Out of state purchase tax question

[racerX]

Hi - Need a little help.
If I purchase a car in California from a dealer, what are the tax implications?
If I purchase and drive home I fear I will have to pay California sales tax. Then get hit with Washington states "use tax."
The dealer is telling me that I can ship it. Anyone been through this? Any help is appreciated.

 

[carmar]

Hi - Need a little help.
If I purchase a car in California from a dealer, what are the tax implications?
If I purchase and drive home I fear I will have to pay California sales tax. Then get hit with Washington states "use tax."
The dealer is telling me that I can ship it. Anyone been through this? Any help is appreciated.

I believe, the California dealer will calculate tax on your state (Washington state) sale tax. All you have to do is show them your Washington driver license.

The dealer should take care all the registration paper works for you.

Good luck :smile:

 

[grtahoang]

If you drive it home then you will pay the California tax rate and then pay the difference when you register the car here in Washington.
I think Washington may have a higher tax rate.
But if you have it shipped, then you just pay the Washington tax rate when registering the car.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

My dealership has one of the strictest rule of out of state purchases, as we want to do things right, and rather lose a sale than getting audit.

However, I'm located in WA.

1. Car is paid for and fund is clear.
2. Title will be available to the buyer, Buyer shows us 3 pieces of ID. that proves (out of state) residency. (no, cell phone bill nor passport doesn't count)
3. Buyer doesn't have any property in WA.
4. 3 day trip permit. you could get up to 3 3-days trip permit.
5. customer responsible for his/her own registration and if needed, title transfer.

However, your case may be a little different depends on the dealership way of practicing business.

 

[Funnyboneman]

If you are asking the question before you've found the car, you might want to shop in Oregon or Nevada, which have no sales tax, or in Arizona, which has no sales tax on vehicles purchased from a private party. Some states will allow you to register the car in the state of purchase with proof of insurance in that state, even if you don't live there, because they see it as income (licensing fees) that they would miss if you registered the vehicle in your home state. Washington will not charge you sales tax (only registration fees) when apply for Washington plates for the second year of your ownership.:smile:

 

[MaxGeek]

But how long can you get away with driving a car with AZ plates in the WA? What happens if you get pulled over and you have a WA license, but a OR or AZ car?

 

[Nukem]

I am kind of curious on this aswell, I am Military, and if I purchase a vehicle out of state, lets say from a private seller, can I drive it back or do I have to ship it? As far as the dealers concerned I thought they taxed you on your state of residency.(as long as you had proof)

 

[larrynsx]

If you are buying a car from a private party, the car most likely has current regristration from the seller. The buyer and the seller will sign the bill of sales, and the waiver of liability for the current owner. Then, the buyer has 10 days to transfer the title at any DMV (either within California, or other state that the buyer resides) and DMV will charge the buyer the applicable sales tax when he/she register the car in his/her state.

I am kind of curious on this aswell, I am Military, and if I purchase a vehicle out of state, lets say from a private seller, can I drive it back or do I have to ship it? As far as the dealers concerned I thought they taxed you on your state of residency.(as long as you had proof)

 

[DrVolkl]

If you are asking the question before you've found the car, you might want to shop in Oregon or Nevada, which have no sales tax, or in Arizona, which has no sales tax on vehicles purchased from a private party. Some states will allow you to register the car in the state of purchase with proof of insurance in that state, even if you don't live there, because they see it as income (licensing fees) that they would miss if you registered the vehicle in your home state. Washington will not charge you sales tax (only registration fees) when apply for Washington plates for the second year of your ownership.:smile:

You can't register a car out of state unless you have residence there. You need an address... and then how about your yearly tabs? You're probably going to need a drivers license in that state as well. They'll be sending your yearly tab info to your OR address, plus you'll need to take your car to OR for it's "inspection"/emissions checks. They've been cracking down on this sort of thing. I would be pretty hard to keep it going, all to save what? $2000? Don't you think every Ferrari in America would be licensed in OR to save the sales tax? lol