Am I Crazy For Considering Moving to Los Angeles?

I understand that. My point was, what Cali is currently trying to make happen (or might have), is if you leave you'll pay a metric ton of taxes. Just look into all that's going on. I'll leave it at that and say, "Good luck."

 

CA has been hounding me about annual registration renewal for a KLR650 I sold in 2009, LOL. They'll send you tax due statements for years after you leave. They'll even try to levy your bank accounts for money you don't owe. They never give up.

 

Thanks for the info. I've done a lot of research, but I have not even heard of this, and really don't even know where to start looking. I will rent a place for a while, and if I do move there, I might even keep my vehicle registered in Indiana. That way I'm not a Cali citizen, if that's a good idea. We are still working out a lot of details.

 

If you earn $ in CA, you will pay CA taxes on it. Ask any MLB or NFL player.

 

I'm not overly concerned about income tax, they're not much higher than where I am now, and cheaper than some states. I'm sure there are taxes I'm not yet aware of. I was offered a choice on how I'm paid....W-2 or 1099, still figuring that out. Maybe the 1099 as a contractor would be better, and keep all my insurance and ties to Indiana to avoid the nasty departure tax.

 

You are mistaken.

 

You can keep your permanent residency in IN if you work to do so. You will still pay CA income tax on money made there. You will still need to register your vehicles that are kept in CA with CA (CA plates) but you do so as a non-resident.

NY and CA have some unusual tax laws for non-residents. It would be best for you to understand them well before making the 1099/W2 choice. Contact a tax accountant or tax attorney who knows both CA and IN law.

 

I moved from CA to NV. Three years ago after living there all my life, nobody's chasing after me for taxes or my car registration.

 

Yea that's good advice and what I figured I would need to do. My wife and kid will still live in Indiana till next year, and I'll keep my house and business going so I will have a legal connection to Indiana. I'll check with my tax guy, he's usually pretty up to date.

 

I won't make any major decisions until I know for sure.

 

You can work around some things. I drove a WI registered vehicle in CA for three years with no drama. My Land Cruiser is now my daily there and it's CA registered, but I'm still a WI resident. I own a home and business in WI and earn my income there, so I'm in the gray.

If you're getting a CA W2, it would be tough.

 

The proposed retro tax has literally zero chance of getting signed.

 

Imagine how much fun you'll have trying to read and catch up on all the beeb posts before the lights go out again.

 

If only there were a place on the beeb where we could discuss things like this. I mean, who would have thought the civil rights act could have been repealed, yet it just got passed and is in the last stages of being finalized. (Just stating 100% pure fact, not trying to argue either side and be political.)

 

Something for me to consider.....uggh https://www.forbes.com/sites/robert...p-paying-california-taxesreally/#43f8c73b4042

 

California is really tough on high earners but not terrible for the middle. When I was looking in 2018, the middle 20% of earners paid less in taxes in CA than they do in WI. That doesn't account for intangibles like gas tax and sales tax, however.

The big hit happens on any income over 250k, which is frankly not that much money if you live on the coast.

 

To be fully legal, a vehicle garaged in California must be registered in California within (I think) 30 days of it's arrival. You don't have to re-title it in California, just register it and get CA tags.
That said, enforcement is somewhat lax and unless you are involved in an accident or something, I don't think there is a huge risk for keeping the IN tags.

 

https://www.thedrive.com/news/36430...-out-of-california-are-astronomical-right-now

 

I'm glad I'm going the other way.

 

California is really cracking down on the primary residence days. I know a guy that got dinged because he was flying out and landing in another state at 11:30 pm and not counting it as a day in CA . The state audited him and determined that because the spending from his credit cards were mainly in California that day he ended up cutting massive checks for deferred compensation that he got once he retired. It wasn’t pretty.
I wouldn’t cut it close if you’re trying to just get to the 183 days and I’d be very diligent about flight times, holidays; days off work, etc if you are thinking about splitting time here.