Dick Sanders requested information on the California registration fees.
Although I posted the process in the beginning of this thread, I will
repeat it for those who may have missed it.
1) The "Registration Fee" for all California cars is $30, regardless of
any other consideration.
2) A "Special Plate Fee" may be charged, if the owner has "Vanity
Plates" . This cost is an additonal $25.
3) There is a County/District Fee that the State collects for other
agencies to fund voter approved projects. This is new since "Proposition
13" severly limited the ability of local agencies from taxing without a
voter approval, so they invent new "fees" to make up what they can no
longer get past the voters. In Los Angeles County this is $7.
4) In the mid fifties, the used car dealers convinced the state that
"private parties" were unfair competition for used cars, as a sales tax
was not required. They went way beyond a one-time sales tax, and made it
a personal property (value based) annual tax. The state thought that
this was such a good idea they made it a "personal property tax", even
though real estate personal property taxes were the only ones still
allowed. This is the biggest variable in the annual bill, and is based
solely on "market value". The DMV has the selling price of your new car,
and depreciates it yearly till my '71 custom car, registered as a VW,
casts the minimum, $1, while my '94 Chrysler is probabaly $300.
5) Every two years vehicles newer than 1965 model year are required to
have a smog test, which includes yet another fee plus the testing costs,
but these do not appear on your renewal notice, except to let you now
whether a certificate is required this year.
Adding it up:
'71 VW(!)
Registration Fee $30
License Fee $ 1
Special Plate Fee $25
County Fee $ 7
TOTAL $63 (if paid on time).
This is the "correct" tax, as the VW donor car had no motor, a rolled
body, and was basically a wreck. But the parts I needed were there. So
the actual selling price was very low. Value added was taxed by a sales
tax on all the new stuff that had to be purchased, and there was no
known provision for increasing the personla property "basis cost" from
the original $300 purchase price for the VIN.
Now, putting it all together. When you purchase a car from a private
party he is required to notify the DMV of the ownership transfer, and
the sales price, as well as putting the sales price on the "no longer
Pink Slip". When you register your car, you are required to list the
purchase price, and deliver the "Pink". The DMV does have access to
selling prices from the Blue Book, and from another for classic and
special interest cars. If they believe that your stated cost is too low
they can ask you to defend the stated cost. Being in need of significant
restoration is acceptable. The DMV not only has the PO's statement of
sales price available to them, but have been known to contact them,
personally, and verify the price. If they believe there is a discrepancy
they can, and do, send you a notice to pay up, or show cause. Many PO's
have "understated" the sales price at the time of sale, due to purchaser
pressure. Later on, when contacted by a government agency, a different
story may come out. It is at this point that the new owner must prove
his cas.
Now, all the "facts" are before you. This should explain the wildly
different stories you hear about individual cases. The law is clear, and
while not necessarily "fair", it is the law. If there is anything a
government is good at, it's looking out for getting it's taxes.
Sorry for the length of this message, but it appears to be complicated
enough to be confusing. I hope I haven't added "fog".
--
Steve Laifman < One first kiss, >
B9472289 < one first love, and >
< one first win, is all >
< you get in this life. >
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/
_/_/_/_/_/__/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/
_/_/_/
|