Buying car out of state, register in Houston, pay tax once (sales, insurance)

[zabeus]

Hello,
I was wondering there's a way to buy a used car in Oklahoma for driving in Houston, without getting double taxed? Oklahoma has an excise tax, and Texas has an even bigger tax. It doesn't look like there's a way to get out of paying for registration in Texas, but can I just transfer and register it here only? Or will they say since it was bought in Oklahoma and has an OK title it must be transferred there first?
Or can titling and registration be done separately?

Actually in this case the car has already been purchased and transported here. The dealer (not a private seller) just left the old plate on it. We have the transferred title but didn't take it to DMV/DPS yet.

I'm posting this here because it seems specific to Houston & Texas; sorry if it should have gone in Automotive. I saw some related posts in that forum but am still confused since each state has various rules.

[trbstang]

Texas does not require that a title be transferred to Texas, but it needs to be inspected and registered/licensed in Texas if living here.

From the link below:
"Visit your local county tax office. You are not required to title your vehicle in Texas, but first-time registrants must fill out and complete Form 130-U. If you do not possess the title because it has a lien, you also must complete Form VTR-272."

Form VTR-272 is for registration of an out of state titled vehicle.

Have you been a Texas resident? If you are moving to Texas, you should only need to pay the registration fees and a $90 use tax. Otherwise if you are a resident, you will need to pay the difference between the OK tax and the 6.25% Texas sales tax for a Texas title.

From the instructions on form 130-U as noted in the link below:

"New Texas residents are subject to a $90 use tax on a vehicle brought into this state that was previously registered to the new resident in another state or foreign country. This is in lieu of the 6.25 percent use tax imposed on a Texas resident."

TxDMV.GOV - New to Texas

So you should be able to just register the car in Texas, and may not even need to pay anything extra for a title transfer if you keep the title in OK. I would just get the insurance and inspection, then go to the tax office and see if you can just register the car here using the form 130-u and form VTR-272 and your OK title.

Good luck!

[Truth_Avenger]

They will get their money and they will make you pay the value THEY assign to it. They have a website for Harris County where you type your vin number and mileage and it tells you the value you will pay taxes on. Another government money grab.

[jasonamd]

Originally Posted by Truth_Avenger

They will get their money and they will make you pay the value THEY assign to it. They have a website for Harris County where you type your vin number and mileage and it tells you the value you will pay taxes on. Another government money grab.

Not entirely true. Yes, they have a value they assign to the vehicle but you are taxed in one of 3 ways. If you paid more than 80% of what they say the value is, you pay tax on that amount. If you pay less than what 80% of what they say the value is, you pay tax on 80% of the value. You can also have a certified appraisal and you will pay tax on that amount.

This was changed to stop people from getting out of paying taxes by saying a car was sold for $500 when it really was sold for $5000.

This also only applies to cars sold through a 3rd party. If you get it from a licensed dealer, you pay tax on the sales price.

If you already lived in TX when you bought the car, you will need to show proof you paid sales tax in OK and then you will most likely pay the difference if the TX rate is higher.

[Truth_Avenger]

Why should someone have to pay the government taxes when buying a car from another private citizen who already paid taxes on the car when purchased new? Just another government money grab.

[huma281]

I transferred my title from Colorado to Texas and didn't have to pay additional taxes. I think you guys should go to the tax office and see if you'll get charged or not. If you do get charged, they only charge the difference in taxes, like mentioned above. If you purchased it and paid taxes on 5.25%, you'll pay the difference of 1% from 6.25%.

[kaelti12]

Its my understanding they only make you pay if Texas' taxes are more, and then only difference.

We transferred a WA vehicle here, and since we paid 10% in sales tax when we got the thing in WA, we didn't have to pay any here, since 10% is much higher. Still had to pay the register it, but its very small compared to the sales tax.

[zabeus]

Thanks for the answers trbstang and everyone.