Need help fleeing high-tax liberalism in California. (Fresno: hotel, vacation home)

[Shope]

Originally Posted by surfermsc

Thank you for posting this. The taxes in CA are outrageous and are just getting worse and worse. If you are thinking of moving here to make money like you could in that past I promise you times have changed. My advise? STAY AWAY!

28% Federal income tax
10% CA State income tax
8.50% sales tax
Los Angeles (and other Metros) business specific taxes (roughly 7% for my business).
Outrageous cost of living
Low Quality if life in major cities (everyone lives in apartments)
Real Estate is SKY HIGH. Expect to pay 800k - 1 million dollars for a nice house you can get in Oregon or Tennessee for $150k.
THE RICH CONTROL EVERYTHING AND THEY ARE LOCKED IN.
Sky high traffic tickets. Seat-belt ticket. Mandatory 2 hour court appearance and a no-show. BAM! Ticket increases to $400.00 They have also QUADRUPLED all tickets. You get a ticket in Los Angeles YOU ARE OUT ALLOT OF MONEY. Forget to show up in court? YOU ARE SCREWED.

The last straw was having two county government employees show up at my business to order me to pay a 2 cents per pound "warehouse tax" on any products handled my me - plus the burden of keeping an extensive ledger/records. Roughly an additional $700.00 per month straight to the county of Los Angeles!

FORGET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You want to punish me for trying to make somthing out of myself? You want to reward all these people on fake disability phony SSI claims? I met people like this. And all these illegal immigrants living off the system? I'm very sorry they are poor! And I'm very sorry they live 6-7 people to 1 apartment! But that is not my fault! I did not pass NAFTA and I should not have to pay these high taxes to help feed, clothe and house them.

TAX ME ? Fine! I REFUSE to live in the state of CA anymore!

SO I LEFT. I transferred my business to FL where there is ZERO state income tax and no targeted taxes to my business.

That being said I miss living in Los Angeles so much I loved it there. It's the world in one place. There is so much variety and mental stimulation. All you have to do is walk outside and you are immersed in it. It really upsets me these politicians are passing law after law to punish those who produce and work hard whilst rewarding those who don't. They chase away businesses and punish productive citizens in this way.

Well said sir.

[Shope]

Originally Posted by surfermsc

The law in CA says that any car in CA more than 2 weeks I think? Could be wrong but whatever it's a short amount of time - must get CA plates.
The local police can and will pull you over simply for having out of state plates and they will log it. If you spend too much time in any one place and you are pulled over a second or third time what's your excuse?

Um. Ya I know you pulled me over before, umm ya I don't live here.

2 weeks is hard to believe. I believe the law is over 6 months. Some business trips are longer than 2 weeks. Cops in CA don't pull you over for simply being out of state. Unless you are getting pulled over all the time that isn't really going to serve as proof that you spend more time in California than say, Nevada or Arizona.

[stars99]

Originally Posted by Rpche

I was born and raised here in California and I love it. I love everything, except the rampant liberalism and high punitive taxes.

I make most of my money online these days, and within a couple of years 100% of my income should be coming from online ventures. So physically there won't be any need to be officially living in California.

What I plan on doing is incorporating in Nevada and establishing an official business/personal address there (the same place), registering my cars in Nevada, and getting a Nevada drivers license.

But I would live in California 99.9% of the time.

The tax savings (10% state income tax plus lots of other liberal B.S.) will be substantial.

I plan on hiring a lawyer to take care of the nuts and bolts, but I was wondering if anybody has experience with this.

Thank you.

Nevada corporations are great if your business is really located in Nevada. Otherwise, they're generally a waste of money. .For example, you won't get the extra liability protections of a Nevada LLC if you get sued--CA's laws will always take precedence in any lawsuit against you. I'm sure it's the same with the tax situation. I wouldn't try it. There's a whole industry of hacks trying to peddle useless Nevada corps to out of state people who don't know any better. You're better off just moving to Nevada if you feel that strongly about this.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by Shope

2 weeks is hard to believe. I believe the law is over 6 months. Some business trips are longer than 2 weeks. Cops in CA don't pull you over for simply being out of state. Unless you are getting pulled over all the time that isn't really going to serve as proof that you spend more time in California than say, Nevada or Arizona.

Its 20 days, so 3 weeks not 2 weeks.

CHP and DMV do pursue cars being operated by people who establish residency in California. There is also a hotline for residents to report others who live here but use out of state registered vehicles. Check this link.
http://www.chp.ca.gov/prog/cheaters.cgi
Last year, the CHP and DMV collected $1 million from registration cheats.

What the DMV says:

Fees must be paid within 20 days of entry or residency to avoid penalties. Any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered within 20 days of entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Nonresidents whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state or jurisdiction may operate their vehicles in California until they:

• Accept gainful employment in California.
• Claim a homeowner's exemption in California.
• Rent or lease a residence in California.
• Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).
• Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).

NOTE: Nonresident military personnel stationed in California or their spouses may operate their vehicles with valid out-of-state license plates from their home state or the state where the military person was last stationed.
California DMV HTVR9 - How To Register A Out-of-State Vehicle (Nonresident Vehicle)

[surfermsc]

Originally Posted by Shope

2 weeks is hard to believe. I believe the law is over 6 months. Some business trips are longer than 2 weeks. Cops in CA don't pull you over for simply being out of state. Unless you are getting pulled over all the time that isn't really going to serve as proof that you spend more time in California than say, Nevada or Arizona.

Read the below posters comments and link's.

20 days. I know it's hard to believe. I could not believe it myself. But I was pulled over for out of state plates after 2 months. First thing he asked me was how long I was there. I lied and said "10 days" and he STILL gave me a ticket. Come to find out I would have had to prove in court I was only thier for 10 days to get a dismissal - which is a HUGE waste of time.

So you see - it's expected that most people will lie about how long they have been there but the cops just give them the ticket anyways and then it's left up to you to prove it to the judge.

The DMV taxes (registration etc) and smog fee's alone are an incentive for people not to register thier cars in CA.

[surfermsc]

Originally Posted by OrlandoRE_Miracle

Nevada corporations are great if your business is really located in Nevada. Otherwise, they're generally a waste of money. .For example, you won't get the extra liability protections of a Nevada LLC if you get sued--CA's laws will always take precedence in any lawsuit against you. I'm sure it's the same with the tax situation. I wouldn't try it. There's a whole industry of hacks trying to peddle useless Nevada corps to out of state people who don't know any better. You're better off just moving to Nevada if you feel that strongly about this.

But you can evade state tax's and fee's for your corporation right?

[Ultrarunner]

Fees must be paid within 20 days of entry or residency to avoid penalties. Any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered within 20 days of entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Nonresidents whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state or jurisdiction may operate their vehicles in California until they:

Accept gainful employment in California.
Claim a homeowner's exemption in California.
Rent or lease a residence in California.
Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).
Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).

This is a constant source of trouble... I was speaking with a couple from Seattle that lease a cottage in Carmel year round... they are always getting stopped with their WA plates and even went to court... the Judge ruled in their favor... saying leasing a residence in CA down not establish residency when it is a vacation home...

Why do we have to make things so complicated??? Oh, I forgot... it's the money

[Shope]

Originally Posted by FresnoFacts

Its 20 days, so 3 weeks not 2 weeks.

CHP and DMV do pursue cars being operated by people who establish residency in California. There is also a hotline for residents to report others who live here but use out of state registered vehicles. Check this link.
Contact The CHP
Last year, the CHP and DMV collected $1 million from registration cheats.

What the DMV says:

That law only applies if you are a California resident. If you are a Nevada resident that lives in California part time that law does not apply to you. That law is for people trying to buy cars out of state and avoid paying taxes on it.

My cousin does real estate in California and Texas. He spends way more time in California but has Texas plates, drivers license, everything. He has never had any problems. He is a Texas resident so none of that applies to him.

[e_cuyler]

The original poster said he would be in California "99.9%" of the time, so I think that would be a problem.

[Shope]

Originally Posted by e_cuyler

The original poster said he would be in California "99.9%" of the time, so I think that would be a problem.

I agree he will have a harder time pulling that one off. Since his business is mostly "internet based" I would just spend most of my time in Nevada, but thats just me.