Ethics and car registration

These days, with new cars and trucks becoming more and more expensive, a lot of my neighbors and acquaintances are registering their vehicles in Montana in order to save big on taxes and registration fees. Montana cars and trucks are exempt from sales tax, and for motor vehicle owners it’s possible to get permanent registration through a Montana LLC.

For instance, a Tesla Model Y, with a delivery price of $59,440 would be taxed to the tune of $4,429 (where I live), not to mention a yearly registration fee of $350. This easily compares this respectively $549 registration expense and a yearly fee of $179 if the Montana option is chosen. 

Obviously, I’m been told that for non-Montanans this practice is illegal and Utah could be cracking down on it. Utahns caught breaking the law and subject them to paying all back sales tax plus a 100% penalty amounting to the sales tax amount that wasn’t paid, but I am waiting for a verification of that penalty. 

What’s seems clear though is that there isn’t much appetite for enforcement at the Utah State level, and fraudsters are getting off scot-free. This situation is clearly unjust to those of us who are not choosing the easy, Montana way. Absent active and forceful enforcement of the law, perhaps our legislature should remove the tax on motor vehicles and offset it with a slightly higher income tax. 

The “do-nothing” alternative that we now have is unethical, hypocritical and unjust, that advantages those gutsy enough to break the law, knowing they’ll be okay anyway…