hi there,

I just sold my car just a few weeks ago and im already looking for another one to buy. i'm interested in buying this one i found out of state. I heard that there was a way to avoid the sales tax for Ca if i bought out of state and kept the car out of state for 90 days. does anyone know if this is true? are there any other ways of avoiding this?

thanks so much in advance.

 

i don't think so. as long as you want to register the car inside of CA you will have to pay tax. the only way to avoid it is i believe on the pink slip, the seller wrote down gift. however with sc430 i don't know if dmv would trust you.

keeping the car with out of state plate would require you to be a residence there, same kind of trouble

 

As far as the 'gift', at least in TX, is very strict. It can only be from direct family (father, daughter, granddaughter). Tried it with my brother, and didn't work

 

When I bought my SC400 back in '96 from an individual, he had me go through a broker with him. Basically, I bought the car from him at the agreed price, but he was able to discount the price of his next car by the "trade-in" of the one he sold me -- thereby saving $$ in taxes for the new car.

The only impact to me was that I had to front the tax at the time of purchase, instead of registering it on my own time.

 

The short answer is NO!!!!

 

Just pay the sales tax. Help the economy.

 

I believe that it goes like this:

If you purchase from out of state, or purchase from a California dealer but take posession of the vehicle (say from the manufacturer) out of state, you purchase is not taxable for sales tax. It IS, however, taxable under California use tax. Use tax was created for this purpose -- to tax items purchased across state lines but then brought in for use in California.

Use tax does not apply if you purchase an item for use out of the state. In order to qualify for this exemption, you must use it (not store it) out of state for the first 90 days, or if you bring it into the state before then, then you must use it out of state for the 3 months out of the first 6 months you own it.

They may audit you, in which case you have to prove the above. Generally, the BOE will trace the sale either through a California dealer you might purchase from, or from the DMV.

See the following link:
http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqtrans.htm#d

Pat

 

Have you thought about joining the military? Buy the car out of state and register it in a "home of record" state that doesn't charge sales tax.

I suspect you might find this might be a bit drastic so pay your tax bill like everyone else!

 

If you buy anything from out of state (via internet or catalog), and then ship to you, it is subject to use tax. Merchants from out of state aren't required to collect sales tax, but technically, we all are required to pay use tax under these conditions (be it computers, gadgets, or cars). Autos just happen to be easy for California to catch, because they are required to be registered once brought in to the state.

It's easy to tell someone else to pay their bill, but the reality is that most of us are already avoiding it whenever we order online.