For performers and creators moving out of California

Leaving California is not a date on a lease.

Decamp keeps dated proof that each of the ties the Franchise Tax Board looks at has moved — home, family, driver’s licence, car, voter card, bank, doctors, accountant, clubs, property and work — and counts every day spent back in the state, both ends included, by tax year. A tie moved long after the move is flagged to be explained.

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Opens in this browser with an invented performer already in it. No account, no email address, nothing installed.

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The problem

The FTB looks at closest connections, not the moving van.

California’s residency rules, summarised from FTB Publication 1031, turn on closest connections: where the home is, the driver’s licence, the car and voter registration, the bank and doctors, the work — and how many days are spent back in the state. More than nine months in a year and you are presumed a resident. A performer who keeps the condo and the car plates has not left.

Closest connections

principal residence, driver’s licence, vehicle and voter registration are among the factors.

LegalClarity, on FTB Publication 1031 →

9 months

in California in a year, and you are presumed a resident.

No safe harbor

in fewer than six months — the ties still decide it.

Will not count a tie as moved without the proof.

A tie marked moved with no date is refused. A tie still in California, one with no proof, and one moved more than 90 days after the move are each on the file. Overlapping stays are refused, so the day count cannot be padded or doubled. Decamp decides nothing about residency.

How it works

The move, the ties, the days

Record the move

The new state, the move date, what happened to the California home, and the part-year return. A work-contract safe harbor is worked out too.

Move each tie

Eleven closest-connection ties, each with its date and proof: the document, its date, and where the copy is.

Count the days back

Every stay in California, both ends counted, totalled by tax year. Print the file for your preparer.

What it will never do

It keeps the proof. It decides nothing.

Decamp shows the evidence. Residency is the Franchise Tax Board’s call.

No documents kept.You note where each copy is; Decamp keeps the date and the description.

No location tracking.You write down the stays; nothing is tracked.

It is not an accountant.Not tax advice.

It never touches a payment.The licence is for software.

Pricing

Priced once

One move, kept for as long as the FTB might ask.

Most movers

One move

$79 once

One person leaving California.

Eleven ties with proof
Days back counted by year
Printable file

Couple

$119 once

Two people moving together.

Everything in One move
Ties per person
Export for your preparer

One-time payment. Your bank statement says Decamp Software. Refunded in full on request within 30 days. Your licence key is emailed to you within two working days of payment.

Checkout is our own bitcoin server, not a card processor — nobody we had to apply to and nobody who can close the account. The button takes you straight to it. Give your email address there — that is where your key is sent.

Questions

The ones we actually get asked

Is fewer than six months back safe?

No. It is not a safe harbor. The closest connections still decide it.

What if I moved under a work contract?

Decamp works the 546-day safe harbor: the contract’s dates, the 45-day limit on trips back, and the $200,000 cap on intangible income.

Why flag a tie moved late?

Because a licence or car changed months after the move reads as someone who had not really left. Decamp asks you to explain it.

Is this tax advice?

No. It is the proof you wish you had kept.

What do I actually get when I pay?

The demo on this page is the whole program, running on invented records. Paying gets you a licence key — one line of text, emailed to the address you give at checkout within two working days. Paste it into the program and from then on it keeps your own records. Until then, nothing you type into it is kept.

The key is checked inside the page, on your own machine. It never calls us, so there is still no account and nothing about your business goes anywhere. If you ever stop paying, your records stay exactly where they are, read-only, and Export still hands you every one of them.

Open the demo before you file

The invented performer moved from LA to Austin. The car and voter card never moved, the licence moved late, the bank has no proof, the doctors are still in LA, the condo was kept, and she spent 49 days back this year.

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