Many vehicle owners in high-tax states have heard about a seemingly clever strategy: forming a Montana LLC to register their vehicles and avoid paying hefty sales and registration taxes in their home states. This practice is especially popular among owners of luxury cars, exotic sports cars, RVs, and boats. But make no mistake—despite its popularity and the many businesses facilitating it, this tax avoidance scheme is illegal in most circumstances and carries serious consequences.
The strategy is straightforward: A resident of a high-tax state forms a limited liability company (LLC) in Montana, makes that LLC the official owner of their vehicle, and registers the vehicle in Montana with that LLC’s address. The appeal is obvious—Montana charges no sales tax on vehicle purchases and has relatively low registration fees.
“Under Montana law, a business entity formed in Montana can title and register vehicles it owns in Montana no matter where the vehicles are located.” (Draneas, 2024)
Companies specializing in this service advertise widely, with some charging as little as $1,049 for a package that includes LLC formation, registered agent service, and vehicle registration assistance.
Despite what service providers might claim, this isn’t a legal “loophole”—it’s tax evasion when the vehicle is primarily used in another state. Most states have clear laws requiring residents to register vehicles in their state of residence if the vehicles are primarily kept or operated there.
In California:
“California law also provides that an LLC formed in another state but owned at least 50% by California residents is treated as a California resident for vehicle-registration purposes.” (Draneas, 2024)
In Utah:
“The law specifically says that if a business entity has a vehicle and operates that vehicle primarily within Utah, the same standard applies. That business entity is deemed to be a domicile area of Utah or resident of Utah for purposes of registration as well.” (Gephardt, 2023)
Similar laws exist in Georgia and most other states. The legal reality is simple: if you live in a state and your vehicle is primarily operated there, you are required to register it there and pay applicable taxes—regardless of any Montana LLC ownership structure.
The penalties for this form of tax evasion can be substantial, involving far more than just paying the evaded taxes:
In Utah, if caught, vehicle owners face “all the back sales tax and 100% penalty of the sales tax amount that wasn’t paid. So basically, double sales tax” (Gephardt, 2023). On a $100,000 vehicle with an 8% tax rate, that means $16,000 instead of the original $8,000 tax.
In California, owners must pay:
Beyond financial penalties, there can be criminal consequences. In California, a resident named “Trevor” faced potential criminal charges after authorities executed a search warrant on his home and seized his Montana-registered sports car (Draneas, 2024).
In Georgia, authorities conducted what they called the “largest criminal investigation ever into the Montana tax scheme,” executing search warrants on homes and properties belonging to exotic car collectors. The investigation targeted two wealthy Georgians who had purchased approximately 50 exotic cars between them over a four-year period, allegedly depriving Georgia of more than $1 million in tax revenue (WSB-TV, 2019).
Authorities can and do seize improperly registered vehicles. In California, vehicles were seized during the execution of search warrants (Draneas, 2024). In Utah, officials warn that boats with improper registrations “might get impounded and won’t be released until state taxes are paid and settled in court” (KSL, 2024).
States are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their methods to detect improperly registered vehicles:
In California, investigators have visited repair shops to identify vehicles with Montana plates being serviced locally (Draneas, 2024).
In Georgia, authorities have:
Utah recently considered legislation (SB52) that would allow insurance records to be compared with DMV databases to identify vehicles registered out-of-state but insured in Utah (KSL, 2025).
Enforcement actions and public awareness campaigns can quickly change behavior. After Georgia’s WSB-TV aired an investigation into Montana registrations, officials reported that within 24 hours, owners had changed the registration on about 20 cars from Montana to Georgia, resulting in more than $100,000 in tax revenue (WSB-TV, 2019).
In the California case, authorities seized the vehicle owner’s cell phone during their investigation. Why? Cell phones contain a wealth of evidence:
Beyond legal issues with state authorities, this scheme creates potential insurance problems. Many insurers might refuse to pay claims if they discover a vehicle resides somewhere other than what is listed in the policy (Gephardt, 2023). This leaves owners vulnerable to significant financial loss in case of an accident.
While the Montana LLC vehicle registration scheme might seem like a clever way to save money on taxes, the financial risks, legal consequences, and increasing sophistication of enforcement make it a dangerous gamble. With states actively cracking down on this practice and penalties often doubling the original tax obligation (not to mention potential criminal charges), the short-term savings simply aren’t worth the long-term risks.
If a Montana LLC vehicle registration service claims this strategy is perfectly legal, remember that few things in life are certain except death and taxes—and trying to avoid the latter can lead to serious consequences.
Sources:Draneas, J. (2024, June 17). California Cracks Down on Montana LLCs. Sports Car Market. https://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns/legal-files/california-cracks-down-on-montana-llcs
Gephardt, M. (2023, February 21). Utahns save thousands in sales tax by registering new cars in Montana. But is it legal? KSL. https://ksltv.com/526269/utahns-save-thousands-in-sales-tax-by-registering-new-cars-in-montana-but-is-it-legal/
KSL. (2024, November 12). Registering your boat or OHV out of state to save on tax money is illegal warns Utah officials. KSL. https://ksltv.com/ksl-investigates/registering-your-boat-or-ohv-out-of-state-to-save-on-tax-money-is-illegal-warns-utah-officials/705364/
KSL. (2025, January 23). Lawmakers seek crackdown on Utahns illegally registering their vehicles out of state to avoid sales taxes. KSL. https://ksltv.com/politics-elections/utah-legislature/lawmakers-seek-crackdown-on-utahns-illegally-registering-their-vehicles-out-of-state-to-avoid-sales-taxes/730140/
Winne, M. (2019, November 23). Wealthy Georgians with exotic cars accused of cheating local taxpayers. WSB-TV. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/wealthy-georgians-with-exotic-cars-accused-of-cheating-local-taxpayers/858532353/
WSB-TV. (2019, November 23). $100K in taxes paid after Channel 2 investigation into exotic cars. WSB-TV. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/2-investigates/more-than-100k-in-taxes-come-in-after-channel-2-investigation-into-exotic-cars/860469930/
Jalopnik. (2018, November 4). Georgia Is Cracking Down On Instagram Bros Registering Supercars In Montana To Avoid Taxes. Jalopnik. https://www.jalopnik.com/georgia-is-cracking-down-on-instagram-bros-registering-1830035589/
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (2018, October 25). Luxury car owners dodge Georgia tax with Montana scheme. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. https://www.ajc.com/news/luxury-car-owners-dodge-tax-with-montana-scheme/eF1HopLGbDX8EuvYzgNo6J/
Missoulian. (2023). ‘The Montana scheme’: How the wealthy avoid taxes on luxury vehicles, RVs. Missoulian. https://missoulian.com/news/local/business/montana-luxury-car-tax-avoidance-non-residents/article_1f46105e-4c36-11ee-86ad-5bb0a78abd77.html
Bozeman Daily Chronicle. (2017, January 22). Out-of-state car buyers use Montana LLC’s to evade taxes. Bozeman Daily Chronicle. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/out-of-state-car-buyers-use-montana-llcs-to-evade-taxes/article_b4b37d29-e894-523e-b0ed-be7c0bf7e398.html
Carvana’s Initial IssuesYou may remember back a few years ago when we had done some reporting on this channel. You can see in this video clip that we were concerned that Carvana, the major auto retailer, was having problems. There were some criminal accusations, and there were major title problems. We were hearing from clients every single day about how they were having title issues and not getting titles for vehicles. There were some questions about their accounting back then and whether or not they were even going to stay in business. Did they have enough money? And we reported on this. We had probably eight or nine videos over the course of six or eight months that talked about whether or not Carvana was even a legitimate company, allegedly.
The Turnaround and Initial ResolutionWell, all of a sudden these problems seemed to go away. They bought an auction company called ADESA. They moved some money around. They changed their financial statements, and all of a sudden it looked like they were in great shape. Their stock went up. Their company seemed like it was rebounding, and so it kind of faded away.
New Allegations SurfaceBut it seems like we were a little ahead of our time. This article came out today in Automotive News where Hindenburg Research, which is a company that looks for publicly traded organizations or corporations hiding problems on their books, questioned Carvana’s accounting practices and called the turnaround a mirage. So that turnaround that happened two and a half, three years ago made it seem like the company all of a sudden was in great shape. It was kind of curious. We even questioned in one of our videos, like, how did this happen all of a sudden? They were at one point on the ropes, back against the wall, and then a couple of months later they were doing great. It’s not like they were selling many more cars; their business wasn’t that much different. It’s just that their finances all of a sudden got better. We questioned how that happened. And since, you know, it wasn’t that big of a deal to us, we kind of let sleeping dogs lie.
Forensic Audit ResultsWell, this article comes out to say they made accusations that they did a forensic financial audit and found $800 million in loan sales to a suspected undisclosed related party, and that there was accounting manipulation and lack of underwriting resulting in temporary reported income growth. So what they’re saying, basically, is the income growth, the business development, the rise in sales was all smoke and mirrors. That’s what they’re saying, allegedly. Their research, including extensive document review and 49 interviews with employees and related parties, shows that Carvana’s turnaround is a mirage. It remains to be seen whether or not this is accurate, but it is a troubling report coming out from a major analyst.
Closing ThoughtsNow granted, they’re short sellers, so they bet on companies going down, but who knows whether or not this video we did a couple of years ago, “We Told You So, Carvana in Trouble,” was a precursor to this major problem with Carvana. Stay tuned and let us know if you’re having problems with any Carvana titles or any dealership titles for that matter.
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Vehicle Titling in 2025So what can you expect in the industry of vehicle titling for the year 2025? Obviously, with the new year, there are a lot of new rules and not a lot of new laws, and also some industry transformations that we’ll be seeing in the coming year and years following. There are four major changes that will happen to the vehicle title process in the coming year. We’ll talk about all four of them, and it’s going to affect you as a vehicle owner, as maybe an automotive professional, as a lender, or as an auction. A lot of our clients are auctions.
Electronic TitlesThe first one is going to be electronic titles. Through our coalition called eART with many other title providers and some other third-party vendors like DocuSign, CarMax, and Manheim Auto Auctions, we are now pursuing a transformation with the different DMVs in different states to have them convert to electronic titling in all 50 states. Now, it’s a slow process, and it’s going to take a while to get there, but many states are already starting to implement technology.
Digital Signatures and Paperless ProcessThey’re starting to implement rules that allow for things like electronic digital signatures. Look, everything else you do in life buy a house, sign a mortgage you can do electronically, right? Use DocuSign e-signatures. DMVs don’t normally allow this right now; only one state really allows it, so we’re working on doing that. We’re also working on eliminating paper title documents. We’re looking at electronic documents. We’re working hard to get that done. So in 2025, we expect that many states are going to start adopting more and more of these rules and allowing people to have electronic titles and electronic records, which will make the process easier. You won’t get as much of a runaround, and you won’t have to wait as long for titles to come in the mail. You can get them almost instantaneously.
Montana LLC LoopholeThe second big change for vehicle titles is going to be Montana LLCs. Remember, back years ago, there used to be the Vermont loophole. People did this Vermont loophole over and over to get titles from different states using the Vermont loophole, and that loophole, for many years and we talked about it back starting five, six years ago was really numbered in days, right? Because it’s not really the preferred way of getting a title, and the other states really didn’t like it because you weren’t going through the right process. Eventually, they put enough pressure on the federal government and Vermont to stop doing it, and the state of Vermont didn’t want to stop because they were getting a lot of money on sales tax.
The Montana LLC Loophole ExplainedWell, now the loophole that some people are using is the Montana LLC loophole. What is that? Well, Montana does not charge sales tax when you buy a vehicle, so some people are using this process to buy a vehicle without having to pay sales tax by putting the car in a corporation name in Montana. Now, why a corporation name? Well, most states don’t allow you almost all states don’t allow you to get a title from that state unless you are a resident of the state. So you can’t just shop around and say, “Well, this state is easier or better for me to get a title. Let me just get a title from there.” It doesn’t work that way. You have to be a resident. But the way to work around it is you form a corporation in Montana, an LLC, you put the title in the name of the corporation, and you don’t pay tax. Well, technically, that’s not good because even though you registered it and titled it in Montana, you’re driving it in your state. So the tax isn’t just where you get the title; it’s where you use it, where you’re an owner.
Legal Issues with Montana LLCsWhether or not that evades your taxes or not, that’s between you and your taxing authority and your revenue department. That’s more of a legal question than a title question. But you’ve got to watch out because many states are recognizing that this Montana LLC is a way people are using to evade taxes or to avoid things like inspections or paperwork, right? And the states, through our conversations with different states, they know that this is happening. They’re not stupid; they realize this is going on. There are all kinds of fly-by-night companies advertising, “Yeah, we’ll do this Montana thing for you,” and you’re paying $500 to $600 in fees to get a license plate from Montana.
Crackdown on Montana LLCsA lot of people are doing it on higher-end vehicles like luxury vehicles or motorhomes when those could cost $100,000 to $200,000, and you could save $10,000 to $15,000 in sales tax. Now, there may be legitimate reasons to do it rather than just avoiding the sales tax, or you might say, “Well, I’m going to do that because I’d rather have a title there and still pay the tax in my state.” That’s fine, but that’s something that’s going to end pretty soon. You’re not going to see that being able to be done too much longer, and some states are starting to crack down. They’re sending out bulletins to law enforcement in the state: “Look, if you see a Montana license plate in our state, run the plate. If it’s an LLC, pull that car over to see if the driver is on the LLC,” because now that begs the question: Are they using the car in their state? Plus, check the insurance.
Insurance and Registration Issues with Montana LLCsBecause if you have a Montana LLC, the question is: Where is your car insurance policy from? If you have a Montana policy, but you’re driving it, let’s say, half the year or all the time in Virginia, then you’re kind of misrepresenting to your insurance company where you’re using the car. On the other hand, if you get an insurance policy from Virginia and you have a Montana LLC, then it doesn’t match the registration. So that could be a problem. So if you’re going to look at that, we recommend getting legal advice from an attorney to make sure what you’re doing is not going to get you in trouble. Look, it may not you may talk to an attorney and they say, “That’s fine” but just make sure that you verify for yourself that what you’re going to be doing matches your personal needs and matches the laws in your state and matches what you’re trying to accomplish. It doesn’t get you into trouble accidentally.
Salvage Vehicles and Copart/IAA AuctionsNumber three is salvage vehicles: Copart vehicles, IAA auction vehicles. We’ve started this conversation many years ago, three or four years ago. Most of the vehicles now that are coming out of Copart and IAA are going to start to be more commonly designated as “parts only” vehicles, not salvage. Some states call it “certificate of destruction,” some states call it “non-repairable,” Texas calls it that. Some states call it “junk.” The scary thing is some states don’t call it anything. They just don’t give you a title, and you may not know you’re getting one of these.
Insurance and the Parts-Only DesignationWhat does that mean? Well, if the vehicle has been designated “junk” or “parts only,” its VIN number is void. You can’t get a title, can’t get a registration; it’s a permanent cancellation of that vehicle as being eligible for any kind of on-road use. Can only use it for parts. A lot of people are buying these cars out of Copart, IAA, not knowing what they’re getting into, and they’re finding out later, “I can’t get a title.” And we’ve talked about this before, so this isn’t news. The news is more insurance companies are starting to use this instead of salvage titles. Why are they doing that?
Why Insurance Companies Favor Parts-Only TitlesWell, what they’re finding is they’re not getting that much less money for the car at the auction. They’re getting the same amount. Why is that? Well, most of the people who are buying cars at Copart or IAA are not buying them for the purpose of putting them back on the road, fixing them up, and selling them. Most of the people buying cars there are buying them to take them apart anyway. Even a salvage title. In fact, the only people really making big money on cars at Copart or IAA auction are the ones who are dismantlers.
The Economics of Buying Salvage CarsYou buy a salvage title car, it’s crashed in the front, and they take it apart. You can have a $5,000 engine, a $3,000 transmission, $2,000 airbags maybe five or six of those you have wheels, you have doors, you have computers. Gosh, there are four or five computers in a car, each one could be worth $1,000. By the time you add all that up, it could be more than what the car would be worth if you bought one from a dealership. So you have the expense of dismantling it. More importantly, you have to have the expertise of knowing where to put all these parts, ship them to warehouses, put them in the right place, and advertise them.
Insurance Companies and Salvage CarsBut these parts companies already have that. They’re already doing that. So if you took the same car, let’s say a 2022 Toyota Camry, it’s crashed in the front, you buy it for half its book value or even a third of its book value. You might think, “Well, I’m stealing the car.” Well, by the time you buy all the parts, put the car back together, and go to sell it, you’re going to find a couple of things. First of all, you’re not going to get that much for the car, because people who are in the market for used cars want a car that’s in good condition. You don’t get that much out of it. But by dismantling it, you’re now part of the supply chain that gets to sell these parts. And that’s why insurance companies have figured that out. They’re selling parts, they’re liquidating these vehicles, they are selling them off, and they’re moving them through auctions without much of an issue.
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Fake Auto Sellers: A Growing ConcernWe’re seeing this more and more with these fake auto sellers. They might have a vehicle for sale online and they might ask you to ship money and they’ll send you the car. They might even have the physical car available for you to look at, but it’s not a licensed dealer. One of the things you want to do anytime you’re buying a vehicle from a person or company is make sure you buy it either from a private party that’s the owner of the vehicle or a licensed dealer, and you have to verify both of those.
Verifying the Vehicle’s TitleIf you’re buying a vehicle from a private party, what you want to do is look at the title, look at the name on the title, and make sure the person you’re dealing with is the same person whose name is on the title, not a third party that’s flipping the vehicle or saying, “I’m selling my cousin’s vehicle,” or “I got it from an auction.” If the person on the title is not who you’re dealing with, don’t buy the car. Because here’s the thing: vehicle titles cannot be reassigned. Once a vehicle title is signed over to another person, the title can’t be reassigned to somebody else. That person has to get a new title first before it goes to somebody else. So, let’s say somebody’s flipping cars. They buy a car from John Smith; their name is Sally Jones. Sally Jones can’t resell it to you until she gets a new title. So, if a car has been flipped and you’re not dealing with the person whose name is printed on the front of the title (not written on the back, printed on the front), you could have a title problem.
Unlicensed Car Dealers and ScamsAnother thing is these unlicensed, fly-by-night car dealers. What these dealers are doing is pretending that they’re a legitimate dealership but they’re not licensed. How do you verify that? Get the name of the business and their address and check with the licensing bureau of your state to see if they have a valid auto dealer’s license. If you’re buying it from a company that does not have a valid auto dealer’s license, they’re not allowed to buy and sell cars for a living. Now, if you’re buying it from a company that owned it, like Joe’s Plumbing, that has a bunch of trucks, that’s a different story. They’re selling a vehicle with a title with their name on it, like we talked about with the private sale. But if you’re buying it from a company that’s flipping cars, buying cars at auctions, and they’re not a licensed dealer, that’s not allowable under the law. In this case, there’s a couple in Oregon that lost $45,000 because they bought a vehicle from a fake dealership—from a stolen car.
Protecting Yourself from Fraudulent SellersIf you buy a car from a licensed dealer and they make a mistake and sell you a vehicle that has a title problem, they’re supposed to make it right, and there are funds and bonds that can make up for that. So, make sure when you’re buying a vehicle, that’s your hard-earned money you’re putting at risk. Either buy it from the person whose name is printed on the title or buy it from a company you can verify has a dealership license, and they can show you the title. Don’t give them money if they can’t at least show you the title. They might not be able to give it to you because they might have to process it into your name, but make them show it to you to make sure they actually have the title and are not selling a vehicle that they haven’t paid for yet.
Additional ResourcesIf you like this blog, be sure to check out a few others on our website, cartitles.com, to see if there’s other information that might be helpful to you about this same subject or maybe even other related subjects that could assist you with your resolution of your issue.
How Duplicate Titles Work for a Motor VehicleSo how do duplicate titles actually work for a motor vehicle? A duplicate title request is when a person who is the legal titled owner of the vehicle requests a replacement certificate for the one that they had and lost, or never had to begin with. Now keep in mind that a duplicate title is a very specific phrase. What it means is exactly what the two words mean: duplicate title. It is a duplication of the last title issued. So remember, a vehicle title is a legal document that explains and identifies an actual vehicle’s year, make, model, and VIN number, but also assigns the ownership of that vehicle to a particular person. Right, so Joe Smith owns this 2020 Toyota Camry. Well, if Joe Smith is the owner, he has a title; it’s a certificate. If at some point Joe Smith loses that title, Joe Smith and only Joe Smith can request a duplicate title certificate. Nobody else can because the DMV or the titling authority in your state is not going to give that title certificate to anybody except for Joe Smith. It protects him in his ownership because if anybody could get the replacement title, then anybody could get any title for any car they wanted, even if they had a bill of sale or receipt or anything. So the only person who can request a duplicate title is the person whose name is in the title records.
What to Do If Your Name Isn’t on the TitleSo how does that work? Well, if your name is not in the official records, then you don’t want to order a duplicate title. You want to do a title replacement, title recovery, or a title transfer. That’s a whole different thing. We’ve talked about that in other videos, and you can find out more on our channel or on our website. But if your name was on the last title and you want to order a duplicate, you can do that. Now remember, if there’s a lien holder listed on the title, they have to be cleared off first. Even if you paid off the loan, that lien might still be lingering in the title records. You might have to get that cleared up, and we can talk about how to do that. You can find it on our website. If there are other owners on the title, a co-owner or co-signer, you also have to get their signature to make sure they’re okay with you getting the title.
The Fastest Way to Get a Duplicate TitleNow, what’s the best way to get a duplicate title? Well, the fastest way to do it is to go in person to the Department of Motor Vehicles office. Drive there, take an appointment, wait in line, show your ID to show who you are. They’ll match your ID, look up in the system, “Yep, that’s your name on the title.” Here’s another title. They normally can give it to you the same day. Sometimes smaller branches might not have blank titles in stock, and they might have to mail it to you in a couple of days. That’s the fastest way to do it and the cheapest, for that matter. But now, you have to go to the DMV, get the right forms, and do everything. There are ways to do it that are easier where you don’t have to go anywhere, but that’s going to cost a little more money.
Remote Options for Ordering a Duplicate TitleIf you go on our website, cartitles.com, it’ll show you the process for doing it remotely. You can order it online. It’s going to take longer and might cost more money, but it’s going to be less work. So you have to balance: do you want it faster and cheaper or slower and easier? Right? It’s easier to just click a button online and get it, but if you need it fast or you’re on a budget, go to the DMV in person. Bring your photo ID, bring the VIN number, and you can get it directly that way. If you don’t mind waiting a little bit and would rather not go in line at the DMV, then you have other options.
Conclusion and Additional InformationThat’s how a duplicate title works and how the duplicate car title process is handled. If you do have more questions, you can click the link below. It’ll give you instructions and also offer you the option if you want to talk live to a licensed, certified title agent. You can do that as well on our website, cartitles.com.
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