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Comment by kart23 | Hacker News Reader

pretty sure in a lot of these cases it’s already illegal, enforcing the law is another matter. someone actually has to pull over the montana plate owner, then the state has to sue them for tax evasion, build the case, etc. Thats just not gonna happen. ideally there would be a nationwide standard for registration and taxes.

also the new hot thing in california is to have dealer plates on your million dollar car. you never register it, never pay taxes, but it’s still legal to drive. you just need to own a dealership, but on paper again that’s not hard if you’re rich

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> you just need to own a dealership, but on paper again that’s not hard if you’re rich

You're technically correct, but a dealership is one of the most highly taxed entities in California. In any city or county, a dealership, dollar for dollar, pays one of the highest taxes than any business there.

So this recommendation is similar to stabbing yourself in the stomach and waiting to bleed out so that you weigh less on the scale - there are other details, most people don't care about, with those dealer plates on one's million dollar car that has to do more with insurance, liability and taxes than fees to the CA DMV.

> someone actually has to pull over the montana plate owner, then the state has to sue them for tax evasion, build the case, etc. Thats just not gonna happen

But that's because that's not the path the FTB follows!

The reasonable path that has been taken is the FTB finds out that you, as a Californian, own plates in Montana and send you a bill for the registration plus fees and punitive damages so you reconsider pulling the stunt again. If you don't respond in 90 days, it's sent directly to your bank as a demand letter. If you have at least one bank that has a California domicile, that bank is going to pay out from your funds immediately.

> You're technically correct, but a dealership is one of the most highly taxed entities in California. In any city or county, a dealership, dollar for dollar, pays one of the highest taxes than any business there.

That's true for most dealerships, but most of the taxes are transaction based (probably some for property tax on inventory though). If you have a sham dealership that primarily exists so you can have dealer plates and to massage transactions on your personal vehicles, you can probably avoid a lot of taxes.

Not my style, I just left the state when I was tired of everything. I'm happier where I landed, but if people want to live in California and use out of state plates, that's less people where I am, so go nuts.

> probably some for property tax on inventory though

Most dealerships in the last three decades have not owned their own inventory for a long time. Trade-ins are held by dealerships in a manner very different than just "owning" them outright. These are all financed, leveraged deals.

> If you have a sham dealership that primarily exists so you can have dealer plates and to massage transactions on your personal vehicles, you can probably avoid a lot of taxes

I would imagine you have not worked at a dealership or don't own one, so let's not continue this discussion further because you are severely underestimating what it costs in California (both in time and money) to be a dealer.

> I'm happier where I landed, but if people want to live in California and use out of state plates, that's less people where I am, so go nuts

It's actually great to talk to a transplant because most of my relatives and friends have moved to other states, whereas I've stood steadfast.

Are you happy where you are? What made you be in California? Did you grow up here? Was it for work?

Would you come back if California was split into two, where one part of California was closer politically or regulatory to Texas or Florida?

> I would imagine you have not worked at a dealership or don't own one, so let's not continue this discussion further because you are severely underestimating what it costs in California (both in time and money) to be a dealer.

Fair, but I can't imagine it takes that much time if you don't actually do any transactions or hold any inventory, except for the transactions around the cars you want to drive. I don't know what it costs to be a licensed car dealer that doesn't actually do any transactions, but for a lot of people, it's not really about the money, it's about exploiting loopholes so you can pay something else instead of sales tax on your fancy car.

I was born in Southern California. I went to Milwaukee for college, then came back and got a job in sillycon valley. I'm not going back (except to visit), it's too crowded and I don't like people. Especially in places with weather I like. For roughly twice the price of my small house on a postage stamp lot, I'm on 8 acres with a house that's too big... I did well in the startup lottery, but I can't afford to go to an open house for 8 acres anywhere in California that I'd choose to live.

Caveat: ifn my kiddo establishes himself in California and has kids and would like us closer, we'd probably consider it. He's in high school right now, so that's some time from now. We will want to downsize to a smaller house by then (although probably still don't want to be close to neighbors)

It's wild that buying a car dealership that you have no need for other than to avoid taxes is somehow considered more reasonable than just, like, paying the taxes.

These kind of people are bored from already having every material possession they could ever want; so they turn to playing these kind of games to impress their peers.

I once saw an SUV at the country club with “Manufacturer” plates. There’s always a higher peak…

you don't even have to be rich. it's not much more onerous than a generic small business. i know more than one 2-car-inventory dealerships.

but it's only worth the effort if you are rich enough to buy cars that incur substantial tax and reg fees. you still need to have insurance and the dealership kind of insurance costs a lot. you probably aren't going to get umbrella coverage to include it either, so you'll have more limited liability.

I thought dealers had to have plates with numbers now ?

Since Jan 2019

i mean actual dealer plates, with dlr on the side:

https://www.californiadealeracademy.com/articles/the-importa...

can't flock help? ;)

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