This story is a little dated (12 years now, wow!) but one of the parties charged in this story is a very close family friend. They knew what they were doing from the start was "questionable" but decided to roll the dice. They got caught... We are 99% sure the only way they were "caught" was someone took a lap around a campground and wrote down every MT plate they saw and cried to a news station. They basically got a slap on the wrist and paid the taxes they would have owed.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/i...w/73-343097615
USA - Colorado has charged 12 drivers with illegally registering their motor homes out of state and has ordered more than a hundred other drivers to pay unpaid sales taxes.
The hundred plus people must also register their RVs in Colorado.
In all, Colorado expects to collect nearly $3 million from 134 drivers whose license plates don't say 'Colorado'.
"These were people who were trying to dodge their taxes when they were owed here in Colorado," said Mark Couch, Public Information Officer for the Colorado Department of Revenue.
The state started an investigation last year after 9 Wants to Know exposed drivers who were cheating Colorado out of hundreds of thousands of dollars every year because they registered their cars, boats, truck and recreational vehicles out of state. Montana and five other states don't have any sales tax and have low registration fees.
9 Wants to Know also caught motor home dealerships in Colorado on hidden camera telling potential buyers they could save themselves thousands in taxes by registering their vehicles out of state.
The drivers would form Limited Liability Companies or LLC's in Montana, and then register their vehicles under the LLC there.
"It's a significant problem. At the end of this last legislative session, there was a rush to try to find money to help pay for crumbling bridges and roads in our state," said Couch. "This is a very significant problem and every penny counts toward making that work better for all of us here in the state."
The Colorado Department of Revenue worked with the Colorado Attorney General's office to investigate the drivers. All 12 of the people charged with failure to pay tax have pleaded guilty. They received deferred sentences and were ordered to pay restitution, register their RV's in Colorado and perform community service. The restitution for those dozen people totals $93,450. The state also ordered 122 other RV owners to pay $2,737,788 in unpaid sales taxes, penalties and interest.
"This investigation yielded very positive results in terms of finding people who were evading the law and we intend to make sure that people keep complying with the law," said Couch.
Some drivers complained to 9 Wants to Know that taxes are too high in Colorado. For example, sales tax and registration fees on an averaged-priced $150,000 motor home would cost $13,800 in Colorado, but would only cost $283 to register and license in Montana.
However, the state doesn't buy that excuse.
"Everybody complains about their taxes and we understand that, but relatively speaking, our CO tax burden is low," said Couch. "The state sales tax is 2.9% which is among the lowest in the country."
In Denver County Court, the following people were prosecuted: Terry and Mary Leonard, Christine Alfred, Steven Fry, Arthur Colton, Jack and Sandra Towle, Hilary Pruitt and Rockley and Dorothy Stene. In Boulder County Court, Charles and Sharon Winn were prosecuted.
