Vehicle Sales Tax (Houston, Atlanta: how much, home, buy)

[S06D]

Hi,

I will be moving from Atlanta to Houston. I was wondering if I need to pay a sales tax on my existing vehicle when I title it.

Thanks!

[Oildog]

Yes, it depends on the age of the vehicle as to how much.

[Cassino]

I just went through registering both of my vehicles from California. As Oildog said, yes you will. If you will be living in Harris county, call up the tax office and they will break down the fees. They were very helpful when I called them.

As a side note, when I registered my vehicles, I was told that I could maintain my out of state titles and not retitle the vehicles in Texas. One draw back to this is that you must go to the state your vehicle is titled in if something happens to your title.

[desertsun41]

What am I missing? I say no. If you can show that you paid sales tax in another state on the purchase of your vehicle then you do not have to pay sales tax again on that vehicle.

The only extra fee you will pay when you move here and register your car is the "new residents fee" which is $95 per car.

[Oildog]

DS-

I just registered two vehicles and had to pay some type of tax on the one that I did not buy in Texas. Yes I think its double dipping. Maybe if I had brought proof but the car was a year old and registered in a different state. Just thought it was another PITA you encounter when moving.

[Cassino]

DS, yes, if you want to have a car titled in Texas, you must pay a sales tax, even if that tax was paid in another state when you bought the car.

This is in addition to the registration fees for a new resident and other one time fees for registering a car new to Texas. To register two cars originally from California, I had to pay about $360 in fees. This was just for registering. If I were to have these two cars titled in Texas, the taxes would be about $1,000 all together. I'm content to leave the cars titled in California for now.

Taxes on used cars are figured with this tool: Standard Presumptive Value



For more general information on titling in Texas, check here.

Title Your Vehicle

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by Cassino

DS, yes, if you want to have a car titled in Texas, you must pay a sales tax, even if that tax was paid in another state when you bought the car.

This is in addition to the registration fees for a new resident and other one time fees for registering a car new to Texas. To register two cars originally from California, I had to pay about $360 in fees. This was just for registering. If I were to have these two cars titled in Texas, the taxes would be about $1,000 all together. I'm content to leave the cars titled in California for now.

Taxes on used cars are figured with this tool: Standard Presumptive Value

For more general information on titling in Texas, check here.

Title Your Vehicle

I looked at that site. No where does it make mention of bringing in out of state cars. And the old car exemption is 25 years or older. I checked. I know for a fact I did not pay sales tax a second time here. One vehicle was 7 years old which I registered the same month I got here 11 months ago. The second was a very high dollar motor home which which my old state registration just expired last month. I just registered it here and did so for a total of $201.00 and that included the $95 new resident extortion.....oops sorry I mean penalty fee.

Am I going to get a bill in the mail soon that is not collected by the vehicle regisration office? So far no other bills on my other vehicle which has been Texas registered for 11 months now.

[Cassino]

This is for getting a Texas issued title...not just registering your vehicle. A Texas title is what you would pay the sales tax on. This is according to the Harris County Tax office and the website on titling the vehicle. If you keep your out of state title, the sales tax doesn't apply.

[mikeyyc]

The misinformation is mind blowing;

ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/vtr/misc/vtr450forms.pdf (broken link)

You have to title it in TX within three months, and you don't pay tax on a vehicle you already own, only a $90 new resident fee.

You only have to pay tax on vehicle that you purchased out of state, and has never been registered in your name.

[Oildog]

I paid $195 to 'register' a car in Houston for the 1st time. That covered my plates and title. It was a year old and purchased in another state. A car that was previously in TX registered cost $54 for the new sticker.