All States are looking into this. Utah recently cracked down as well. AS much as I am glad not to live there anymore, this is not a “California thing”.
It’s a Maryland thing also. Some people here register their cars in Virginia instead of Maryland… presumably for the cost savings.
Not all states. I get one free registration in Alaska. So my 2024 GMC Sierra cost me $15 for the title. I never have to pay the state anything again for that truck. My 2025 travel trailer cost me $93 for title, plate and lifetime registration. I never have to pay the state for that trailer again. My 2022 Subaru Forester currently costs me $115 a year and that goes down every two years. Once it's eight years old I can get a permanent lifetime registration for a little over $200. A new exotic car or half million dollar RV would cost about $300 for the first two years. So there's very little incentive to register in Montana or any other state. We also have no state sales tax, so no avoidance issues there either. My city does have a sales tax, which would cost me an additional $12.50, so no issue there either. So Alaska has zero incentive to after Montana plates, which I almost never see.
Starting Monday morning anyone that telecommutes for work will have to pay $20 a day in taxes