After California residents voted to increase taxes via Proposition 30, state revenues have decreased, and residents and businesses are leaving to avoid burdensome taxes and regulations. 

However, as Forbes notes, “leaving” California “is not always easy”; the state considers anyone in the state for anything other than a temporary or transitory purpose as a resident. 

The burden is on the taxpayer to show they are not a Californian. The state presumes anyone who has been in California for at least nine months is a resident. 

It “usually takes 18 months” for someone to no longer be presumed a resident, which can make it difficult for people who flee the state to convince the state government they are no longer California residents. 

California considers someone’s “days inside and outside the state," bank accounts, and where someone’s social, religious, professional and other organizations are located in determining whether an individual is no longer a Californian.