Moving to Tampa with my car and DMV questions. (sales, apartment)

[qzaa3]

Hi,

I will be relocating from another state to Tampa soon. I will be driving there with my out of state registered car. I plan to sell my car once I get to Tampa.

Would there be any issues selling or trading in my car with an out of state plate and out of state license in Florida? I have a clear title.

As I do not know how long it will take for me to sell the car.
Will it be an issue selling or trading in a car registered in another state and owner of car has a Florida license and the titled in another state?

I don't want to register the car in florida because it doesn't make sense to register it and only to sell it in a few weeks and then buy another car and have to register another car again.

Thanks,

[Schuttzie]

This is a good question so I am following this thread. We will be moving to FL in a year or so with our car as well. Hopefully, someone can respond.

[bentlebee]

I'm not aa lawyer but I think the DMV can easily answer that question. I think the car must first be registered in Florida to be sold here but that is my assumption as there is tax to be paid. Otherwise it sounds like avoiding tax payments and sounds illegal to me. Why would you otherwise have to register any car in Florida and everyone better sells the car and buy an used or new car here and avoid that tax/fee bill. That doesn't sound like common sense.

You may be selling it here and then later get a huge bill which also happened to a friend of mine who bought a car from a friend and there was a lower price agreed to and the DMV came back months later that the agreed price was too low for market value to make this transaction that was acceptable and he had to pay more taxes.

[Schuttzie]

I would not try to evade registration fees at all but possibly sell it before moving there but I think we'll have our little car for quite some time to come so will register it if we are keeping it. Thank you for pointing this out, bentlebee.

[qzaa3]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

I'm not aa lawyer but I think the DMV can easily answer that question. I think the car must first be registered in Florida to be sold here but that is my assumption as there is tax to be paid. Otherwise it sounds like avoiding tax payments and sounds illegal to me. Why would you otherwise have to register any car in Florida and everyone better sells the car and buy an used or new car here and avoid that tax/fee bill. That doesn't sound like common sense.

You may be selling it here and then later get a huge bill which also happened to a friend of mine who bought a car from a friend and there was a lower price agreed to and the DMV came back months later that the agreed price was too low for market value to make this transaction that was acceptable and he had to pay more taxes.

Well, I would sell it in my state now, but I need the car to get to florida with all my belongings.

I'm not really trying to bypass anything, I just want to know the law, so I can plan accordingly.

I don't believe there's a tax on my part as I'm the seller and I had the car a long time.

If i was to register the car in Fl, the only think I need to pay is registration fee. But Like I said, if I can sell it without having to registrate it, then I will do that, but if I have to register it before I can sell, I will do that as well, just a PITA.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by qzaa3

Hi,

I will be relocating from another state to Tampa soon. I will be driving there with my out of state registered car. I plan to sell my car once I get to Tampa.

Would there be any issues selling or trading in my car with an out of state plate and out of state license in Florida? I have a clear title.

As I do not know how long it will take for me to sell the car.
Will it be an issue selling or trading in a car registered in another state and owner of car has a Florida license and the titled in another state?

I don't want to register the car in florida because it doesn't make sense to register it and only to sell it in a few weeks and then buy another car and have to register another car again.

Thanks,

First, do the research and find out how long you have before you must license and title your out of state car in FL. No one likes paying more than one state for license/registration, but if you move its reality. Bite the bullet. A car that's already legally and cleanly titled in FL will be more attractive to buyers there. Car shoppers don't want to futz around with fees and potential hassle that comes with an out of state titled car any more than YOU do. To recoup, add the cost of the paperwork into the asking price of the car.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by qzaa3

Hi,

I will be relocating from another state to Tampa soon. I will be driving there with my out of state registered car. I plan to sell my car once I get to Tampa.

Would there be any issues selling or trading in my car with an out of state plate and out of state license in Florida? I have a clear title.

As I do not know how long it will take for me to sell the car.
Will it be an issue selling or trading in a car registered in another state and owner of car has a Florida license and the titled in another state?

I don't want to register the car in florida because it doesn't make sense to register it and only to sell it in a few weeks and then buy another car and have to register another car again.

Thanks,

You have a couple of issues here:

1.) Florida law requires that you register, title and insure a vehicle within 30 days of establishing residency. They won't come after you, but when you do go to sell there might be issues if it's been longer than this time period.

2.) If you have established residency, that is, obtained employment and/or rented a property such as a house or apartment, and you get into an accident and aren't current with the state, that's a problem from a liability standpoint. I'm not a lawyer or insurance agent, but I would suspect that your current (out of state) insurer would not look kindly upon this, either.

As for selling your vehicle, there's no issue with selling an out of state vehicle in the state. The issues are for the buyer, not the seller, as they will have to pay a $225 "administrative fee" to title and register the car in Florida. I've bought and sold cars from out of state here in Florida for over 25 years, and there's nothing in the laws or registration requirements that would penalize or prevent you from doing so.

I would say if you can unload the car within 30 days of arrival or establishing residency, I don't see an issue. The only variable might be insurance, and that would only come into play in the event of a claim or a traffic infraction.

As for establishing value for tax purposes, Florida bases sales tax on the selling price. It can be $10 or $10,000, the tax collector doesn't care. There is no effort in Florida like there is in some states to establish value.

To register your out of state car, you'll have to obtain auto insurance in Florida from a Florida based insurer, pay a $225.00 "administrative fee" because it's an out of state car, and a registration, title and transfer fee. Lump sum it will probably be around $400 out the door give or take a few bucks.

RM

[engineman]

Get it right the first time, ask the folks at the DMV, That is their business. Asking is free, messing up isn't.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by engineman

Get it right the first time, ask the folks at the DMV, That is their business. Asking is free, messing up isn't.

All of the information is available online. No need to go to a tax collector's office for it.

https://www.flhsmv.gov/motor-vehicle...registrations/

RM

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by MortonR

As for establishing value for tax purposes, Florida bases sales tax on the selling price. It can be $10 or $10,000, the tax collector doesn't care. There is no effort in Florida like there is in some states to establish value.



RM

On thing I know is that the tax collector DOES care. I pointed that out in my previous post. The buyer of the car got an additional tax bill later on as the value was determined to be not a market value and too low per the tax collector. The buyer of the Mercedes paid the bill to avoid further issues as the bill of sale was as in many cases, lower than the real bill to avoid paying more taxes.

The tax collector doesn’t let that just happen.