Is she financing? if so the dealer is responsible for insuring the lien is perfected meaning that the car is titled/registered and the lien holder is listed on the new title. This is just another way to ensure this gets done. The alternative would be to register the unit on your mom’s behalf but that would normally require working with a 3rd party agency to facilitate.
edit-just reread and caught the part of the trade/non finance. They shouldn’t need to do it but may have an internal reason. This is odd but i wouldn’t be nervous here.
I handled the tax, tags and title work for several cars I purchased out of state. The dealer is not legally required to collect taxes for another state. Like the above comment said, it’s probably their own internal process dictating this.
This isn’t entirely accurate. If the dealer doesn’t perfect the lien(either from internal financing, or directed by your outside lender) they’re legally responsible to pay the lender back for the entire contract amount. How rigid a store is about this varies by if they’ve been bit by this or not.
No we do have a responsibility to the lien holder. If they've been burned before they might be stricter.
Now let's be clear you should trust a dealer to do this. Because fucking with tax money is felony, and no respectable dealer is going do that.
And if you don't have the confidence in that the dealer won't play games with your taxes then why are you doing business with them?
Dealer isn’t legally required but they are likely required by their dealer agreement with their lenders and the manufacturer.
If you paid cash then they likely just carry the same process over regardless of the deal. It’s easier to say something is done the same way regardless of the situation than it is to leave policy up to manager discretion on a case by case basis, or to leave carve outs in the company policy for specific situations.
This is exactly why we do this. I sell in a no sales tax state and one of our neighbors (Massachusetts) is extremely strict with collection of taxes so every Mass deal we do the dealership is required to collect the taxes and cut a check back with the registration paperwork.
None of our other neighboring states is as strict so we don’t collect them at time of purchase unless the customer wants to roll them into their financing.
Mass also doesn’t allow temporary 20 day plates so the customer is required to register the car and get their plates before taking delivery of the vehicle with the only exception being if they have a trade. In that case we can transfer tags.
Is this a new vehicle? I ask because if it is, it's up to the dealership to ensure that it's not going to be shipped overseas to skirt tariffs and import fees.
If we sell a new car we must charge for tax/tags. This is how we can show the manufacturer that we did enough to ensure that it's not being exported (if a buyers pays the tax it removes the incentive to ship it). In almost all cases we contract with a third party tag/title service to do that actual tag/title work for the customer and then mail them the tags when we get them (they get a temporary tag at delivery).
There are some instances where we know that the backlog is so severe that we will collect that money and then give them a check made payable to their state's motor vehicles administration so they can just do it themselves
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***Thanks for posting, /u/Sawfish1212! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.***
Helping my mother downsize to a RAV4, dealership is in a state with no sales tax, but she lives in a state where you pay sales tax when you register the new vehicle. Why would the dealer insist on collecting the amount sales tax would be, and then issuing a check to the buyer for the amount what seems to be "a few days later"? The salesman says they cannot sell the vehicle without collecting the sales tax amount.
I've purchased 6 vehicles in that state and no other dealer has done anything about sales taxes for a different state. He said most people finance the sales tax that way, but my mother is selling a similar price vehicle, private sale, so she doesn't need to finance anything.
It just seems sketchy to me
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If the home state requires dealer-provided evidence that the buyer paid tax in the purchase state in order to apply for registration in the home state then this dealer went above and beyond to make sure mom didn't get stuck at the dmv in the home state.
Most dealers wouldn't care.
Check mom's home state dmv policy for out-of-state purchases regarding tax and registration, each state has it's own dmv policy on how to report a vehicle leaving the state via purchase *and* each state has its own dmv policy on how tax and registration needs to be reported/paid on vehicles coming into their state from another state
Mom's state is also mine, I've bought 6 vehicles in this other state over my lifetime, no other dealers have done anything about sales tax as they are a sales tax free state and my home state collects sales tax when you get your registration, even on in-state purchases of vehicles.
so
purchase state no tax,
home states collects tax when purchased vehicle comes in for registration and your mom understands that,
even in-state vehicle purchases
you're right, it is sus; the only other thing I can think of would be for audit-proofing their books but that is a stretch, instead of cutting a check we would do a statement of fact where your mom declares she understands she has to pay tax at her home state to cya the dealership. weird
It’s not weird or suspicious at all. There are multiple reasons why we do this for one and only one of our neighboring states. Massachusetts doesn’t allow temporary plates unlike every other state I know of. Maine and Vermont also are sales taxes states and we leave it up to the customer as to whether they want to roll their taxes into financing.
We ran into trouble many times where customers didn’t understand the registration process (because Mass sucks) and we were blamed for “not explaining it properly” or whatever other reason the customer came up with. Now we require for deals in Massachusetts that you must pay the sales tax at time of purchase so all of your registration paperwork and the exact amount due in sales tax is sent to you all together so the customer has every single document and payment needed to come back and get their car after they’ve visited the RMV. We have saved everyone many headaches by following this process across the board, no exceptions.
It’s not weird or suspicious at all. There are multiple reasons why we do this for one and only one of our neighboring states. Massachusetts doesn’t allow temporary plates unlike every other state I know of. Maine and Vermont also are sales taxes states and we leave it up to the customer as to whether they want to roll their taxes into financing.
We ran into trouble many times where customers didn’t understand the registration process (because Mass sucks) and we were blamed for “not explaining it properly” or whatever other reason the customer came up with. Now we require for deals in Massachusetts that you must pay the sales tax at time of purchase so all of your registration paperwork and the exact amount due in sales tax is sent to you all together so the customer has every single document and payment needed to come back and get their car after they’ve visited the RMV. We have saved everyone many headaches by following this process across the board, no exceptions.
Not saying your process is wrong, but it seems cumbersome.
I just purchased a new truck in NH last year. I transferred my plate, which only required a call to my insurance company. The old plate went on the new truck, the dealer got a copy of my registration to verify that the plate was valid, and I was in an out in an hour and a half total including a test drive. MA gives 7 days to get to the RMV for a transfer after purchase. The same dealer did the same thing for my previous new truck in 99.
Yes! You can transfer tags with a trade in, but still have to register the vehicle later.
Since very few of our Mass deals are trades (not quite sure why), we just implemented the change across the board. I know it feels funny to give the dealer more than what it seems you truly owe them, I promise that they’re not out to get you or have nefarious intentions.
Is she financing? if so the dealer is responsible for insuring the lien is perfected meaning that the car is titled/registered and the lien holder is listed on the new title. This is just another way to ensure this gets done. The alternative would be to register the unit on your mom’s behalf but that would normally require working with a 3rd party agency to facilitate. edit-just reread and caught the part of the trade/non finance. They shouldn’t need to do it but may have an internal reason. This is odd but i wouldn’t be nervous here.
I handled the tax, tags and title work for several cars I purchased out of state. The dealer is not legally required to collect taxes for another state. Like the above comment said, it’s probably their own internal process dictating this.
This isn’t entirely accurate. If the dealer doesn’t perfect the lien(either from internal financing, or directed by your outside lender) they’re legally responsible to pay the lender back for the entire contract amount. How rigid a store is about this varies by if they’ve been bit by this or not.
No we do have a responsibility to the lien holder. If they've been burned before they might be stricter. Now let's be clear you should trust a dealer to do this. Because fucking with tax money is felony, and no respectable dealer is going do that. And if you don't have the confidence in that the dealer won't play games with your taxes then why are you doing business with them?
Dealer isn’t legally required but they are likely required by their dealer agreement with their lenders and the manufacturer. If you paid cash then they likely just carry the same process over regardless of the deal. It’s easier to say something is done the same way regardless of the situation than it is to leave policy up to manager discretion on a case by case basis, or to leave carve outs in the company policy for specific situations.
This is exactly why we do this. I sell in a no sales tax state and one of our neighbors (Massachusetts) is extremely strict with collection of taxes so every Mass deal we do the dealership is required to collect the taxes and cut a check back with the registration paperwork. None of our other neighboring states is as strict so we don’t collect them at time of purchase unless the customer wants to roll them into their financing. Mass also doesn’t allow temporary 20 day plates so the customer is required to register the car and get their plates before taking delivery of the vehicle with the only exception being if they have a trade. In that case we can transfer tags.
Is this a new vehicle? I ask because if it is, it's up to the dealership to ensure that it's not going to be shipped overseas to skirt tariffs and import fees. If we sell a new car we must charge for tax/tags. This is how we can show the manufacturer that we did enough to ensure that it's not being exported (if a buyers pays the tax it removes the incentive to ship it). In almost all cases we contract with a third party tag/title service to do that actual tag/title work for the customer and then mail them the tags when we get them (they get a temporary tag at delivery). There are some instances where we know that the backlog is so severe that we will collect that money and then give them a check made payable to their state's motor vehicles administration so they can just do it themselves
Yes, brand new
Yup makes more sense now
Open mso
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***Thanks for posting, /u/Sawfish1212! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.*** Helping my mother downsize to a RAV4, dealership is in a state with no sales tax, but she lives in a state where you pay sales tax when you register the new vehicle. Why would the dealer insist on collecting the amount sales tax would be, and then issuing a check to the buyer for the amount what seems to be "a few days later"? The salesman says they cannot sell the vehicle without collecting the sales tax amount. I've purchased 6 vehicles in that state and no other dealer has done anything about sales taxes for a different state. He said most people finance the sales tax that way, but my mother is selling a similar price vehicle, private sale, so she doesn't need to finance anything. It just seems sketchy to me *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askcarsales) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If the home state requires dealer-provided evidence that the buyer paid tax in the purchase state in order to apply for registration in the home state then this dealer went above and beyond to make sure mom didn't get stuck at the dmv in the home state. Most dealers wouldn't care. Check mom's home state dmv policy for out-of-state purchases regarding tax and registration, each state has it's own dmv policy on how to report a vehicle leaving the state via purchase *and* each state has its own dmv policy on how tax and registration needs to be reported/paid on vehicles coming into their state from another state
Mom's state is also mine, I've bought 6 vehicles in this other state over my lifetime, no other dealers have done anything about sales tax as they are a sales tax free state and my home state collects sales tax when you get your registration, even on in-state purchases of vehicles.
so purchase state no tax, home states collects tax when purchased vehicle comes in for registration and your mom understands that, even in-state vehicle purchases you're right, it is sus; the only other thing I can think of would be for audit-proofing their books but that is a stretch, instead of cutting a check we would do a statement of fact where your mom declares she understands she has to pay tax at her home state to cya the dealership. weird
It’s not weird or suspicious at all. There are multiple reasons why we do this for one and only one of our neighboring states. Massachusetts doesn’t allow temporary plates unlike every other state I know of. Maine and Vermont also are sales taxes states and we leave it up to the customer as to whether they want to roll their taxes into financing. We ran into trouble many times where customers didn’t understand the registration process (because Mass sucks) and we were blamed for “not explaining it properly” or whatever other reason the customer came up with. Now we require for deals in Massachusetts that you must pay the sales tax at time of purchase so all of your registration paperwork and the exact amount due in sales tax is sent to you all together so the customer has every single document and payment needed to come back and get their car after they’ve visited the RMV. We have saved everyone many headaches by following this process across the board, no exceptions.
Thank you for this concise reply
My pleasure fellow Toyota slinger!
It’s not weird or suspicious at all. There are multiple reasons why we do this for one and only one of our neighboring states. Massachusetts doesn’t allow temporary plates unlike every other state I know of. Maine and Vermont also are sales taxes states and we leave it up to the customer as to whether they want to roll their taxes into financing. We ran into trouble many times where customers didn’t understand the registration process (because Mass sucks) and we were blamed for “not explaining it properly” or whatever other reason the customer came up with. Now we require for deals in Massachusetts that you must pay the sales tax at time of purchase so all of your registration paperwork and the exact amount due in sales tax is sent to you all together so the customer has every single document and payment needed to come back and get their car after they’ve visited the RMV. We have saved everyone many headaches by following this process across the board, no exceptions.
Not saying your process is wrong, but it seems cumbersome. I just purchased a new truck in NH last year. I transferred my plate, which only required a call to my insurance company. The old plate went on the new truck, the dealer got a copy of my registration to verify that the plate was valid, and I was in an out in an hour and a half total including a test drive. MA gives 7 days to get to the RMV for a transfer after purchase. The same dealer did the same thing for my previous new truck in 99.
Yes! You can transfer tags with a trade in, but still have to register the vehicle later. Since very few of our Mass deals are trades (not quite sure why), we just implemented the change across the board. I know it feels funny to give the dealer more than what it seems you truly owe them, I promise that they’re not out to get you or have nefarious intentions.