Got Montana Plates? States Ramp Up the Scrutiny on Tax Dodgers

It would be easy to miss the drab gray building along South Main Street in Kalispell, Montana. But it’s home—at least on paper—to more than 100,000 cars and trucks, scores of sailing vessels, and 800 aircraft, including a Gulfstream IV jet once owned by Jeffrey Epstein.

The single-story structure is headquarters for All Day $49 Registered Agents, one of nearly 200 Montana agents helping out-of-state owners create limited liability corporations to shelter assets from sales taxes, registration fees, and environmental rules in the other 49 states.

The pitch to out-of-staters is simple: Form an LLC in Montana; use it ...