The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture.
It’s official: California has closed the Montana license plate loophole. After more than seven months of legislative shuffling, CA State Bill 1406 (“Sales and Use Tax Law: vehicles: shell companies”) became law on Sept. 30, 2026, making it much harder to get away with the shell-company shenanigans rich Californians have exploited for decades.
Existing California law says any vehicle, vessel, or aircraft a California resident “shipped or brought into the state” is subject to taxation under the state’s Sales and Use Tax Law, whether it is registered there or not. This same rule applied to vehicles registered to a business, but because businesses aren’t people, the law set different standards for establishing its “California-ness.”
