Dealing with trade in and sales tax credit on out of state purchase

[yDD5]

Since all the local dealers near me are asking $3k+ over MSRP, I'm stuck with purchasing out of state if I want decent pricing. Looking at Fowler for the purchase but I'm not sure how trade in & sales tax will be handled such that WA state will recognize it all. Local sales tax here is 10.7% and trade in value should be ~32k with KBB Instant Cash Offer.

My concern is if a non WA dealer can do the paperwork such that WA state will recognize the tax reduction from our trade in when I register it. Has anyone else, hopefully anyone in WA, dealt with purchasing out of state along with a trade in? I don't want to go through hassle of out of state trade in and purchase only to get back and have WA attempt to collect sales tax on full vehicle price without trade since then I'd be paying more in the end than the local $3k markup.

 

[JAM]

Usually the out out of state dealer will register the car for you - either way all you need is the trade-in and the new sale to be on the same sale slip and the net amount will be what you pay sales tax on.

 

[AshMan]

your paying msrp for the new car so the sales tax is on the msrp. You will then use your trade in to pay off the balance to an extent. essentially its separate transactions. would be the same in state

 

[JAM]

at least in NY the sales tax is offset by the trade-in value, so the tax is only on the net difference between sale price and trade in value - which can save you on tax as long as both transactions are on the same sale slip.

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[yDD5]

your paying msrp for the new car so the sales tax is on the msrp. You will then use your trade in to pay off the balance to an extent. essentially its separate transactions. would be the same in state

No, that is not correct, at least for my state. You are taxed on the difference between trade in and the purchase price. This is because you already paid sales tax on the trade in.

It’s a moot point now anyways as we sold the trade in this weekend for cash. Got more than 10% over what trade value would have been and it eliminates worry about calculating sales tax. So, all good.