[ghazal71]

Hi Everyone,

We are currently residents of MA but will be moving to CT pretty soon.
We're planning to buy a car and I was wondering if I buy it in MA and bring it to CT am I going to loose money?

I mean I'm not sure what I even need to think about. Would we be paying extra fees? Would taxes be better or worse? What else should I consider?

[JViello]

Sales tax is pretty much the same. Registration fees are probably close.

The added cost will be transferring your MA plates to CT - in essence a double registration fee, so you might as well just purchase in CT.

[Lincolnian]

Originally Posted by ghazal71

Hi Everyone,

We are currently residents of MA but will be moving to CT pretty soon.
We're planning to buy a car and I was wondering if I buy it in MA and bring it to CT am I going to loose money?

I mean I'm not sure what I even need to think about. Would we be paying extra fees? Would taxes be better or worse? What else should I consider?

Once you close/move to your Connecticut address it doesn't matter where you buy the car. If you buy it in MA and register it in CT you will pay CT tax and registration not MA. The same is true if you buy a car in CT and live and register it in MA.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

Once you close/move to your Connecticut address it doesn't matter where you buy the car. If you buy it in MA and register it in CT you will pay CT tax and registration not MA. The same is true if you buy a car in CT and live and register it in MA.

Good point, but just to clarify, the OP need to be living in CT to register it in CT, they can not purchase and live in MA and register in CT ahead of time.

We generally purchase our cars in New Hampshire.

[Stylo]

If you buy it in MA, you pay MA sales tax and then registration fees.

When you move to CT, you pay for the registration fees again and deal with the hassle that is the DMV.

So yes, you pay double on registration fees.

[Kristin85]

State of purchase matters most when you're looking at sales price and state tax rather than fees. If you can find a cheap car in NH, go with JViello and buy there to avoid sales tax. However, there are a ton of deep discounted cars in NJ so you may want to price compare.

[retiree2011]

Originally Posted by ghazal71

Hi Everyone,

We are currently residents of MA but will be moving to CT pretty soon.
We're planning to buy a car and I was wondering if I buy it in MA and bring it to CT am I going to loose money?

I mean I'm not sure what I even need to think about. Would we be paying extra fees? Would taxes be better or worse? What else should I consider?

The property tax varies by town - some are very high (like New Haven, Hamden, West Haven). If New Hampshire would work for you, that might be your best bet. I am moving to Delaware next year and hope my 1999
lasts till I move as there is no sales tax there (like New Hampshire).

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by retiree2011

The property tax varies by town - some are very high (like New Haven, Hamden, West Haven). If New Hampshire would work for you, that might be your best bet. I am moving to Delaware next year and hope my 1999
lasts till I move as there is no sales tax there (like New Hampshire).

What does New Hampshire have to do with buying a car when they're moving to CT?

[retiree2011]

Originally Posted by Stylo

What does New Hampshire have to do with buying a car when they're moving to CT?

New Hampshire has no sales tax and huge car dealerships near the Mass. border. Don't know how it would work with registering the car, though.

[ja1myn]

I know a lot of people from Vermont, CT, NH, and MA that come to NY and buy cars and then bring them over the border. My dad says it's a lot cheaper that way, but I do not know specifics.