Montana Tag News

This was just posted by VINwiki about Georgia's crackdown on Montana tags and this could spread to other states. Oddly enough out of all the states, he mentioned mine (around 3:10min mark) and how they don't perceive it as tax evasion. I've been going back and forth on what I want to do, while I really want LA plates it's hard not to save some money and make life easier with no state inspections. I have a feeling things could change depending how things spread though.

BTW, I do recommend checking out VINwiki channel, they have some great auto stories, great story tellers and are around only 10min.


https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/we...accused-of-cheating-local-taxpayers/858532353
 
Very interesting to see a state make a concerted effort to target Montana plates specifically. I know California DMV has an anonymous hotline/web portal to report out of state plates violators but haven't heard anything about the Montana loophole specifically.
 
I've only come across Montana plates on here when researching about tax I'll be looking at. It's crazy to think Georgia account for half of the plates. I do hope news doesn't draw too much attention to it though.
 
I live in Georgia and trying to title my RCR as I write this. In the case of “kit cars” GA makes it very hard because our cars are not in their system. Not the case of course based on the article. I can see why going to Montana is attractive, when you try to do right by the state and they only make it very, very difficult. I’m waiting to see if I was successful in round two.
 
Man, that really sucks. I don't get why something like these cars can be such a pain to register, all the engineering has been done to deem street worthy. Now I can see why something someone designs and build from the ground up in their garage being sort of difficult to plate.

Good luck with round 2 Dan, looking forward to hearing back about how it went
 
Round two : State 2. Me 0. In round one state wanted an appraised value. My county said the state appraises, the State said the county. In lieu of, I could provide an Insurance binder. So I sent copy of policy. Today received another rejection with a new request not mentioned the first time, a dealer transfer authorization. I told them in my cover letter this was a kit car, verified by my invoice, hence not bought from dealer, rather manufacturer. State sent me to another state organization who could do an authorization form, but they said I don’t need one. So the two state agencies are going to straighten this out. Fingers and toes crossed.
 

Joel K

Supporter
Round two : State 2. Me 0. In round one state wanted an appraised value. My county said the state appraises, the State said the county. In lieu of, I could provide an Insurance binder. So I sent copy of policy. Today received another rejection with a new request not mentioned the first time, a dealer transfer authorization. I told them in my cover letter this was a kit car, verified by my invoice, hence not bought from dealer, rather manufacturer. State sent me to another state organization who could do an authorization form, but they said I don’t need one. So the two state agencies are going to straighten this out. Fingers and toes crossed.

Sounds like a bit of a pain Dan, hope you can sort through it soon. in Jersey you pay tax on the total sum of the parts that you have not already paid tax on. You need proof of sale for all major parts so they know they are not stolen. They take the VIN the mfg provided and either use that VIN or issue you a new one.

The grey area for me is emissions, but after discussing it with the state I am pretty comfortable I can pass. It’s just a lot of work to get all the emissions equipment to work. I’m sure there will be some surprises for me but at least they were able to explain what is expected and the process.

Good luck!
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
Lambo boss.jpg
 
Registration update: I finally had to call the Department of Revenue Motor Vehicle Division commissioners office to get some help. Seems the confusion was in the Certificate of Origin from Michigan vice a Georgia MSO (Manufacturers Statement of Origin). The routine for the everyday paper work shuffle typically involves Georgia or other state car dealers and titling a "kit car" just did not fit the standard work load. All the data that was needed was on the Michigan document, just looked different. I was told to sign the back so I did, and now I have a VIN plate which I need to install and have the local police validate its on the car, send back to the state the police document and should (fingers crossed) receive a title so I can license the car. So I think I'm one step closer to getting a license plate.
 
Well I always like to know the end of a story, but not yet. I recall a children’s story I think it was called The Never Ending Story. I must be in it. This post started about Montana, and possible tax evasion......and here I am trying to give them money and they are fighting me the entire way. Montana is sounding pretty good.

Anyway, I placed the state VIN placard on the car and called our local police department to come verify the plate. He is a fellow gearhead, so we enjoyed the car, talked some shop and he verified the data via state systems. All checked well so sent the paperwork back to the state once again. I hope the next and final step is to receive the title then off to my local DOV to pay the taxes and apply for a plate. I started this process nearly 60 days ago, and it’s been uphill the whole way so far.

I will finish the story once it ends, and I’m hoping for a happy ending
 
Looking promising Dan, fingers crossed everything goes as smoothly as the the recent inspection by the local PD!
 

HCF - John

Gearbox / Brake Systems
When I had my car built, I went through the Montana LLC process. Received a letter some months back from MT stating they were charging an additional assessment for any vehicle with an original MSRP over a certain amount. It wasn't based on current market value, and it would be assessed for a several year period (aka a Ferrari tax).

For me, anyway, the MT process was more about convenience than it was about emissions or taxes. The car had cats and, once you added up the costs of LLC formation and ongoing maintenance, the delta between the state taxes and the MT route was really insignificant. The additional assessment, if it had been in place when I formed the entity, would have actually made the MT process more expensive after a year or two.

Tax advisors structure ownership of company assets using entities in states with more favorable treatment of one topic or another as a standard practice. Since one can form and own a special-purpose LLC, I believe the MT process is completely legitimate in most states - and remains that way until the residency state spells out their requirements. In California, for example, it's unambiguous. In Georgia, however, not so much so.

That said, if I were to do over again, I'd absolutely own the vehicle personally and jump through my state hoops to avoid what looks like it's going to be a bloodbath.
Best,
John
 
OK, the end of the story.....I think

Its December 8 2018 and after filing the state T-22 form (VIN verification), the next step was to pay the state tax. I had to call the state offices to get a status of my request (just after thanksgiving), and they finally emailed my the "letter they mailed" which only gave me 2 days to pay the tax or get fined. I ran (almost) down to the local DMV and paid (yes a very big check). So I waited again to receive a title. 10 days passes and finally I have a title. Now its back to the DMV next week to get a plate (vanity plate I think, with some choice words, but it wont fly)........and they wonder why people use the Montana route.....LOL. This should be the end of the story, I hope, and IM sure your tired of reading about it anyway.

Good luck to the other state builders, trust your process is better than my experience was.
 

Ron McCall

Supporter
Dan,

How did they arrive at the valuation of the car ? Was that based on their information or documents provided by you ?


Ron
 
Initially I included the RCR invoice. It was the value I hadn’t paid taxes on. The state was unable to do its job, so they would accept an insurance policy. I purchased a policy for the value I wanted, sent it to the state and they accepted that as the value.
 
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