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Absent a sales tax license for a given state, a dealership cannot collect sales taxes for that state. Sales tax collection is a function performed on the part of the dealership for the state only in the state they are licensed to do business in and where they hold a sales tax license.
The dealership that's selling a car in NC, knowing that the purchaser isn't a resident, but filing paperwork in their name to an address there ... is doing something not legal. They may be motivated to do so because they have quotas or territorial dealership agency/manufacturer issues which require them to sell a vehicle into a given geographic area or face adverse consequences with their manufacturer. But this isn't a sales tax issue.
I haven't seen that "big book" at most dealerships I've dealt with around the USA.
Sure they can collect taxes. They then forward it on to the other state in whatever manner they need to. Some states require it to be mailed to the county tax office, some states the DMV...any dealership can do it. If they say they can't, it's just being lazy.
There isn't any required sales tax license, at lest not in Texas, nor anywhere that I know of. I've done at least a hundred out of state deals, everywhere from Maine to Louisiana to Colorado to New Mexico. It's very simple to do.
As for the book, it's a big black 3-ring binder that details every state's taxes and fees and how to do it. I forget the name of the company that distributes it.
Have bought several cars out of State. The dealer takes care of only his state's nuisance fees. Taxes are paid to the state the car is registered in.Dealer has nothing to do with where and when you register the car.
question then Shelby, why do they charge a registration fee then?
Obviously, the only correct answer to the OP's question is "It depends!"
In California, every dealer seems to be a State Department of Motor Vehicles representative. The dealer takes care of ALL the paperwork, collects the taxes and registration fees, and issues the new registration to the buyer. The license plates stay with the vehicle forever, or until it is sold out of state.
I have, in the past, purchased two used vehicles from California dealers, and that is how it was handled. Even though they knew I was a resident of Montana, and the vehicle would be registered in Montana, they still collected the sales tax and registration fees. They would not just give me the paperwork to take to Montana!
Private party sales in CA are entirely different. the seller gives the buyer the title, and the buyer transfers the title. I have done that a couple of times, too.
However, here in Montana NOBODY takes care of DMV paperwork except the DMV! the license plates belong to the registered owner, not the vehicle. The seller keeps the plates. The dealer won't even have any license plates, except for his temporary "dealer plates".
Yes, the process is VERY "State specific", and as such it is for all practical purposes an unanswerable question unless the states are specified!
<br>It would be a private sale no dealer involved.<br>
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