish you and force you into economic submission even if you are right==because they can).

This discussion started because Jamie raised the issue (I assume from the context of his post) whether using a fake Montana rental car company could enable you to avoid paying California sales and use tax. I think this best sums it up:

 

Where exactly is this rental car company (exotics/luxury) located in Montana?

Would guess CHP would need about 10 minutes to blow holes in this defense

 

Jerry, was there a situation where you got away with it until you didn't in the state of NV?

Asking for a friend.

 

Nope not something I would try as i learned long ago through personal experience that to cheat/be unethical generally ends up badly for me.

 

word is the Atlanta metro police are pulling over cars with Montana plates
every county is looking for revenue now
the heat is on those with motor homes as well

 

this is terrible news. Didn’t see that coming. (rolls eyes)

 

you can roll your eyes all you want
right now municipalities throughout the country are suffering from lack of sales tax income
state and local officials are looking at anyway they can recoup revenue
teachers, fire fighters and police and numerous other social services we all depend on
their budgets are being cut because of this pandemic and lack of sales tax income
I can assure you that they will crack down on the scofflaws who exploit this license plate scheme

as we say down south
you just hide and watch!!!

 

Simple solution, open the businesses and let people live.

 

Didn’t happen to notice my home state by chance? I agree with you 100% This was coming well before the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s a thought. How about all those that want to Game the system invest in a piece of property here listed agricultural $65-$120k. Taxes will run about $80 a year, have the county give them a printout of yearly tax bill and a physical address then register your car legally. Think of it as a giant piggy bank and relist the property when your car fetish has run its course. Me being a psychic, I’m going to predict the rest of the states are going to make an example out of these select few.

 

interesting
I guess you haven't seen or been aware of the 100,000 plus deaths that have occurred with this virus
almost twice what we as a nation lost in my war Vietnam ( I seriously doubt if you served this nation )

let them live
you sound like McNamara !

 

oh yea now there is a real incentive to crack down on these individuals who feel they are above the law
and what gets me is that its not the tax that will hurt them the most it will be the penalty !
they will be driving their precious cars like al Qaeda operatives !
looking over their shoulders waiting for the strike from predator drone above!

 

Many more die of other natural causes. Stay home if you want let everyone else get back to living ASAP. Comparing to Vietnam might one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

 

obviously you're not very well educated if you don't see the similarities

 

I feel sorry for you. Good luck with your life and pathetic mindset.

 

To lighten the discussion a little, on allowing people to live, our local cars and coffee started up full swing yesterday. Here are a few pictures of some (not all) of the Ferraris in attendance. You will note sister F40s. One even had Montana plates (the other had dealer plates). I thought the Ferrari of Newport Beach license plate holder was a nice touch.

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