Registering a used vehicle in Texas
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i am planning on purchasing a used truck this weekend and the seller mentioned somthing about paying thousands of dollars to register the truck. Somthing about paying taxes on the book value of the truck, not what i am paying for it.
I moved here from VA in july and now that i am all settled in and know i wont get transferred somewhere else, i am switching my residency over to Texas.
I know I need to get a Drivers License, but before that I must present my vehicle registration and inspection slip. I dont know if the camaro will pass inspection, but this truck i am getting has a clean inspection sticker on it.
Where do i need to go to get the title in my name? TXDPS, or TXDOT? And they will charge me a registration fee PLUS tax on the price of the vehicle?? Sales tax (8.25%)?
I have googled this and keep getting lost in a bunch of county websites and such. Hoping that someone out there can give me the "New resident's registration for dummies" explaination.
Thanks.. BTW this is Galveston County.
I moved here from VA in july and now that i am all settled in and know i wont get transferred somewhere else, i am switching my residency over to Texas.
I know I need to get a Drivers License, but before that I must present my vehicle registration and inspection slip. I dont know if the camaro will pass inspection, but this truck i am getting has a clean inspection sticker on it.
Where do i need to go to get the title in my name? TXDPS, or TXDOT? And they will charge me a registration fee PLUS tax on the price of the vehicle?? Sales tax (8.25%)?
I have googled this and keep getting lost in a bunch of county websites and such. Hoping that someone out there can give me the "New resident's registration for dummies" explaination.
Thanks.. BTW this is Galveston County.
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Get to an courthouse annex. If your in dickinson, the nearest that I know of is down Bay Area. You need an application for title. Youll need the sellers signature on it, and the selling price.
Ive register 2 vehicles since this KBB thing came into effect, and it doesnt seem they care too much about it if the price seems legit. So just use the price youre buying it for. Tax on it is 6.25%. PLus a few other fees thatll make you scratch your head, but those only total about $90.
Case in point. I paid $6500 for my Camaro. Paid $495 to transfer the title and pay those other fees.
I dont know if you have to have a TX DL, since thats all I have anyway, but you do need insurance.
Ive register 2 vehicles since this KBB thing came into effect, and it doesnt seem they care too much about it if the price seems legit. So just use the price youre buying it for. Tax on it is 6.25%. PLus a few other fees thatll make you scratch your head, but those only total about $90.
Case in point. I paid $6500 for my Camaro. Paid $495 to transfer the title and pay those other fees.
I dont know if you have to have a TX DL, since thats all I have anyway, but you do need insurance.
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You must buying one hell of a truck if the taxes are thousands of dollars!!! ![EEK !!](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_eek2.gif)
Here's info as to what to do with the truck you are buying: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/drivers_v...es/default.htm
And here's info regardin what to do with your Camaro: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/drivers_v..._residents.htm
County tax office is the place to go.
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Here's info as to what to do with the truck you are buying: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/drivers_v...es/default.htm
And here's info regardin what to do with your Camaro: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/drivers_v..._residents.htm
County tax office is the place to go.
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the only reason you would pay thousands in taxes is if you paid over 20k for the truck. on my last car i told them i got it for $6500 and i had to pay $500 for tax title and registration and fees. the women behind the counter at the desk could care less about how much you bought it for
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if you purchased the vehicle in another state, but havent registered it yet, then you havent paid tax on it yet. The tax is on 'presumed value'. somewhere on that website is a calculator where you type in your VIN.
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if the vehicle is already registered/titled in another state, i'm pretty sure you just pay a 'new resident tax', which i'm pretty sure is a flat $90.
if you purchased the vehicle in another state, but havent registered it yet, then you havent paid tax on it yet. The tax is on 'presumed value'. somewhere on that website is a calculator where you type in your VIN.
if you purchased the vehicle in another state, but havent registered it yet, then you havent paid tax on it yet. The tax is on 'presumed value'. somewhere on that website is a calculator where you type in your VIN.
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Yea im about to have this problem when i purchase this 01 Z06 for 20k. So you guys are saying when i regsiter the car in my name in TX (picking up from North Carolina) I can put down i bought the car at a reasonable price? Lets say 10K? would they beleive that or they actually going to look up the price on it behind their counter?
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it is called pre-emptive assumed value tax. they tried the crap on me when i bought a '97 TA Ram Air to part out. i bought the car for $800, had bill of sale and car title. The state of TX assumed the value of the vehicle was $3900 and wanted to tax me on the $3900 to put the title in my name, instead of the $800 i bought it for. they wouldnt even take what i bought the car for off the assumed tax value, so i said forget it. i said forget about paying almost x5 times the amount in taxes, or what would have equated to around $300 dollars for a piece of paper.
now, they said for $100 i could make an appoint with an assessor and if that person deemed the value of the car lower than what the state says, then you pay the tax(es) on that instead, plus the $100 for the assessment. boned either way...
now, they said for $100 i could make an appoint with an assessor and if that person deemed the value of the car lower than what the state says, then you pay the tax(es) on that instead, plus the $100 for the assessment. boned either way...
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Yea im about to have this problem when i purchase this 01 Z06 for 20k. So you guys are saying when i regsiter the car in my name in TX (picking up from North Carolina) I can put down i bought the car at a reasonable price? Lets say 10K? would they beleive that or they actually going to look up the price on it behind their counter?
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Here's the page for Standard Presumptive Value. http://www.dot.state.tx.us/drivers_v...tive_value.htm
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didnt know (at the time) if in order to scrap a car if the title needed to be in my name. just trying to leaglly cover my ***...
sold the car anyways, 4 days later for $1900 ($1100 profit alone from that). after taking off a bunch of stuff to sell on here:, R.A. Hood, inserts, rear leather seats, speaker grills, armrest, TA spoiler (im keeping), Ram Air induction box, and other odds and end pieces. guy wanted the car for the drivetrain so thats what i gave him...![Chug! Chug! Chug!](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_chug.gif)
damn, i had it right the 1st time when i said presumptive value, but i changed it to pre-emptive...
sold the car anyways, 4 days later for $1900 ($1100 profit alone from that). after taking off a bunch of stuff to sell on here:, R.A. Hood, inserts, rear leather seats, speaker grills, armrest, TA spoiler (im keeping), Ram Air induction box, and other odds and end pieces. guy wanted the car for the drivetrain so thats what i gave him...
![Chug! Chug! Chug!](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_chug.gif)
Here's the page for Standard Presumptive Value. http://www.dot.state.tx.us/drivers_v...tive_value.htm
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Like I said, the last 2 cars Ive taken down there, were bought for a good chunk under KBB, and they didnt mess with me, but my paperwork didnt say it was purchased for $500 either.
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Agreed, however the problem lies (for instance) when you sell a vehicle to a friend or family member at a cheaper price than the kbb value, the buyer has to pay taxes on the state's "est. value" and not the actual purchase price. In my opinion this is pretty gay and probably has hurt or reduced the amount of private sales of vehicles in TX. Just my 2 cents.
now the 'new resident tax'... that is just gay. but i'll tell you what is even more gay... that is 'excise tax' which i had to pay back in MA. basically its an ANNUAL tax you have to pay based on the value of the vehicle. you pay $25 per $1000 of the NADA value. the percentage does get reduced every year, but you get royally shafted the first few years owning a new vehicle.
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisexc/excidx.htm#compu
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there is an easy and legal way around this. they left the gift loophole in place. insted of buying the car you have the person give it to you as a gift. then there is only $10 tax top pay. you can then give them a cash gift or buy some floormats for 20k or whatever price. you can do it on financed cars but sometimes it takes a bit of explaining to the DMV. you can just get the car as a gift and then take out a loan to fix it up.