This was posted today on a tax list that I belong to. Just FYI ********** Tired of residents of California registering the vehicles out of state but driving them in California? Would you like to see them pay their fair share for vehicle registeration? Would you like to do something to help get more revenue into the state coffers but you do not want to pay the added taxes? If so then read further. Report Vehicles with Out-of-State License Plates to the CHP Did you know that the State of California loses millions of dollars a year in revenue from California residents who unlawfully register their vehicles in other states or countries? Did you know that vehicle registration fees are due immediately upon accepting employment or establishing residency in the State of California? Did you know that California law permits only 20 days to complete the process of registering your vehicle without paying a penalty? The three most common reasons for not completing the registration process are: 1. People are unaware of California registration laws. 2. People are evading payments of registration fees and taxes. 3. People are unable to comply with air pollution control laws. Please use this link to report vehicles you believe belong to California residents but are not properly registered. Include the following information: * State or province in which vehicle is registered * Vehicle license number * Time and date the vehicle was observed * Make, model and color of the vehicle * Location where the vehicle was observed * Any additional comments and descriptive information You can enter this information into the CHP website and have them get the correct vehicle registeration paid. Their url for this reporting is: http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/cheaters.html So help collect more taxes without you having to pay the taxes. Unless of course you are one of them driving a vehicle in California but licensed out of state.
I saw this on the news this morning as well - the old "dob in your tax-cheating neighbor" ploy. Nice......... Cheers Kevin
Even though my cars registered in CA, I think this sucks that the gov't wants people to be tattle-tales.
Hmm what if you have a house in CA and one in OR and you posses a OR drivers license, and register all your cars in OR but drive in CA. When you get pulled over, or get reported, couldn't you say that you were vacationing in CA? I would be interested to know the answer.
Kevin, if the answer to my question is yes, then how would CA DMV ever tax people driving in CA with out of state plates? Or would they only hassle people who have a CA drivers license but their registration/plate on the car is out of state?
Ryan - From what I have heard (and this is certainly not an official answer) - if you get pulled over with out of state plates and you do not have a matching out of state license - you will receive some kind of citation indicating that you have 30 days to register your vehicle in CA or face penalties. If you have an out of state plate AND a license from that same state - there is really no way for law enforcement to penalize you. For all they know you are visiting here. Now if you're really unlucky and the same local cop sees you every weekend driving by him in the same car with an out of state plate - you may have a problem since your "reasonable" visiting time has probably been exceeded. Once again - this is not an official answer - only something I heard from a friend once.
Sorry, mate - couldn't find the "tongue in cheek" smiley-con thingy. I think Jeffrey's somewhat less smarty-pants answer covers it for you!! Cheers Kevin
Gotcha Jeffrey! Reason I asked is with OR not having sales tax, it might be very cheap to buy cars there (granted one buys enough expensive cars). THus I was thinking maybe just get a cheap place (after all its OR LOL) there, and was thinking of the possible $$ to be saved. Then it popped into my head that in order to change my license Iwill have to retake my motorcycle license part of it, and I would rather not. Ok pay the CA dmv. Sigh. Thanks for the explanation bro.