As a career Navy man I had several ties over the years to the State of California. When stationed in Japan, I had a mailing address (Fleet Post Office Box) in San Francisco. Following that, I went to survival school just North of San Diego for about six weeks prior to going to Viet Nam for a year (and again using a Fleet Post Office Box in California). My last two-year tour was in San Diego - where as a "geographical batchelor" I lived in the barracks on base (a Federal Reservation, by the way).
At the time I retired in September 1990 California wanted to tax my military retired pay based on the percentage of it that was earned during the amount of time that I had a California address. They didn't care that I had actually never lived in the state other than on a federal reservation outside of state jurisdiction. The US Supreme Court took a challenge to this practice and declared it unconstitutional (Thank Goodness). Otherwise they would have been taxing me and a lot of other people based on "Sourced earnings".
I purposely broke CA law by never registering my auto there. I never registered to vote in CA, nor bought any real estate or paid CA income tax. I went out of my way to avoid any connection whatsoever.
About five years after leaving I found they had placed a lien on my FL residence for several thousand dollars.
I found a CA tax attorney via the internet and in a flash got the fine and lien removed. The lien was pure fishing.
The only positive thing I can say about CA is that their “Board of Equalization” is truth in advertising.
I got transferred to CA in 1986 and we had lived there less than one month when the federal government declared our company ESOP (Employee Stock ownership Plan) was unlawful as written and all employee monies therein were to be treated as real income subject to taxes.
The state of CA jumped on that like a dog on meat. They stated we owed the state several thousands of dollars. Then to rub salt in the wound, tried to get interest and penalties added as the ESOP had been in effect for years. They failed in that gambit.
But it all turned into a bloody nightmare, as they nailed us for full taxes on all money we had in the ESOP before ever living there. I seldom use the word hate and mean it, but CA is the exception.