Purchase a vehicle out of state

[Golden]

We are currently staying in Georgia and domiciled with Escapees in Texas. How do I purchase a new vehicle in Georgia and not pay taxes in both Georgia and Texas? Would the taxes be rolled into the total finance amount? How would I register the vehicle in Texas?

Thanks.

 

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums! I have purchased outside of TX several times and TX sales tax was collected when I registered them in TX and no sales tax was paid in the state where I purchased the vehicle. In such case the tax isn't rolled into the financing since it isn't paid by the dealer so the option isn't available. I suggest that you speak with the F&I people at the selling dealership and also that you contact the Polk Co. Tax Office.

Quote

Address416 N. Washington Ave.
Livingston, TX 77351

Get Directions

Phone(936) 327-6801

Fax(936) 327-6885

Email

lesliejonesburks@hotmail.com

 

[momdoc]

Most dealers will give you a temporary tag, for us it was 7 days when purchased in MS others are up to 14 days or more, and you have to  register the vehicle in your home state buy then.

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I'm trying to be careful with my generalizing, here.

I live in upstate NY, and I bought my truck from a CT Ford Dealership.  They aren't that far from the NY-CT border and are used to dealing with out of state buyers.  They sent one of their people over to the DMV in NY, registered it for me, and got NY instead of CT plates.  The sales tax was paid to NY.  I had to sign one CT form stating that I was a NY resident and registering it in NY.

As far as I know, sales tax is always paid when you register the vehicle, not when it changes hands.  If you send the title off to TX, pay the TX sales tax, get it registered, and have Escapees ship the TX plates to you in GA, you should be able to bolt the plates on and drive it out of there.

If this isn't a private sale, and you are dealing with a GA motor vehicle dealer, he should be able to answer any questions you have.

[docj]

We've bought two vehicles from dealers in TX and successfully had them registered in SD without any serious problems relative to paying taxes to the correct state.  Maybe, because we lived for many years in the Washington DC metro area where lots of people have out-of-state registrations, we''re quite accustomed to this.  It's really not rocket science.

If your dealership is sharp they will know what to do and you won't have to get involved.  Unfortunately, the dealership in TX from which we purchased both our cars claimed they knew what they were doing, but they weren't as competent as they said.  For the first vehicle, the registration package took forever to put together to the point where I had to be issued a second set of temporary plates.  Eventually, I asked them for the package and I sent it to our mail forwarder in SD to get it processed.

For the second vehicle, last year, the dealership sent off the registration package in a timely manner, but managed to underpay the State by ~$100 which I paid in response to a direct request from the local motor vehicle office.

Despite these hiccups, there was no significant issue with respect to registering the vehicles.  There's no chance of being charged taxes by the state in which you made the purchase.  This sort of thing is done all the time by people all over the country, not just RVers.

[sandsys]

When we purchased a motorhome in California to be licensed in South Dakota, we had to sign a form saying the motorhome would not be driven within California for some specific number of days I cannot currently remember. The one we bought in Minnesota and licensed in SD did not require that.

Linda

[Golden]

11 hours ago, docj said:

We've bought two vehicles from dealers in TX and successfully had them registered in SD without any serious problems relative to paying taxes to the correct state.  Maybe, because we lived for many years in the Washington DC metro area where lots of people have out-of-state registrations, we''re quite accustomed to this.  It's really not rocket science.

If your dealership is sharp they will know what to do and you won't have to get involved.  Unfortunately, the dealership in TX from which we purchased both our cars claimed they knew what they were doing, but they weren't as competent as they said.  For the first vehicle, the registration package took forever to put together to the point where I had to be issued a second set of temporary plates.  Eventually, I asked them for the package and I sent it to our mail forwarder in SD to get it processed.

For the second vehicle, last year, the dealership sent off the registration package in a timely manner, but managed to underpay the State by ~$100 which I paid in response to a direct request from the local motor vehicle office.

Despite these hiccups, there was no significant issue with respect to registering the vehicles.  There's no chance of being charged taxes by the state in which you made the purchase.  This sort of thing is done all the time by people all over the country, not just RVers.

 

[Golden]

Good morning Docj...

Thanks for your response. Do you think I can buy a vehicle in GA and register it in TX without having to return to Texas?  

I am also trying to figure out how to have GA include my TX state taxes in my overall financial package, forward my TX state taxes with the registration, so I don't have to pay TX cash?

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[bigjim]

16 minutes ago, Golden said:

Good morning Docj...

Thanks for your response. Do you think I can buy a vehicle in GA and register it in TX without having to return to Texas?  

I am also trying to figure out how to have GA include my TX state taxes in my overall financial package, forward my TX state taxes with the registration, so I don't have to pay TX cash?

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

No question you can buy and register in Texas from Ga. but I have my doubts about the taxes that way.   In fact that is an invitation to a dealer to play with the numbers. The best way to find out is call the tax office at Livingston and talk to someone.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

When we purchased our 2012 Equinox, the Mission, TX dealer demanded he collect the sales tax pending the South Dakota registration.  We agreed and sent the paperwork to My Home Address and they got our registration.

A week later with the SD registration and proof of SD sales tax paid, the Texas dealer wrote a check for the Texas sales tax he had collected.  It took four hours and it was obviously painful for the dealer.

 

 

[chirakawa]

1 hour ago, Mark and Dale Bruss said:

When we purchased our 2012 Equinox, the Mission, TX dealer demanded he collect the sales tax pending the South Dakota registration.  We agreed and sent the paperwork to My Home Address and they got our registration.

A week later with the SD registration and proof of SD sales tax paid, the Texas dealer wrote a check for the Texas sales tax he had collected.  It took four hours and it was obviously painful for the dealer.

 

 

Texas dealers are required to collect sales tax on vehicles they sell unless that vehicle has a gross weight of over 11,000 lbs.

[kb0zke]

Earlier this year we suddenly needed to trade our Jeep for another towed. We're domiciled in SD and we were in TN at the time. TN wants the dealers to collect the sales tax, so there was a delay of a couple of days before we could actually pick up our MKT because the dealership had to find out how to deal with an out-of-state registration. They eventually got it figured out (took a few phone calls on their part) and in due course we received our SD registration.

The biggest surprise wasn't the registration process. Our MKT was originally a TN car. TN doesn't require a front license plate, so the car didn't have a front license bracket. SD does require a front plate, so we had to pay $80 for a bracket. Oh yes, the dealership moved the rear plate from the Jeep to the MKT but forgot about the front one. I had to go back to the dealership to get it.

[docj]

12 hours ago, Golden said:

Good morning Docj...

Thanks for your response. Do you think I can buy a vehicle in GA and register it in TX without having to return to Texas?  

I am also trying to figure out how to have GA include my TX state taxes in my overall financial package, forward my TX state taxes with the registration, so I don't have to pay TX cash?

 

For both of the vehicles I purchased in TX, the dealer included a good faith estimate of the taxes and other fees that would be required by SD.  In the first case, slightly too much money was collected and the balance was refunded to me by SD motor vehicles.

In the second case, the dealer underestimated the cost by ~$100 which I paid directly to SD motor vehicles.  The dealer was so embarrassed that he reimbursed me for the extra cost.  In both cases, the estimated taxes and fees were rolled into the total being financed. 

As I said in my first post, people in the DC area buy cars in MD, VA and DC regardless of which jurisdiction they live in.  In addition, lots of the military stationed in the DC area maintain vehicle registrations in their home states and wish to have any vehicles they purchase carry that registration.  Admittedly, those dealers are more familiar with these sorts of things, but it's really not all that complicated.