California DMV Vehicle use tax question (Berkeley: sales, vehicle registration, home)

[anonemous]

Hey, have a question here regarding an used vehicle purchase.

Say I bough an used car for $20,000 from a private party this month in late June. If the age of the vehicle matters, let's say it's 5 years old (under 10 years for the sake of being specific from the DMV rules)

Now in late July (maybe around the week of the 26th) I am relocating to another state.


Do I need to pay any sort of arm/leg use tax when transferring the title? Should I have to, or can I pull this off legally somehow?

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by gaidensensei

Hey, have a question here regarding an used vehicle purchase.

Say I bough an used car for $20,000 from a private party this month in late June. If the age of the vehicle matters, let's say it's 5 years old (under 10 years for the sake of being specific from the DMV rules)

Now in late July (maybe around the week of the 26th) I am relocating to another state.


Do I need to pay any sort of arm/leg use tax when transferring the title? Should I have to, or can I pull this off legally somehow?

If the car is taken out of State and registered there within 10days??? it might work.

Remember the Franchise Tax Board can go after any State Income Tax refund you may have coming if taxes are owed.

When I worked at a car dealership... cars purchased from the dealer and transported out of state by a carrier or dealership employee owed no tax...

It's been a few years... so I have no idea if this is still true.

[steel7]

The FTB are ruthless & will hound you even if you move out of state. I still dont see how they get into peoples bank accounts & take your money.

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by gaidensensei

Hey, have a question here regarding an used vehicle purchase.

Say I bough an used car for $20,000 from a private party this month in late June. If the age of the vehicle matters, let's say it's 5 years old (under 10 years for the sake of being specific from the DMV rules)

Now in late July (maybe around the week of the 26th) I am relocating to another state.


Do I need to pay any sort of arm/leg use tax when transferring the title? Should I have to, or can I pull this off legally somehow?

If you transfer title to your name in California you will have to pay sales tax to California no matter how long you stay here ( your money is gone ) , now if you plan to move to ( where ever?) in the time frame you stated and the tags are still good till then you might want to consider a quick flight to that state and transfer it right away. or if you have family or friends there they can do it for you and you will save money.

[Donn2390]

You will pay in one state or the other.. There ain't no free ride....
In California you can't bring a brand new car into the state. It has to have X amount of miles on it, or they figure you went out of state just to purchase it and save the tax. Then you're stuck with a car you can't register. Also, even if it's brand new, you will have to have it smog checked, and if a PU, it has to be weighted and produce a weight certificate..
If it's a used car, you don't pay sales tax, you pay used tax, which just happens to be the same amount as sales tax. They have all the answers..! This isn't their first rodeo..!
If you pay the tax in one state, you pay the difference, if any, to the state you are registering it in..
That said, I have no idea how they do it in your state, but I'm betting the rules aren't much different anywhere, they all fully intend to make sure you pay your fair share...
Check you state's DMV web sight, it's all there...

[Donn2390]

As for the suggestion you register it with a friend in another state to save money, in California they have a bounty system. Someone sees you getting away with trying that trick, they get a reward to turn you in.
Believe me, they have all the answers...!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report Vehicles with Out-of-State License Plates to the CHP
Did you know that the State of California loses millions of dollars a year in revenue from California residents who unlawfully register their vehicles in other states or countries?

Did you know that vehicle registration fees are due immediately upon accepting employment or establishing residency in the State of California?

Did you know that California law permits only 20 days to complete the process of registering your vehicle without paying a penalty?

The three most common reasons for not completing the registration process are:

People are unaware of California registration laws.
People are evading payments of registration fees and taxes.
People are unable to comply with air pollution control laws.
Include the following information:

State or province in which vehicle is registered
Vehicle license number
Date and time the vehicle was observed
Make, model and color of the vehicle
Location where the vehicle was observed (street(s) and city)
Any additional comments and descriptive information
--------------------------------------------------------------
Agan, check your local DMV

[Ultrarunner]

For what it's worth...

A Oregonian attending UC Berkeley bought a used car after graduation and drove it home to Oregon... never had a problem with CA and the Oregon fees were ridiculously low.

I've had several friends in the military that were stationed in CA... they were always getting pulled over by the Highway Patrol for driving with out of state tags... one even was cited... well his wife was... even after producing military id... went to court and the judge threw it out... military families on active duty can choose any state to be their home state... lots choose Florida for tax reasons.

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by Donn2390

You will pay in one state or the other.. There ain't no free ride....
In California you can't bring a brand new car into the state. It has to have X amount of miles on it, or they figure you went out of state just to purchase it and save the tax. Then you're stuck with a car you can't register. Also, even if it's brand new, you will have to have it smog checked, and if a PU, it has to be weighted and produce a weight certificate..
If it's a used car, you don't pay sales tax, you pay used tax, which just happens to be the same amount as sales tax. They have all the answers..! This isn't their first rodeo..!
If you pay the tax in one state, you pay the difference, if any, to the state you are registering it in..
That said, I have no idea how they do it in your state, but I'm betting the rules aren't much different anywhere, they all fully intend to make sure you pay your fair share...
Check you state's DMV web sight, it's all there...

The OP stated it was a USED car and he was planning to move out of state in a few weeks.

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by Donn2390

As for the suggestion you register it with a friend in another state to save money, in California they have a bounty system. Someone sees you getting away with trying that trick, they get a reward to turn you in.
Believe me, they have all the answers...!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report Vehicles with Out-of-State License Plates to the CHP
Did you know that the State of California loses millions of dollars a year in revenue from California residents who unlawfully register their vehicles in other states or countries?

Did you know that vehicle registration fees are due immediately upon accepting employment or establishing residency in the State of California?

Did you know that California law permits only 20 days to complete the process of registering your vehicle without paying a penalty?

The three most common reasons for not completing the registration process are:

People are unaware of California registration laws.
People are evading payments of registration fees and taxes.
People are unable to comply with air pollution control laws.
Include the following information:

State or province in which vehicle is registered
Vehicle license number
Date and time the vehicle was observed
Make, model and color of the vehicle
Location where the vehicle was observed (street(s) and city)
Any additional comments and descriptive information
--------------------------------------------------------------
Agan, check your local DMV

The statement was that he have a friend register it ( in his name , The OP's) as he was planning to move there anyway, which would save him the trip And lastly he would save the registration fee in Ca. and only have to pay for the fee's in his new state.

[steel7]

Some state dmvs check the vin # on the car & registration to be sure they match when you first register your car. The op should just drive the car & wait till he moves to register it. Back in the 90s i drove a relatives car with out of state plates in ca for over 3 yrs. My relative sent me the tags every yr & i sent him the registration fees. It was around $23.00 a yr & no smog. In ca it would of been double that. I drove all over so.ca (incl san diego) & i never got stopped. I know its different now but back then the state wasnt as broke as it is now. When i bought my Tbird in 02 i paid 2k for it but i told the dmv i paid 500.00. That saved me about 120.00 in state tax to the horrid dmv. The state did get 123.00 from my auto accident property settlement so i say were even as far as that goes. The dmv did get 68.00 from me last yr & i cant do a damn thing about it. That was my mistake & now they want 18.00 to non op my car or the fees go from 68.00 to around 150.00 every yr. The way they hit you with late fees & penalties is unbelievable.