Registering under a Montana LLC

Role1133

New member
Anyone on here have any insight on registering their Fuso or any vehicle really in Montana under a LLC? With the CARB law in California going into affect for 2007 diesels starting the first of the year, I'm trying to figure out a way to register it avoiding all the red tape in California. Oh and it has gone through customs but has never been registered in the US. Asking for a friend, wink wink.
 

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
Montana has recently changed their laws concerning the LLC registration process making it more expensive in many instances to register a high value vehicle in Montana. You also have less protection from your state of residence actively pursuing you for proper registration fees and taxes that would be do on that vehicle IF you were to register that vehicle in your state of residence and park it there.

MANY of the other states in the USA are now very aware of the Montana LLC option for registration of high value vehicles by owners that at NOT domiciled in the State of Montana and do not locate the vehicle in Montana. It's all about the money and your state of residence WANTS THEIR MONEY!

You know exactly what you are doing by avoiding paying sales tax, registration fees and any other tax on vehicles your state of residence would charge you for registering and owning that vehicle in your state of residence. Your state of residence also knows this and they WANT THEIR MONEY! All states have some sort of timeframe (30 days or less in most states) for a resident to register and license any newly acquired vehicle you will keep parked at your residence or anywhere within your state of residence.

Many states are now actively pursuing residents of their state who have Montana LLC's specifically setup for the registration of high value vehicle. California is one of the most active in their pursuit of THEIR MONEY! Register that high value vehicle in Montana, keep the vehicle at your home in California and you will most likely be contacted by the California Tax NAZI'S wanting their money.

It all boils down to where you physically keep the vehicle.

Keep the vehicle in Montana and you have no problems at all. Bring that Montana registered vehicle home to your state of residence, park it there, ride around in it and that's when the problems for you can begin. Traveling around in other states will be no problem as you are not a resident of those states. It all depends on your state of residence and their interest in chasing you down to git THEIR MONEY they believe they are owed!

All your state of residence wants is "THEIR FAIR SHARE OF YOUR MONEY" whatever the Hell that is!

Go ahead and take a shot at it. You just might git away with it!
 
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Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Can you expand on that. What pitfalls are you aware of recently?

Well the problem is that technically if you live in California you have a certain number of days (I think 14?) to switch your registration and plate to California. If you keep driving around with Montana plates (or any other state for that matter) in let's say San Luis de Obispo, eventually you may get caught and you will need to switch the plates.

So to answer the original poster question, if he lives full time in California and intend to keep the vehicle there and drive it around town, having Montana plates will not help. If on the other hand if he is going to drive the vehicle up to Alaska/Canada or down to South America, then it should not be a problem at all.
 

quickfarms

Adventurer
The reality is if it a daily driver, or parked on the street or in view from the street, you will eventually probably get caught.

Now if it is only used occasionally and parked inside or in the back of the property it is probably not that big of a deal.

I know multiple people that registered there toys or extra vehicles out of the state and most do not have an issue.

Now in the OP’s case the FG140 weighs 5842 lbs for the base model, so the easiest route would be to weigh it and use a declared weight of under 10,000 lbs, if you can get there, and avoid carb.
 
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DzlToy

Explorer
Montana has recently changed their laws concerning the LLC registration process making it more expensive in many instances to register a high value vehicle in Montana. You also have less protection from your state of residence actively pursuing you for proper registration fees and taxes that would be do on that vehicle IF you were to register that vehicle in your state of residence and park it there.

MANY of the other states in the USA are now very aware of the Montana LLC option for registration of high value vehicles by owners that at NOT domiciled in the State of Montana and do not locate the vehicle in Montana. It's all about the money and your state of residence WANTS THEIR MONEY!

You know exactly what you are doing by avoiding paying sales tax, registration fees and any other tax on vehicles your state of residence would charge you for registering and owning that vehicle in your state of residence. Your state of residence also knows this and they WANT THEIR MONEY! All states have some sort of timeframe (30 days or less in most states) for a resident to register and license any newly acquired vehicle you will keep parked at your residence or anywhere within your state of residence.

Many states are now actively pursuing residents of their state who have Montana LLC's specifically setup for the registration of high value vehicle. California is one of the most active in their pursuit of THEIR MONEY! Register that high value vehicle in Montana, keep the vehicle at your home in California and you will most likely be contacted by the California Tax NAZI'S wanting their money.

It all boils down to where you physically keep the vehicle.

Keep the vehicle in Montana and you have no problems at all. Bring that Montana registered vehicle home to your state of residence, park it there, ride around in it and that's when the problems for you can begin. Traveling around in other states will be no problem as you are not a resident of those states. It all depends on your state of residence and their interest in chasing you down to git THEIR MONEY they believe they are owed!

All your state of residence wants is "THEIR FAIR SHARE OF YOUR MONEY" whatever the Hell that is!

Go ahead and take a shot at it. You just might git away with it!

This line of thinking is a majour part of the problem. You aren't "getting away" with anything and my money isn't "California's (their) money" to take. Intelligent, wealthy and successful business men around the world pay HEAPS of money to lawyers, CPAs, CFPs and other professionals to research, configure, structure, plan and organise their affairs in a way, so as to LEGALLY AVOID AND MINIMISE the taxes that are due and payable. I do not have a car in my legal name, a cell phone in my legal name, an address, a bank account in my legal name, etc. You are asking for someone, at some point in your life, to come take your stuff. That could be the state or a court/lawsuit, a spouse, neighbour, business partner, the IRS or nearly anyone with the time and money to come after you, if you are viewed as a target. You will be time and money ahead, INVESTING in protecting yourself, your family and your assets from these people.

I have not personally paid one red cent in state or federal income taxes in the last 25 years and won a case against the IRS in DC Tax Court in 2005. While the minions may gasp in fear, those of us in the know, have saved tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over long periods of time, allowing one to work less, travel more, save more, invest or what have you. The same is true for registering a privately owned automobile in the name of a private trust, LLC, PUA/TUA, 501/508 or other entity. If the car/truck/van is legally owned by an LLC registered in Wyoming, it matters not where the beneficial user resides. Hint: don't be a resident, anywhere. This is not a scam, a loop hole or a trick. It is smart business, asset management, estate planning and fiscally prudent.

California has no more jurisdiction over a car licensed and registered in Montana, owned by an LLC domiciled there, than it does over a car licensed and registered in Japan or Australia. The key to success is proper structuring of the various entities. You will pay up front to have it done correctly, so you can save in the long run and sleep well at night. So, either get on the phone with a competent attorner or financial adviser (good luck with that), or educate yourself by spending some time, researching how to protect assets, reduce taxes and eliminate the Nazi government of California or Massachusetts reaching into your pocket to fund its myriad Socialist programmes and other related nonsense using your hard-earned dollars, which are worth less and less each day.

If you don't agree, no problem. Stay in California, be a Res-ident, pay exhorbitant fees and live in the mess that you helped create, either directly or via inaction. I have to laugh hysterically when people who live in Commie states like MA, NY and CA want to move somewhere else, domicile their business somewhere else, register their cars somewhere else and whine about where they live or how "nice" it is somewhere else, but they refuse to change how they think, structure their life, vote or make a concerted effort to change their immediate world. If you live in a place where tags are $25 per year and registration is dirt cheap, none of this is an issue for you. It's all about where you "live".

Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.

Gregory v. Helvering, 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934)


Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one's affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.

Commissioner v. Newman, 159 F.2d 848, 851 (2d Cir. 1947)
 
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68camaro

Any River...Any Place
Wasn't there another thread that said you could create an anonymous New Mexico LLC purchase or own the vehicle, and have this LLC title the vehicle in Montana? Thereby thwarting attempts to identify true owner.......
 

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
Wasn't there another thread that said you could create an anonymous New Mexico LLC purchase or own the vehicle, and have this LLC title the vehicle in Montana? Thereby thwarting attempts to identify true owner.......


Now were talkin!!!!
 

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