So Like many here I've been buying & selling these cars for a long while.
Was a day when you could go out on a WE pick up a project car for under a 1K (usually under $500) Fix it break it or flip it.
Those days seem all but gone
After a while the cars start to find you, IE I get calls every week or so with the typical story: the caller has a car their relative left them, or a spouse has passed, they dont know anything about it, & they are not interested in it (ya right ), "are you interested in buying it?" ect ect.
Many times these are lazy and transparent attempts at value research, some times they are genuine.
Shortly ago I got one of these that was 10min from my place, So of course I went to look her over.
Having done so countless times I go into these with LOW expectation.
This time Im rewarded with a pretty decent car & engage in negotiations.
Long story short, this turns out to be one of those genuine stories & I even find the owner of the car posted here prior to his passing.
His widow & I agree on a price & this is where the fun starts..

The title is still in his, not his wife's name. Same last name mind you. WE go to a licensing office & even though she has her birth, his death & a marriage certificate ..in hand, they wont transfer title an insist the only way to sell it is to apply (PAY) for a new title in her name THEN transfer (PAY) the title to me. Ok ... no point in arguing stupid bureaucracy.
So step 1 & wait for new title to show.
In the mean time I pay her for the car & pick it up. Weeks pass & I get a call the title has come in, she mails it to me & I go in to finalize the transfer
I have all the necessary paperwork including a bill of sale listing a modest purchase price (side note: this is the MOST Ive ever paid for a 914!!)
I watch the agent as her fingers key the necessary detail into the states system, then she grabs a magazine (?) flips thu it finds what shes looking for types it into her system turns to me an advises me the $ amount needed to complete....

Apparently WA State in addition to charging me sales tax on the purchase price wants to tax me a "use" tax based on its supposed current valuation~!?
The book she referenced was from PriceDigest & is supposedly the same guide the IRS & many other states use for the purpose of figuring out what you got & what its worth.

Be careful what you wish for, the somewhat recent increase in interest in our cars has now been realized by agencies interested in emptying our pockets.

Yep, the states is really proud of the the way they figure stuff. Bases information on lala land sales, NOT the real world.

Hey Rich, it used to be you could get a notarized statement from the seller stating the purchase price that would be accepted in lieu of the price guide. Did you ask about alternative pricing sources?

That is for the sales tax. They are using valuation estimates from a data aggregator who sells their info as a subscription. "The Book" I referenced for the USE tax?
They let me peak at it as I was getting agitated when arguing the car's "USE" had been taxed multiple times already in its 50 yrs.
The book has 5 classifications for condition from Showroom to parts car.
This car I classified as #2 "restorable" & the value they wanted to tax me for was just under $14K even though the the sale price was well south of that.
Rant off.

Complete govt. fraud, extortion, racketeering, etc.

Hey, you don't want Washington to run out of money!

Blah blah Rich, show us pics of the darn car man!

If it makes you feel any better Massachusetts has been doing that for years. There’s a “form” to contest it, but it magically always gets rejected.

“ Use Tax is defined as a tax on the storage, use, or consumption of a taxable item or service on which no sales tax has been paid. Use tax is a complementary or compensating tax to the sales tax and does not apply if the sales tax was charged.”

Salestaxinstutute.com

Washington charges you sales tax and use tax? on a used car? from a private party?

Behind a pick up yesterday with WA plates. Bumpersnicker said, I don't need sex, I get screwed by Inslee every day. I moved from Spokane to Idaho because of this type of bull.

Yes, by all means, pictures please.

Government is completely out of control and it will not be long before some people will just stop working all together so they do not have to pay the ridiculous taxes we are all being assessed.

sounds like double taxation. I cant complain too much, in SC you pay a sales tax that is capped at $300 no matter how much you pay for the car. Then you pay a personal property tax that is yearly and depends ono that same book "valuation", but it drops every year even for older cars and they dont reclassify classics so i pay $25 a year PPTX on the 914, but it can be really expensive for a while if you buy anew car. Also now they increased the cost of a title transfer and/or new title EVEN if its a gift to your kid, they now charge $500 for that title!!!! so on a $1000 value car, like our 2000 528 BMW we were giving our daughter, we have just left it on our insurance and our name on title until they get something else there is no sense in them spending almost $1000 just to change over name/owndership to our kid .
they get you one way or the other,

Double taxing is kind of like... Taxing without representing...
They just keep squeezing us until we pop..

Matt

How much did this add to the purchase price? This title transfer matter/format is nothing new. The EXECUTOR of the estate could have 'gifted' you the car. Then all one is responsible for are the actual title transfer fees. BTDT. I gifted a car I owned to a relative. Bummer if you flip the car and get hammered with STCGs on your income taxes. Is 914werke a company with a state biz licience?

I'm more concerned with the effect the explosive valuations of realestate and the potential for an increase in our property (that we will NEVER sell) taxes.

If you're unhappy with the state of Washington, there are 49 other states (and U.S. territories) for your relocation desires.

Same BS in Taxachusetts - I appealed (there is a process for this) and they, as good bureaucrats, completely ignored me and the process.

They need to $ for all the hotels they are buying for the drug addicts to die in.

Wow!! I'm surprised. I just bought that v8 914 in so cal and I only had to pay sales tax. With California being broke with the highest welfare participants, i am surprised they also don't have something like that. However we now have a whole bunch of other taxes, that makes this the worst place to live.

Fun stuff isn't it. I'm generally a fairly progressive guy on social issues but Seattle politics is one of the reasons I'm in Spokane and obviously that doesn't allow me to escape this kind of crap. Sounds like a nice car though and at least the title stuff worked out.

The use and sales tax matters are pretty well laid out at dol.wa.gov under 'Use tax for vehicle and boats'.

In Massachusetts, if you buy a car from a Licensed Auto Dealer…
You pay Sales Tax based on the amount listed on the Bill of Sale.
If you buy from a Private Party, they will look up the value independently
and you will pay Sales Tax on the higher value of the 2..

The Town you live in charges an Exise Tax, which is a Luxury Tax
on vehicles, boats and trailers..
I think it is based on 66.00 per thousand of valuation of the vehicle.
The value of the vehicle drops the first number of years till it gets
to 10% of the original price and stays there forever..
So a 1970, 914-6 would be valued at 550.00 now and stay there forever.
Or until they realize how much money they are missing out on…

+ buying from a dealer here, the dealers like to, or attempt to, charge a documentation fee. To type into a computer. Last car we bought it was 'I'm not paying for that. Let's go honey'. Stood up to leave and the document fee was waived. $200 is $200. No gravy on the potatoes.

Feeling your collective pain & thinking about the no taxation with out representation comment. Car ownership is very different in the UK

I just sold my numbers matching all black 72’S coupe, 1st owner being the Crown Prince of Prussia, gentlemen racing driver & generally very eligible bachelor about town in the early 70’S as his father had just died & inherent the Royal title and I would imagine most of the estate

Change of car title to new owner - Free. Submit details online in the gov portal and title change to the new owner is completed right then and there / new title document arrives in the post within the week. Gov are not interested in the sales value, just the mileage to cut down on fraud

Sales tax - exempt. Duty was paid in 1972

Ownership tax - none. Just pay road fund licensing (to help upkeep) - used to be a flat fee (no more than $200 PA), now based on emissions for modern cars, anything over 40 years old - exempt from tax

Personal capital gains tax - cars are exempt as they lose money right?.....well most do, others after 26 years of ownership. Not so much

Total cost of ownership PA before servicing repairs and fuel - maybe $600 all in to cover insurance and the annual safety check (MOT $60 ish)

With the interesting providence, uber rare spec as one of only two black RHD S (1x Targa & 1x Coupe) built and the full history file from 8th August 72, I almost cleared the mortgage & shudder to think how much tax I & the new keeper would have had to pay in the US

Tea, harbours and stamps was a long time ago & you would be all welcome in the mother county (seriously we are short on just about all skills) & 914s are thin on the ground

Oh and importing those 914’s as a personal vehicle you have owned for more than a year - free from tax

Really depends on the state. PA is actually very reasonable. They always accept my $500 purchase price so taxes (6%) are a one time $30. For antique cars, one time registration fee - for life and no inspection.
Pluses and minuses wherever you live.

Then, if you sell 4 or more cars in a year you need to obtain a resellers licience. There are qualifications and rules for that as well. No titling in your name and 0, 0, personal use. The days of buying 914s on the cheap, maybe 3 at a time, with signed titles and the buyers valuation at title time, are over. Sales set the values of 914s. All of the auctions with reported sales prices drives what WaDOL considers the true value. 'It doesn't run and it's only worth $500' doesn't work anymore.

I think in Texas there’s a tax on 80% of Supposed Valuation (Black Book rating) for used cars! But there’s also exemption if the car is over 25 years old - I have 4 project cars to register, all that I will have had well over their ‘30 day from purchase date’ compounding fees! Hope the over 25year thing is in force the day I go to have these registered.

.

The 914 was part of an Estate or Trust, yes, WA will want to tax that.

Been in charge of too many Estates and even a Trustee a time or two with cars ranging in value of -$250 to upwards of $100k. Some Estates/Trusts will state the "Gift" is free and clear of all taxes/fees yadda yadda. The recipient can make the Estate/Trust pay the tax at that point.

If you find an ignorant person at a DMV counter, they'll not know what to do and just transfer the title.

WA has no state income tax, and property tax is lower than California, from personal experience. I kind of get the really high car fees because everything else is so much cheaper. Joe Walsh captured it more accurately:

"I can't complain, but sometimes I still do."

However in California our annual 'registration' charges include a bunch of fees/taxes partly based on the value of the vehicle. Easily $300-700+/year for newer-ish vehicles. I'm not sure how annual taxes in other states compare.

Not to mention our fuel taxes... I've been seeing regular 87oct at >$5/gal lately around LA

Then you consider how EVs fit in the puzzle. No per gallon fuel taxes that contribute to road construction and maintenence. More and more EVs? The short falls have to be made up via other methods or it all goes to shite.

True that! Every State must have it's "pound of flesh" but how they get it varies. Lots of CA folks moving to TX because there is no State Income Tax. So where does TX get their pound of flesh? School Tax. Renter's don't pay a cent.

And NJ - high property taxes, though a) most of ours (60%) is school tax, with county tax about 30% and local about 10%). BUT, no tax on food, prescriptions or clothes, so often comes out about comparable with most states except those that don't tax SS (NJ does). Very high threshold for estate tax, but I think that's being whittled away.

NJ is expensive. I grew up there and my parents still live there. I sold a lot of homes to people who fled NJ for less expensive Delaware.

This is a good example of why people do stuff like registering vehicles in Montana via an LLC.

Here is Rich's new ride...I took liberties in sharing it!

Regarding all of this tax/valuation nonsense...that's why God created loopholes.

Cracker

Click to view attachment

You must be mistaken, Rich’s cars are not this nice!

I rarely acquire cars with engines anymore...a rolling chassis is defensibly cheaper.



Cracker