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Use Tax Question. Buying new from CA dealer but wanting to register in AZ.

MeyersRL

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Im a resident of CA looking to buy a new boat from a CA dealer. The boat however is used 100% in AZ and is stored in AZ. Who do I owe sales/use tax to? I would prefer it be in AZ but Im not sure what the caveats are to making that happen. Ive read many threads on here but can't quite seem to figure out if I can pay AZ tax on it since it will be store/registered in AZ and won't be coming back into CA.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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You will need to pay AZ tax if buying from a dealer, new or used, in state or out of state.
 

PlanB

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It depends on where you take delivery of the boat. I have done Arizona deliveries on three boats from California dealers, and we paid AZ sales tax on all three. If you take delivery in California you owe California sales tax. If taking delivery inside the city limits of LHC, AZ delivery is really not worth it anymore.
 

MeyersRL

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When you say take delivery of the boat in AZ what exactly does that mean? Does the boat actually have to be delivered to an address in AZ or can I just pick the boat up at the CA dealer and directly drive it out of state?
 

PlanB

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When you say take delivery of the boat in AZ what exactly does that mean? Does the boat actually have to be delivered to an address in AZ or can I just pick the boat up at the CA dealer and directly drive it out of state?

It has to be delivered to AZ. Two of my boats were delivered by the dealer, one was through a transport company.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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When you say take delivery of the boat in AZ what exactly does that mean? Does the boat actually have to be delivered to an address in AZ or can I just pick the boat up at the CA dealer and directly drive it out of state?

He means exactly what he says. You are responsible for the sales tax where you take delivery of the boat. The dealer may just add the tax to the cost here in CA. If the boat is “delivered” in AZ you will pay the tax upon registration of the boat in AZ.
 

Havasu blue label

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Just pay the tax in California then transfer to az It voids the headache it’s not much difference
 

2FORCEFULL

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Just pay the tax in California then transfer to az It voids the headache it’s not much difference
if you do that you then have to pay another 2% city tax...but if you reg in cal, you can transfer no tax to havasu
 

mjc

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When you say take delivery of the boat in AZ what exactly does that mean? Does the boat actually have to be delivered to an address in AZ or can I just pick the boat up at the CA dealer and directly drive it out of state?
Drive to the first offramp in az and pick up your new boat. My sister just did this with a used car.
 

ONE-A-DAY

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Sales tax? $150 and dealer in Orange County will meet you in Laughlin for the out of state delivery, via a notary, I also pay the notary’s fee, no tax paid. Then send paperwork to attorney in Montana and a check for $350 and plates, title and permanent registration show up in the mail a week later. Done.
 

2FORCEFULL

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So there all kind off illegal ways of of doing things, but heres what I say, if you have to start by doing illegal shit, don't do it. you lie and cheat to get out of trouble... not to get in...there was something like 25 million in fines and back taxes for the california montana rv owners and dealer, now they won't except the montana corp paper work...law says you pay the tax in the state it's delivered and no one has it delivered to montana..AZ is and has been going after the people that did this because the bill of laiden says AZ...calif has and is nailing the people because their law says something like it can't come back to the state for 6 mo., so they nail them , I bought 4 4 wheelers in utah, lived in vegas, and took them to az, I got a super otd price,took them 10 yrs to come knocking on my door, nevada made me pay fines and taxes, more than the 4-4 wheelers cost, even though I never brought the 4 wheelers to vegas, I used my nev DL which proves to them I was nev res.
 

2FORCEFULL

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Sales tax? $150 and dealer in Orange County will meet you in Laughlin for the out of state delivery, via a notary, I also pay the notary’s fee, no tax paid. Then send paperwork to attorney in Montana and a check for $350 and plates, title and permanent registration show up in the mail a week later. Done.
better known as tax evasion ..., there quite a few ways of doing that..
 

2FORCEFULL

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here's the real deal,...if private party, and you have a nev. or az drivers license...there is no tax,... if it's dealer sold,.. tax is due,..you can elect to pay the tax when you buy at the state you buy from a dealer, or pay to the state you have residence....but you have to take 3rd party delivery, notarized bill of laiden .... but here's the kicker... by the time you pay delivery, notary..go through the hassel...you still owe havasu city tax, another 2% on top of the tax you paid out of state
 

2FORCEFULL

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Im a resident of CA looking to buy a new boat from a CA dealer. The boat however is used 100% in AZ and is stored in AZ. Who do I owe sales/use tax to? I would prefer it be in AZ but Im not sure what the caveats are to making that happen. Ive read many threads on here but can't quite seem to figure out if I can pay AZ tax on it since it will be store/registered in AZ and won't be coming back into CA.
so the answer is yes, but have it delivered to az, you have to get a movement permit, and might have to take it to kingam for VIN inspection...and as long as it isn't brought back to cal for over 6 mo. you are fine..but the secound you cross state line with az plates and cal lic... you could get cited...


the law kinda goes like this, you have reg stuff where you reside ,and are free to roam state to state, cal doesn't like drivers lic. not matching vech..
 

2FORCEFULL

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there are all sorts of laws that you don't find out unless you go to law school, or break one....:D
 

2FORCEFULL

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I was at windsor, pulled the boat out and was wiping it down.... here comes a cal sherriff... "I need to see your drivers lic. and reg for the truck and trailer.. I say why, I'm not in cal,... he's says but you were on cal water ways and we have juristion on this ramp.... my lic on truck, nv, trailer and boat az..so I say, whats this all really about,... he said they were there catching cal residents that did reg and pay tax in the state they reside,... he also said that they can impound the boat if I live in cal and beach across the river with az docs...thats when I learned that if you take out of state it can't come back to the state
 

Done-it-again

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Sales tax? $150 and dealer in Orange County will meet you in Laughlin for the out of state delivery, via a notary, I also pay the notary’s fee, no tax paid. Then send paperwork to attorney in Montana and a check for $350 and plates, title and permanent registration show up in the mail a week later. Done.

paying cash and no loan, correct?
 

2FORCEFULL

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here's another thing that can happen, lets say you go out of state and buy a car, and you drive it home to reg there...(found this out the hard way) and they give you a drive away permit...those are only good for the state that it's issued, so I got a temp tag, cross into utah, about a mile in get pulled over,... the trooper made me go back to the inspection station.. the lady at the staion proceed to rip me a new one, don't you know how to read,....ah sure what do you want me to read.... "how bout the sign that says all unreg. veh. must stop!!!"
 

2FORCEFULL

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it used to be that you could go to cal, buy something and say I'm reg out of state and they wouldn't charge the state tax... but what happened is a lot of those deals the guy lived in cal. and the rv was in the driveway the next day,.... those dealers paid some heafty fines, but their arguement was , we didn't break the law they did, they said they were going out of state... so that when they had to have a bill of laiden showing it went out of state, also when they made law that it can't come back for service or tax is due.... the taxation dept goes to dealers looking for these, and if the boat is reg out of state, and hasn't been out of state for the amount of time, taxes and fines are due.... so it kinda goes like this,... if you buy out of state new, good luck with the warranty..
 

2FORCEFULL

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Im a resident of CA looking to buy a new boat from a CA dealer. The boat however is used 100% in AZ and is stored in AZ. Who do I owe sales/use tax to? I would prefer it be in AZ but Im not sure what the caveats are to making that happen. Ive read many threads on here but can't quite seem to figure out if I can pay AZ tax on it since it will be store/registered in AZ and won't be coming back into CA.
also,...I would just do whats legal per DMV, MVD, and fish and game.....untill RD becomes mayor/ judge of havasu.... going to court and stating that everyone on RDP but 2FF said it was ok won't fly...
 

77charger

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How much of a difference is it going to be after you add transport and hassle of delivering in az?IMO id go the less hassle way if cost isnt much different overall and not worry about anything. take to az register it and be done.
 

Taboma

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I was at windsor, pulled the boat out and was wiping it down.... here comes a cal sherriff... "I need to see your drivers lic. and reg for the truck and trailer.. I say why, I'm not in cal,... he's says but you were on cal water ways and we have juristion on this ramp.... my lic on truck, nv, trailer and boat az..so I say, whats this all really about,... he said they were there catching cal residents that did reg and pay tax in the state they reside,... he also said that they can impound the boat if I live in cal and beach across the river with az docs...thats when I learned that if you take out of state it can't come back to the state


Steve, from everything I can read, the SB Sheriff's Colorado River jurisdiction extends from CA to AZ, high water mark to high water mark.
This would not include the Windsor Ramp wipe down area. So legally, he only has jurisdiction on the ramp to the 450' elevation.
Also, there's nothing illegal about re-registering your CA boat in AZ as a non-resident if the boat is garaged in AZ and the majority of your use in AZ.
As such, there's nothing illegal about having your AZ registered boat, beached on the CA side.
This sheriff sounds like another SB County Sheriff I encountered years ago, didn't have a clue.
 

Blackmagic94

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A BoL will be required by a transporter to export to az without Cali tax.
 

Tank

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Just FYI, there's ZERO illegal with taking delivery and storing a boat out of the state you live in as long as it is used and stored out of state for the majority of the year. You pay the tax in the state the boat is registered and stored in. I think people prefer to store and use their boats in Az rather than Ca. because boats in Ca. are subject to property tax at 1.1% (or more) value of the vessel a year. As well as consistently higher tax rate than Az. If buying from a dealer, you'll have to pay sales tax in the county you're buying from but you can transfer registration or coast guard documentation to Lake Havasu to avoid the on-going taxation by Ca. as long as you are in fact storing and using the boat in that state for the majority of the year. If buying from a PP you pay the tax in the state you're calling home port.

Good article from a couple years back:
https://www.thelog.com/local/being-square-with-uncle-sam-taxes-fees-and-your-boat/
 

MeyersRL

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Thank you all for the replies and advice. We are definitely not trying to break laws and after reading these replies and doing additional research my wife and I are realizing it would be a giant pain to take delivery in AZ and really not that much would be saved. We are ordering a 21 X24 and thought by paying the dealer cash we could save quite a bit and because we store and stay/dock in AZ we could pay the use tax in AZ. We are just learning as CA residents, who store and only use the boat in Parker, that our current boat should have always been registered in AZ. We have been paying CA property tax / registration - lesson learned. Conclusion is we will pay the CA sales tax and just register in AZ as non residents. Thanks again everyone.
 

MeyersRL

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so the answer is yes, but have it delivered to az, you have to get a movement permit, and might have to take it to kingam for VIN inspection...and as long as it isn't brought back to cal for over 6 mo. you are fine..but the secound you cross state line with az plates and cal lic... you could get cited...


the law kinda goes like this, you have reg stuff where you reside ,and are free to roam state to state, cal doesn't like drivers lic. not matching vech..
Sounds like a giant headache. Just wasn't sure how it would work if it stays in AZ. Our current boat hasn't crossed CA since 2013. I guess driving it in Parker is technically CA too so I should prob retract that.
 

MeyersRL

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How much of a difference is it going to be after you add transport and hassle of delivering in az?IMO id go the less hassle way if cost isnt much different overall and not worry about anything. take to az register it and be done.
Agree.
 

Racey

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a second thought is, if you are gonna be paying the tax one way or the other would you rather give the money to the commies in CA or the ones in AZ? 😂
 
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