This is kind of a weird question...and "off topic" seemed the most appropriate place to post it. Just want to see if anybody has some insight for me.

Here is the situation:
On Saturday I bought a 2011 wrx. It was a private party deal. Basically, I paid off the remainder that the original owner owed and I got the car. We did it at the bank and I spoke with the lien holder...the pink slip is being issued to me. I've bought plenty of used cars in the past but they have always been title in hand. It has been my experience that when I went to transfer the title, at that time I would pay the taxes on the car. Well...with this car, I can't seem to give away the taxes that I had assumed I was going to owe (good problem huh?)...so it's got me wondering...is this some sort of tax sweet spot? I asked the "Subaru finance lady" on the phone...she had no answer. I went into AAA with a bill of sale and asked if I should come back with the pink slip when it is delivered...they said "no".

Presumably the taxes were rolled into the payments that the original owner was paying, since we paid that off, maybe that's it. It's really weird...but if this is all true, It'll be nice, I can put that money towards some new tires etc...

 

I don't know how your state works, but in New York if you buy a car from a private party, you pay the sales tax on it when you register it at the DMV.

 

So maybe I just need to wait for the pink slip to arrive. Then I can go register it/pay for taxes at the AAA office.

 

this is usually how it works. does not matter if the original owner paid tax and if that was included in his original loan. you bought the car at x price, on this case which is the price you paid, you take that bill of sale to DMV and you pay the tax on the price you paid.

 

That is what I thought. But I took the bill of sale in today (not to the DMV, but to AAA where they perform all of my DMV services)... and they said there was nothing to pay yet. Here is what I'm gonna do:

In about 2 and a half weeks the title is going to arrive at my house. I know the company has all of my information on it. So, if it is just straight up a pink slip to me, I'll assume I'm good to go. What I think is more likely is that it will arrive with the original owner's information on the front and filled out with my information on the back. Essentially what you would fill out if you had the pink slip there in person. If that is the case I can take it in to tranfer to my name and pay the taxes at that point.

In the meantime, it's already insured, I've got his current registration and I'll carry around the bill of sale as an extra precaution. He is covered on his end because released liability of the vehicle over to me.

So...let's wait and see. I'll assume I'm still going to have to pay them.

 

thats the law in colorado too. when people buy cars from a private dealer they usually write only 2,000 so the person registering it only has to pay tax for the 2,000 written, or (sold price) when registering it. illegal but its hard to be convinced on.