Florida sales tax on Auto for out of state buyers

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If you purchase an auto in Florida are you required to pay sales tax if you live in another state? I read you need to pay tax for a temp tag. I live in NJ and looking at CPO Q5. They are 4-5k cheaper in Florida and since we are down there each winter this may be an option.
 
There's a more than good chance NJ will give you credit for the FL tax, look into that angle.

The flaw is you'll pay the higher of the two tax rates.

If you really live in FL with a FL address, buy the car there, plate it there, then transfer the plates to NJ after six months.
 
I'm not sure how it works for most cars, but when dealing with Tesla which doesn't allow cars to be sold new direct to consumer in Wisconsin I picked up the car in Illinois. When I paid I didn't pay tax in Illinois because it wasn't to be registered there. I took the final bill of sale with me when I got tags in my state and paid the tax when it was registered here. I would assume it would be the same as an out of state buyer of any car. I would ask about it before making any purchase, because what I learned from this process is that tax is due on registration and they shouldn't be registering your car on your behalf in a state you don't have residence in.

I did have a temp tag for the car that I bought online and printed from the Wisconsin DMV to move the car. I don't know if all states do it this way, but I want to say it was a flat fee of around $20 and was only good for 2-3 weeks. It gave me the right to move the car, but it wasn't registered yet.
 
There's a more than good chance NJ will give you credit for the FL tax, look into that angle.

The flaw is you'll pay the higher of the two tax rates.

If you really live in FL with a FL address, buy the car there, plate it there, then transfer the plates to NJ after six months.
I live in NJ.
 
When I bought my Frontier new in Georgia, I only paid South Carolina state tax when I registered it here. The dealer handed me a stack of paperwork and I took it to the DMV when I got home.

When I buy something from Rock Auto i pay sales tax to where I live, not the state it ships from. Not sure why a car should be any different - but maybe it is?
 
When I got an RX450h for my sister here in CA, I had to pay sales tax and registration. She lives in Gig Harbor, WA, as was only here for a week. I was pretty mad... When they got home, they registered it there but no sales tax.
 
You'll have to pay your home state's sales tax at the Florida dealership. Of course, you get credit for that at registration time. That was my experience but it looks like it may be your home state isn't as aggressive as mine, as some above drove without paying. Now that I recall things, I also bought a car in MA but they didn't make me pay sales tax at the dealership.
 
No you don't have to pay FL tax. I've bought a few 6 figure motorhomes in FL and took them to another state to register and pay that state tax, not FL.
That's what I thought at least. The Tesla is the only out of state vehicle purchase I've ever made so that's not a big basis of knowledge for me.
 
I'm a legal resident of NC and have bought five cars in Florida and obtained NC tags through the FL dealers. Just be sure your dealer can do it themselves or will use a third party tag agency to file with your home state. Then with your vehicle purchase the dealer will only collect sales tax for your home state. The only issue is that it usually takes longer than 30 days and you may have to rerquest a second FL temp tag from your car dealer.
 
You should pay the tax rate of the state the vehicle is being registered in. Whether or not you pay that at the purchasing dealer or when you get home will depend.
 
I bought my used car in Westchester, NY, and live in PA.

The buffoon salesman charged me Phila sales tax which he got using google. I don’t live in Phila and they are 8% when the rest is 6%. I caught it and they corrected it. But Willy nilly.

They gave me a NY in transit permit and applied for the Pa tag as well.

My guess is the registration drives the tax. If he had overcharged me the 8% it would have been refunded when tags were issued. This is on a sale.

When I was in grad school I presented a case Barringer v. Griffies where VT tried to charge a use tax on all cars moving in. It was eventually shot down.
 
I live in Texas and recently bought a car sight unseen in Florida, and had it shipped to my home. My dealer calculated my local tax rate when collecting sales tax, and this was credited by my local tax office when I went to register the vehicle.

I payed all other applicable dealer fees, including a Florida registration fee. However, I later received a check from the dealer for a credit of this fee (without asking them), as I'm sure when they reviewed the deal they realized I would be getting my own plates. I later payed the Texas registration fees when I went by my local tax office.

Overall the process was pretty straight forward. There was a few minor hiccups but nothing major. I would suggest you figure out if you can get temporary registration through your state or if the dealer will issue a temp tag. My car arrived with no temp tag or anything, and per Texas law I had to have the car inspected before any sort of registration would be issued. My dealer later overnight mailed me a Florida temp tag.
 
Last car we bought, we bought in Huntington West Virginia.
Paid no WV tax, and they issued me a 60 day WVA temp tag.
They took the tax for our jurisdiction, and prepared the paperwork for titling.
They Fed-Ex'd it to me, and I walked it through a title bureau in Ohio.
They had the tax check and everything prepared, ready to go.
The dealership was $0.28 short on the tax estimate.
Only snafu in the entire process.
 
Don’t know about today but as of just a few years ago;

If you drive the car out of Florida, you pay the Florida 6 % sales tax. Anything over 6% goes to the County (or dealers pocket)
Plus Paper Tag. Your home state will get the money from Florid (except when they can’t).
If you load car onto a trailer or truck, no tax.

Formerly lived in New York State. The rule there is dealer get you a “Certificate of Transit”, No Tax. You have thirty days to get car out of NYS. This is not a regular Paper Plate. It is a paper Certificate of Transit.
Pay tax in home State.

I once bought a private car in Denver area. We went to DMV and got a Small Paper Temporary Tag. Pasted to inside of rear window. Paid tax and registered once I drove back to Florida v

Yes, I live in Florida. Know what you are getting into
(High car insurance,
High home insurance,
Bugs, humidity, crazy drivers, drivers who can’t speak or read English, etc). DO NOT COME.
 
Ft Meyers Audi has a few 2023 Prem+ for 41k none in NJ near that price
If they were 4-5K cheaper, dealers in Florida would be shipping them north to sell. No major price difference at the auctions that I see for Premiums at least.

price.jpg
 
Don’t know about today but as of just a few years ago;

If you drive the car out of Florida, you pay the Florida 6 % sales tax. Anything over 6% goes to the County (or dealers pocket)
Plus Paper Tag. Your home state will get the money from Florid (except when they can’t).
If you load car onto a trailer or truck, no tax.

Formerly lived in New York State. The rule there is dealer get you a “Certificate of Transit”, No Tax. You have thirty days to get car out of NYS. This is not a regular Paper Plate. It is a paper Certificate of Transit.
Pay tax in home State.

I once bought a private car in Denver area. We went to DMV and got a Small Paper Temporary Tag. Pasted to inside of rear window. Paid tax and registered once I drove back to Florida v

Yes, I live in Florida. Know what you are getting into
(High car insurance,
High home insurance,
Bugs, humidity, crazy drivers, drivers who can’t speak or read English, etc). DO NOT COME.
Interesting about NYS for almost 40 years from my experience, you must have liability insurance showing VIN of vehicle you are driving away.

In PA they will issue a plate if you show insurance for any car at all (the idea is the car you bought is a temporary use auto no different than a rental car).

I would say NYS does it correctly. PA makes things up as they go along.

As far as Florida collecting tax and a home state having to try to get it, that’s not consistent with federal case law. Barringer v Griffies is an example, look it up. There’s no way that would fly.
 
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