4X4SCHE

I have found a car at a dealer in CA, how does the sales tax work? Am I exempt from CA sales tax? I know I will pay uase tax when I register it in WA.

What about tabs? What papers do I need to drive it back to WA?

Thanks

Analog Theory

If you take delivery of the car in CA you will have to pay CA tax. The dealer is legally obligated to collect it actually. If they ship the car to you (or even meet you in OR to exchange keys and paperwork) then you will pay WA tax only when you go to register the car locally. You simply turn the CA title in to the WA DMV and they will issue you a new WA title. Either way, your going to pay sales tax just be careful because if indeed you take delivery in CA (and get charged tax) you're still going to pay WA sales tax when you get home (and there's no reciprocity). Ship the car and you're all set.

95 C4 993

Im pretty sure you will pay WA tax, not CA tax. I bought in NV, paid UT taxes when I registered the car.

Temp tags, registration, insurance, bill of sale--should be good to go. A good radar dectector as well.

Jukelemon

CA is ALWAYS different it seems. BUT in most states, you pay sales tax at the time of registration/title transfer NOT when you take delivery of the vehicle. MOST of the time that is one in the same BUT in this case, it is not.

As well, there might exist a relationship between the states that allow a credit IF you must pay taxes REGARDLESS of intent to title/register i.e. sales tax paid in CA BUT credited in WA.

CDILL

I bought a car in Texas and had the dealer send me the title. Before I left Denver I had the car registered so that when I got to the car I just put my plates on it and took off.

4X4SCHE

I accept that the advice from "Mind over motorsports" is likely the case. It seems strange that there is no way I can pick the car up myself. I thought people did this all the time. Anyone care to contradict?

Thanks,

John

JohnCh

John,

WA calls the fees paid on a used car a Use Tax, rather than a sales tax. When I looked into buying a car at a CA dealer about 12 years ago, I was told that WA state would acknowledge the sales tax I paid at the dealer and would only charge me the difference between the tax and the Use Tax on that particular vehicle. I never went through the process, so I don't know if that information was accurate or if the policy is still the same.

More information on Use Tax is located here. There is a number at the bottom of the page to call if you need more information.

Hope this helps you get a definitive answer.

-John

SeattlePorsche

You won't have to pay it twice. I shipped my 97 from San Francisco and didn't pay sales tax in CA. But when I got tags in Seattle I had to pay tax.

If you drive it you can ask the seller to get temporary tags. In Seattle it is a 3 day tag. On another car I bought I drove it home from CA and bought it from a non-dealer. Didn't pay tax. No tags. Got pulled over in WA and the cop asked for my tags and I explained I didn't have any because I just bought it. He said I should have gotten temp tags in CA. But he accepted my bill of sale which was dated and told me not to drive the car anymore until I got a new plate. I had to pay tax in WA when I picked up the tags. So either way, BTDT.

TomF

All of this sounds like good info. Keep in mind that the CA DMV is horribly slow to send out titles. It took nearly six months to get ours, even after repeated phone calls to the CA DMV. They are really backed up.

If you wanted to sell your car in the intervening time, you would be screwed. FYI.

Wilder

I have bought three cars in CA and I never paid taxes there. There is a form that you will have to fill out that states you are buying the car from out of state and/or you are taking the car out of state to exempt you from CA tax. Keep your bill of sale/title/tax exemption form etc. in the car so that in the event you get pulled over, you can explain you are in transit (this happended to me also and it was not a problem).

avidtest

I just took a CA car dealer class and MindOverMotorsports is correct. Even though you live out of state, you will have to pay CA tax if you take delivery of it within CA.

What is the WA use tax rate? If it is the same or more, it shouldn't matter as WA should accept that you paid CA tax and only charge you a difference if WA use tax is higher than the sales tax you paid in CA. Of course, if the WA use tax is only 4% or something, that would not be an avenue you want to take. Now that being said, I don't know WA law and Mind Over Motorsports, who I assume does some buying and selling of cars, probably has a better handle on this issue, and they say there is no reciprocity in WA, meaning the state of WA will NOT recognize the tax you paid in CA and will charge the full WA use tax rate.

Your best bet is to to work something out with the dealer to have them deliver the car accross the CA state line. They'll need to either list themselves on the Bill of Lading if they have an independent shipper ship the vehicle, or they'll have to complete a BT-448 form that is signed by the dealer and notarized, if they drive the car over the state line for you. Perhaps you can talk them into doing the BT-488 form and allow you to take the car - not legal, but worth a try.

Wilder

I respectfully disagree on the basis that I've bought and taken delivery of three cars in CA and NEVER paid tax in CA. Declaring that the car is exiting the state in the CA tax exemption form is what is required. The dealer selling you the car should be able to verify/help you with this.

avidtest

Louis, do you happen to remember if one of the forms was the BT-488 form? I'm only going by what was specified in the class I took and have no direct experience. However, I'm curious to know what the specifics are. 4X4SCHE, when you talk w/ the dealer, please post the details of their response to this issue. Thanks.

Wilder

Sorry, can't remember the form #. Beyond this all I can offer is the logic behind it. When you buy a car, you pay tax in the state where you register it, not where you purchase it. If its a private sale, the tax is collected at the DMV of the state in which you register the car. The only exception to the rule is when you buy from the dealer because the dealer has to collect tax on behalf of the state. In the even that the car is being sold out of state, each state has created a tax exemption form that enables dealers to sell cars to out of state buyers without collecting tax. I've never heard of any regulation that states that a car sold to an out-of-state buyer cannot be picked up by the buyer in the state in which the car is being sold. Who would police this?

Wilder

BTW, while I can't remember the form #, I do remember the form is beige with white blank spaces if that helps.