CA tax on out-of-state car purchase…

I've purchased vehicles from out of state and have never had to pay the state tax in those states. I just bring the other states title to my AAA or DMV, get the safety check, they also check for the CA specific emissions sticker, then write down the bill of sale price and i get taxed on that.

 

Cars are taxed when you register them. You shouldn't be paying tax on a vehicle purchased out of state unless you are registering that car in the state of purchase.

 

Same here, purchased 2 cars from out of state and did not have to pay tax in the state of purchase. Make sure you tell the selling dealer (or party) that you will be registering the car in California. Also note that I used a private company to register the cars once in California. So much better/easier than going to DMV. I had to do a VIN verify along with smog certificate before registering, and you have 30 days (I think) from once the car enters California to when it needs to be registered.

 

Except for California (and a handful of other states).

When you purchase a vehicle in California in a retail transaction, even if you're taking the vehicle out of state, you still pay California state tax. You are able to deduct this tax paid from the tax owed to your home state when you title/register, but if you paid more tax in California (and you almost certainly will, given the tax rate in California), you don't get a refund of the additional tax paid above and beyond your state rate.

 

I had a GA dealer claim they had to collect tax on behalf of TN (where I reside) but I called bs and they finally agreed to sell the car without charging taxes. I paid TN when I applied for the title and registration.

 

This is not correct. I've purchased several vehicles from CA dealers that were shipped out of state and did not pay CA sales tax. You pay tax in the state in which the car is shipped to or registered.

 

Note that if you keep the car out of California for one year after date of purchase you will not owe any sales tax to CA. If you are not a resident of California I believe the rule is six months.

 

If you ship the car to the state where the car will be registered, then no other tax. If you take possession of the car then the dealer may have to collect taxes on behalf of that state or the state you are going back to.


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I've purchased two cars in California in the past year and shipped them back East and didn't pay any California sales tax. They were private sales (non-dealer), perhaps there is a difference?

 

The difference is where is where the vehicle changes hands. If you pick up your vehicle in another state you may have to pay tax in both. If the seller ships the vehicle to California you will only be paying CA tax.

I bought my 360 in AZ, but had to meet the dealer on the California side of the border to accept delivery. My tax was based on the sales receipt, had to go to both the highway patrol and DMV to have the car inspected. I also remember something about that the car had to have more than 8,000 miles on it.

The same is true for buying a car in CA for out of state use. I bought a car for my daughter in California, if I took delivery of it here I would have had to pay CA sales tax. They shipped it to SC and I did not have to pay CA sales tax, only SC tax.

 

If you were financing the vehicle then this is a very typical practice. If you paid cash then it's not necessary.

 

Hmmm. I apologize for the incorrect information. I haven't purchased a vehicle in a retail sale in California, but I know from my clients that CA dealers did collect sales tax on vehicles even if they were shipped out of state, and then Texas applied the tax paid to the Texas tax, but they were still angry that they didn't get refunded the additional tax paid in CA.

Maybe something has changed.

 

AAA is able to do the VIN check and you can pay the taxes and registration if you want to do it all there.


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I think the California dealer charged sales tax when they weren't supposed to and TX just reciprocated. I'm not sure anything has changed. State DMV's realize there can be confusion on the part of sellers and interpact agreements between the states govern. Because sales tax is so local in nature, there would be absolutely no way to make a federal law, thus states sign reciprocity agreements allowing the buyer to pay sales tax in the state of registration.

 

When I bought my 360, DMV and Highway Patrol inspections were required. Other than that transaction, AAA is a great solution for private party transactions. Dealers operate differently I believe.

 

Bought my Roma in California from F-dealership, shipped and registered in Colorado, no state tax paid in CA, paid when registered in CO.

 

I purchased a Ferrari from a dealer in CA, shipped the car out of state, and paid tax in the delivery state. The dealer even provided CA temp tags.

That said, the dealer title wasn't under the dealer's "ownership", it was from the previous owner, who lives in CA.

 

You may both be correct. If you have the car shipped to your state from California, that is the only way to avoid CA tax. If you purchase the car and insist in picking it up from the dealership they are required to charge you tax.

This is also where dealerships that are selling cars in CA and allowing the buyer to register in Montana are getting caught with tax liabilities - if they dont confirm it shipping to that state, they are required to charge CA tax.

 

Not every AAA will process a vehicle purchase; especially if its out of state. For example, NV AAA doesn't allow you to purchase a car from CA and register it at the NV AAA. That is a DMV only transaction.