Prius Available In WA or OR

Thanks. By "license plate" do you me the metal permanent plate with the expiration date stickers on it or do you mean the temporary paper license plate which is taped to the window, usually by the dealer?

 

I bought my car in Lewiston ID on a Friday and they said they would send the paperwork to my local tag office and the rest was up to me. They mailed the paperwork the next Tuesday and I verified tag office had it Friday. Lady on phone told me to be sure and bring my sale/use tax exemption. I financed my car though a local credit union that stayed out of it except to talk with the dealer and make sure they were on the liscense paperwork. By plates, I mean metal. The paper tag I have on the window does not confirm I "own" the car...just that the dealer let me leave the lot When I go pick up the metal plates tomorrow, and present the tax free form, I leave just paying for the tag and no sales or use tax. Without the certificate, the DOL would not give me plates (or title - if I had paid cash) unless I paid 8.5% on the spot). I would have gone to CA, which has $500+ under MSRP, but the savings would have been offset by having to ship the car back to the OR state line. If drove it off the lot was 9%+ tax, otherwise I would have used Diane at Manhattan Beach T!

 

Are the steps you went through required only for bringing vehicles back from out of state perhaps?

According to the DoR staffer I talked to, if you bought it in WA and live in WA the hoops you jumped through aren't required. Have you read/heard/seen anything to the contrary?

(and thanks for all the info!)

 

I would cover all ends. I've learned in life that some people talk like they know, but actually don't. Be safe and protect yourself by doing all you can.

I paid mostly cash for mine. Got cash for clunkers to, and took a small loan from Toyota.

 

This doc makes it quite clear that the collection of the use tax is the seller's responsibility, which would also seem to indicate that the exemption paperwork is also the seller's responsibility if they don't want to be held responsible for collecting the tax:

WAC 458-20-17802: Collection of use tax by county auditors and department of licensing ? Measure of tax.

But then this doc says contradictorily:

Also curiously, there is no document named "Declaration of Use Tax" on the list of forms here: WA State Licensing: Vehicle and boat registration forms or here http://dor.wa.gov/content/FindTaxesAndRates/UseTax/ or here http://dor.wa.gov/content/getaformorpublication/formbyname/forms_alpha_d.aspx

This is starting to make me a little annoyed at my dealer. grrr.

 

Declaration of Use Tax is from the Department of Revenue. I picked it up and filled it out at the Kent DoR.

 

Yes, I caught that before. It's not on their website as linked to above but it looks like pretty much any other form you could want is.

This still seems to me like something the dealer should have done for you, especially based on what I was told when I called the DoR today.

I've pretty much exhausted the search for what the web and phone can offer on the matter. I'll ask my dealer's biz mgr i've they've covered that aspect of it when I pick up the car tomorrow. If they say yes, great. If i get a blank stare or a 'no' then I'll find a DoR and go there.

Will report here for any last minute folks who are facing the issue with a friday delivery.

 

Please do.

On things like this, it is likely that at least a few people will get screwed up by the details, some of which will be caused by other parties who do not personally have $2100+ at stake. The more people you can save from expensive errors, the better.

 

I don't think being out of state mattered but could have. The ID dealership is so close to WA that they do a lot of business with our residents. The business manager said they never collect tax and then leave it up to WA residents to pay it when they pick up their tag. As for surprised buyers, I would bet the farm there will be a few because several local WA dealers told me I just had to "take the car home" by 7/31. None told me I had to have the car titled. Thank heavens I did not put my self on the list for cars with an arrival estimate of 7/22 to 7/30.

 

I can't imagine how many sales that dealer loses by not rolling the tax into the loan, thereby making the buyer come up with the tax separately as cash or credit card. sounds like a really bad business model to me. or did you mean it's just out-of-staters that they don't collect tax from? that would make more sense.

 

The dealership's policy of not collecting sales tax likely applies only to out-of-state sales. Outside of changing Internet policies, businesses cannot be forced to collect sales tax for states where they have no business presence.

I grew up close enough to Lewiston to hear some of mom's comments about her automotive comparison shopping there. Some places just don't have enough local competition to learn good customer service.

 

Can't knock the dealer's customer service because I never asked what their options were. Instead I only asked about paying no tax before finalizing the deal, because of the WA hybrid exemption through month end. I am not sure how complicated it would be to collect in ID and send to WA but in CA its not compilcated at all; because its state law to keep it Then when one returned to WA, in order to get the car a liscense plate and title, etc., one would have to pay WA use tax which is almost as much as sale tax. So I made sure ID had an option not to collect before dealing, and was happy to dead with the sales tax issue later, because its zero. Also regarding financing the total, if one did have to pay sales tax at the DOL, they could consider the $2,200 their down payment and finance the rest of the cost (or put up more cash at the dealer).

 

Ok, I've got the real info here now confirmed with both my Dealership's Business Manager and Joe at the Department of Revenue in Olympia, 360.725.7327.

The requirement for taking a Declaration of Use Tax form to the DoL and getting your title applies only to WA state residents who purchased a vehicle from a dealership outside of WA state. If you're buying from an out of state dealer this is a must for you. Joe at the number above responds to voicemails very, very quickly. He'll give you his fax number and you can fax your purchase agreement and your MSO (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) to him, he'll look it over and then fax you the Declaration of Use Tax to take to the DoL before they close on Friday.

If you live in WA state and are buying from WA state dealership which is properly registered with the state you don't need to do anything special other than take delivery of your vehicle on or before tomorrow Friday July 31st, 2009.

If you live in WA state and are buying from WA state dealership and you try to jump through the Declaration of Use Tax hoop you may actually confuse the matter and cause yourself troubles, so don't try to do that if you live in WA state and are buying from a WA state dealer.

 

Good News and Update: Just got my plate, tags, and registration all taken care of. No sales tax for me. whoooo! (^^)b

Here's a snapshot of my situation:
- I'm a Washington Resident
- Bought the Pruis IV at Portland, Oregon on Tuesday July 28th
- Wednesday, July 29th, Found out via my brother, from creating this forum, and all you good folks who replied that I was far from done with the sales taxs issue.
- Called the dealership down in Portland to mail to a local Licensing Dept (local office at Renton) the original title (Certificate of Ownership). The lady at the Licensing Dept said they must have the original. They did not accept fax.
- Told my dealer, who didn't have a clue about this, and they UPS overnight delivery the Title and Odometer documents to the Renton DoL.
- The Lady at the Licensing Dept also told me to go to the Dept. of Revenue to get the Declaration of Use Tax paperwork finalized.
- I went to the DoR in Kent and it takes 5 minutes to take care of that paperwork. (easy)
- I woke up this morning, drove to the Liscensing Dept (in Renton). They received the title and odometer forms. They look at my Declaration of Use Tax. All is good. All is processed, and I pay $159 for misc fees and stuff for DoL. The lady hands me my vehicle plate, car registration, and tags.
- I'm all done. Woot Sales Tax = Zero \(^^)/

Big thanks to my bro, the original forum poster for this topic, and everyone that replied. Was able to save a good $2,800 through this. Both the dealership in Portland and I were totally clueless about this.

 

:cheer2: :rockon: So we have a confirmed 'save'. I just know that some unlucky buyers will fall through the cracks and get surprised with an unexpected tax bill, but sure hope that the number is kept to a minimum.

 

I also picked up a prius from OR state on tuesday 28th. But my situation is differenet that my dealer is refusing to mail the documents to the DOL in washington untill they receive the money from bank of america where I got my loan pre-approved before I went to the dealer. Had I paid cash or dealer financed then this wouldn't be an issue.

D of Revenue said as long as I get the tax examption form which I did based on the sales date, I should be ok to do the registration process after 31st. But reading this thread I am getting really nervous.

Am I screwed?

 

Not sure tjp. The counter lady at Dept of Lisc. told me I had to finish the transaction in the office by Friday 5pm. This meant they needed in their hand the certificate of ownership (title), and since I bought mine from OR, I needed a completed Declaration of Use Tax signed and stamped by Dept of Rev. You also need the odonometer documents. Once this was all in their hands, they could process the registration, plates, and tags. My receipt has Zero sales tax as the final price for the reg/plates/tags.

So summary: I went by the premise that one had to make the transaction at the DoL (any local office) by this Friday. In order for that to happen, you need the documents with you, and the dealer needs to send the designated DoL office your title and odonometer document.

 

If your bought the vehicle in OR, it sounds like you may need to jump through the hoops I did. Besides the info another member gave for Joe at the Department of Revenue in Olympia, 360.725.7327, you can try Raymond at 360-586-8816 ASAP. Otherwise, you really might get stuck paying tax.

He faxed me my form same day I sent it (last week) and I took it today and obtained my tag (temporary as I bought a WA state parks tag that get mailed out). So all done and no sales tax!