Registering car in MO; too late (St. Louis: 2014, car registration, insurance)

[zippydriver1980]

Hi,

We moved to Missouri several months ago and unfortunately due to a lack of weekdays off to begin the car registration process have not yet transferred our cars to Missouri from our previous state. I know Missouri law states you have 30 days to do this and we have missed that deadline. I also know we need to pay personal property tax on any vehicle we had before January 1st of this year. We moved before this date. I am now trying to rectify the situation and get everything to be on the up and up as soon as possible. I am not sure if I am supposed to try to get a statement of nonassessment from St. Louis city or send in a return for property taxes and get a receipt after paying them before I get my inspections done and apply for a registration and license plates?

Also, should I expect to have any penalties to pay because of the delay or is there any amnesty because we are doing this voluntarily and before we run into any potential problems?

I just want to get a feel for what to expect, where I need to go, and how much we will pay.

Thanks!

[attrapereves]

Don't tell them when you moved here (they don't even ask). Just ask for a statement of non-assessment at your local tax office. Bring in your title or registration and tell them you recently moved to MO. They will ask for your local address and provide you with a slip of paper saying you owe no tax for 2013. It took them less than 5 minutes to give me one.

Get your car inspected (this can be done at any time). I believe this cost around $10. Since you live in STL, you will most likely have to pay a bit more since they do an emissions inspection too.

DMV: Bring your title, proof of insurance, MO drivers license (if you don't have one, do this first at the DMV), and inspection receipt for transferring plates. It took me less than 20 minutes and I believe I paid around $60 for a two year sticker including registration fees and taxes for my 2007 Corolla. The cost of the drivers license was less than $30.

I was surprised at how stupid easy the entire process was. Down South, DMVs are hell and I often had to wait several hours.

You will not receive a tax bill until December 2014.