charley95

Thanks for this info! So it would appear that California would get the tax and not Illinois since their tax rate is higher. I will call and check on this tomorrow. This makes more sense now.

charley95

Thanks again np20412! This makes much more sense now. Even though the California deal sounds appealing, it makes no sense to purchase one out there. After doing the math it would be a little cheaper to buy one in the southern region for me with half the discount that I got from a dealer in Georgia. After factoring in travel expenses to get the car I'll be better off to get one closer to Illinois. I really didn't want to spend 3 days driving home from California anyway.

bb700092

You are supposed to pay 100% tax in your state of residence, thats for sure. I would call a few California DMV offices and confirm if anything needs to be paid in CA. Dealerships often play games.

np20412

Makes sense especially considering Cali tax is already 1.25 percent more than most Illinois counties it would seem. That plus the travel/transport cost probably will offset the difference in discount anyway. Keep looking, deals should be out there!

UDel

I don't think it matters which state has the higher sales tax, you have to pay the tax where the car is registered where you live no matter what so you will be getting nailed twice unless Illinois will allow you to just pay the Cali tax and not their tax which I doubt. Contact your Illinois DMW.

Don't ask the dealer about the taxes, they are just trying to get the most money out of you, contact California DMV and the city you are buying the car in and see what they say, likely if you are getting the car shipped or driving it right off the lot to your home state you will not have to pay the California state tax unless they passed some BS legislation forcing you to also pay their tax too. Most if not all states allow you to sign a form saying you are going to be driving the car right to the state you live in and don't have to pay that states tax where you bought the car from to avoid paying the expensive tax twice in a matter of days/weeks, it also hurts dealers because buyers will simply never buy cars out of state if they have to pay 2 expensive taxes on a car. If California does not make the buyer in a different state pay their tax and the dealer is lying the dealer will likely just pocket the money you paid in California's "tax" which is very shady and likely illegal.

np20412

Again, most states WILL allow you to take a credit for sales tax paid in another state when you attempt registration in your home state.

I'm not sure why that fact is so heavily doubted in this thread. That said, California is pretty notorious for wanting their piece of the pie and not playing friendly with other states in terms of reciprocity. That's why I advise OP to check with his state's tax office or dmv to see if credit would be given for a purchase made in California.

ECL

California makes you pay sales tax if you take possession of the car and drive it off the lot in California. If it is shipped to you, you do not pay California sales tax. I live in AZ and explored this when I bought my GS.

the California Board of Equalization web site states:

“Sales tax generally does not apply to your transaction when you sell a product and ship it directly to the purchaser at an out-of-state location, for use outside California. Your sale is not taxable if you:

• Ship the product directly to the purchaser, using your own delivery vehicle or another means of transport that you own; or
• Ship the product by delivering it to a common carrier (including the U.S. Postal Service), contract carrier, customs broker, export packer, or forwarding agent (see Note, below); or,
• Sell items that will be used in other countries, deliver the product in a way that meets the special delivery conditions explained below; or
• Sell new, noncommercial vehicles to foreign residents, deliver the vehicle in a way that meets specific conditions explained in Regulation 1620,Interstate and Foreign Commerce.

In most cases, if a purchaser or their representative takes possession of an item in California—even temporarily—your sale does not qualify for this particular sales tax exemption. The sale is taxable even though the fabricator may later ship the property out of state according to its contract with the customer. In addition, if you deliver an item to a California resident at an out-of-state location, you should apply tax unless the purchaser states, in writing, that the item was purchased for use outside California. For additional information, please see publication 34, Motor Vehicle Dealers, and Regulation 1620, Interstate and Foreign Commerce, also available by calling our Customer Service Center at 800-400-7115.“

https://www.boe.ca.gov/formspubs/pub101/

MustangSal

I bought mine from Lexus of Monterey. They split the covered vehicle freight fee. No CA sales tax. I paid tax upon registration for VA.

charley95

Lot of mixed signals here. Girlfriend works for a credit union here locally and they have a branch in California so I'll find out tomorrow. The branch out there will have the answer. It was such an attractive discount on one but, it all comes down to the math for me. I don't mind traveling to get one but would prefer it to be a little closer to home. The main reason I'll travel for one is because I want RWD and here in the midwest they are AWD's.

MustangSal

Looks like the only difference is ‘shipped’ vs ‘driven’.

Going sight unseen should definitely be off the table. Dealer can usually give you a FaceTime tour of the car and if it is good enough to invest a little travel money, than go. Again, if you drive it home than tax will apply in both states. If you let them freight it than no sales tax but you’ll have to wait.

charley95

Going sight unseen is true if it's a used car but, this is a brand new GS.

MustangSal

Mmm. Fact.

A lot easier to do that one then for sure.

Heck yeah. If the finances agree than just have them ship it to you. After everyone agrees that it’s no sales tax that way, that is. Lol

Dallasguy1

If you check CarGuru it actually shows u Msrp and the amount paid aswell. So I’m not sure what Lexus Dealer your contacting. I’m in process of getting a RCF and Dealer is ready to work on the prices well below the Msrp.

drgrant

In many cases there is NO SALES TAX at the point of purchase if the vehicle isn't registered in that state or if it's temped out/no permanent reg. Even if you pick it up in person. Many states do this to facilitate auto sales because they know that nobody is going to come in from outside if they're going to get hit twice.

Even when I bought my car in NJ, I paid no sales tax there- I ended up paying sales tax to the MA RMV when I finished the registration though. (I swapped my MA trade ins plates to the GS, then you have a few days under MA law to transfer the reg, at which time, sales tax must be paid on the new vehicle. )

Buying a car from a "foreign state" can be a pain in the *** but it helps if you have:

A- a remote dealer that isn't **** and understands how to do this. More experienced salespeople know this process well.
B- at least in my case, my insurance agent helped out a lot too (because MA has compulsory insurance, which is total bull****, but they know all the ins and outs. )

Given what I went through I could have just as easily bought a car from CA as I did from NJ, knowing what I know now the process is not nearly as intimidating.

This is a particularly useful buying technique given this brand. If there's anything "wrong" with Lexus, it's that the brand is very territorial. There are HEAVY Lexus states like CA and TX, and a few
others... but once you get outside of those, the selection of cars and dealers falls precipitously. I think some of it is also a matter of Sedan Culture but thats a whole other
story. (it makes it hard to buy sedans when everyone and their brothers uncle wants a POS SUV... and I say that as someone who likes Lexus SUV, but SUVs are not my thing... )

Basically, if someone likes to buy used Lexus Sedans.... it pays big dividends to be able to shop out of state.... strike that, HUGE dividends. For example my 15 GS F Sport CPO.... I have a
combination of features / options that I've never even seen on a CPO f sport up in MA.... not even once.

-Mike

MustangSal

Thusly...why my 15 GSFS came from CA. I am in Va. couldn’t find a 450h with options (all) I wanted.