California did that shortly after I sold my house. They assess a sales tax on the home sale. If you buy another house in California, you can get the sales tax back. If you leave the state, CA keeps the tax.
Are you sure it is a sales tax and not a withholding requirement for state income tax?
If it is a sales tax, I beat them out of the tax on an almost $1,000,000 sale. I'm not going to pay it now either!
Semper Fi
An Old Man