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Out of State Registration or Purchase

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I was wondering if anyone has purchased a trailer out-of-state for avoidance of sales tax or cheaper registration. I know with vehicles that they are pretty damn strict on cracking down on this. But I wonder of they would be for trailers as well? Anybody have any ideas??



Kev
 
Seems Oregon dealers were misleading buyers on this issue. Needless to say the dealers were in hot water along with the buyers. If I remember correctly they were registering the units in Oregon even though the buyers lived out of state. There was a write up in Good Sam and Trailer Life magazines about this as well. Id make a call to your state office and see what the rules are. I know people from Washington,which has a sales tax,come to Oregon to buy TVs,etc. But its the big money items which draw attention.
 
Tax

I do not know about Kalifornia, but in Washington when you go to register you pay . If you register in Oregon and are a Washington resident and get caught, you PAY big time.
 
In most states if you are from out of state you do not pay the selling states sales tax but pay your home state sales tax when you title and tag it. If you tag & title in another state your home state will get really PO'd and do unspeakable things to your wallet and /or bank account.
 
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funny you should ask - I'm going thru it right now. I'm having to 'prove' to the Board of Equalization (sales tax people) that my trailer did not enter CA for 90 days after purchase. It entered CA 94 days after purchase... . If you buy used you have a much better bet of avoiding CA sales tax. The WA registration on my trailer didn't expire until Oct '01 - I had it inspected in Crescent City in Aug when I brought the trailer into CA. I should have waited until October when it was ~120 days and the DMV probably would have just given me the plate. Since it was so close to the 90 day rule the DMV wanted a waiver from the BOE.



There are ads in GoodSam about setting up Montana holding Corps in order to avoid sales tax and registration. I don't have any idea what it would cost but it may be worthwhile.



I'll let you know what happens.



Brian
 
We have a Judge in Benton County Arkansas that has lost his position over having his motorhome registered in Oregon. He is still facing the penalty phase of his trial.



A brokerage company has been charged with assisting many people with registering in Oregon.



I just pay the taxes and gripe and grumble.



I do have relatives in Oregon though that I could "rent" my vehicles from.



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Here's the story

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The arrest of a district judge has spotlighted differences between two Republican factions in Benton County and prompted the county prosecuting attorney to deny that it's all about politics. West District Judge Rodney Owens was arrested last year on a tax-evasion charge following an investigation of the practice of Arkansas residents of registering their motor vehicles out of state. Essentially, the investigation found that a number of area residents licensed their vehicles in Oregon, apparently through a broker in Springdale, to evade personal property taxes. In Owens' case, he registered a recreational vehicle but had switched the registration to Arkansas before he was arrested. Owens has since entered a plea of innocent and is not hearing any cases in his district nor in any of the smaller communities where he presides. The charge is a felony and carries a prison sentence. The Arkansas State Police conducted the investigation and charges were filed through the office of Prosecutor Bob Balfe. Since the arrest of Owens in December, no one else has been charged, and allegations began circulating that Owens was targeted because he had plans to run for circuit judge on the Republican ticket. - Wed, Feb 06, 2002
 
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i am in the process of purchasing a fiver out of state right now. the dealer in PA collects NJ sales tax (where i live) and NJ title, doc and registration fees. when i pick-up fiver they cut a check to NJ DMV for the tax and reg and give to me so it can be registered. Point #1 You must register your trailer if you plan to use it. Point #2 when you register it you must have paid or will pay sales tax. Point #3 if you plan to register it in another state you will most certainly have insurance problems if it is registered in a state different from where you house the trailer.
 
Try as you might, you'll get caught in Texas when you register it for the first time. They gig you for the sales tax before you can get a Texas title or license plates.



Rusty
 
You could live in Kansas. They have a personal property tax. the tag and title are technically inexpensive but you have to pay PP tax before registering. on mu 2001 the tax was $588 atfre I'd owned it a full year. To tag my wife's 96 cirrus was gonna cost almost $300. I still have a residence in texas so I kept the texas tags.



I also travel out of state through texas 5 days a week. as long as I return to Tx once every 30 days I can keep tagging it there indefnintely.
 
This is true in most states. when you register you must pay or show proof of payment of sales tax. With that said if your purchasing a truck camper out of state that doesn't get registered you can avoid (Although illegal and not recommended), sales tax by having the camper delivered to your home. This delivery can be justified if the dealer pays you for picking the camper up. For example you give him a bill for gas and time that he puts in with purchase as delivery fee. With that said, Tax law in most states says that if you purchase an item out of state and do not pay sales tax you are obligated to report that purchase in order for sales tax to be collected.
 
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I guess that's the answers I was expecting. We own a piece of land in Colorado, and are considering some in AZ, and was thinking along the lines of "that we keep the trailer there are just passing through... ... " But it might not be worth it.



Let me ask another though- We are considering purchasing a trailer in Nevada (new) and then bringing it back to California. I know I'll have to pay tax and tags, but will I have to pay any penalty on top of that??



Kev
 
You will need someone who actually lives in and understatnds california law for that question. no insult intended for all the CA folks but that state is in its own world and does nothing like anybody else.
 
Nev to Cal

Kev, we almost bought our trailer in Nevada. And if memory serves me correctly:( all you would be responsible for is the tax and tags. The last two trucks I've purchased came from out of state, one Nevada and this one Oregon. In each case, all I was responsible for was tax and tags. Although that came to $2500 this time:{
 
There won't be any penalities if you buy the trailer in Nevada & title/register it in CA. Only thing you'll need to do is figure out is a temporary plate from either Nevada or CA. My guess is the dealer can help you out w/3 day temp permit from Nevada.



I was just at the BOE an hour ago. Let's just say I hate bureaucratic pencil pushers that can't make a decision (that I like)and have to refer it up their boss..... The tax specialist would not give me an exemption because in her opinion the fact that the trailer was stored at a RV storage facility does not constitute use since I/my dad couldn't access the trailer at 2AM if we wanted to. Basically, if my parents were able to store the trailer at their house, they can't - HOA won't allow even if they had the room, then it sounded like she would have granted my exemption. I have a call into the Consumer Tax Rep in Sacramento. The use tax on my trailer is $1088. 00 - enough to warrant some leg work on my part.



Brian
 
I'm a retired resident of California. I have purchased my last 2 Dodges outside of California (Idaho and Nevada) and my last 5th in California (delivered in Nevada) I have received a sales tax exemption on all by proving use for more than 90 days outside of Ca. Go to boe. cal.gov publication 52 gives the information. I have been challenged, had to appeal. They will not make it easy.



Registering something in another state (Boat's reg in Or) just seems to beg for problems.



7 3/4% on $100000 over a few years was great motivation for me. Covered a lot of the travel during the 90 days we traveled across the country!
 
Taxes

Here's a good one. Back in 1990 when I bought my Terry fiver, I lived on Seneca Army Depot N. Y. in Govt. housing. Due to the way N. Y. State law was written, if you lived on a Govt. reservation (this was geared toward the native indian population) you paid no sales tax. The army depot was a considered a Govt. reservation. I bought two vehicals and paid no sales tax! Three months befor I purchased my Rv (Unknown to me) the state changed the law as far as military bases were concerned. I paid tax on the Rv. Bummer! Had I only paid attention to state politics!





cph
 
I live in Phoenix and when I purchased my 2002 trailer from California I saved some money. When I paid tax, I had to just pay Arizona state sales tax and no city tax. The Arizona DMV only required 5% tax proof to register rather than the almost 8% that I would of paid if I bought it in Arizona if I had to pay the city tax.
 
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