Bus Value Washington State

[Seangie]

Hey All -

Trying to get my bus registered in the state of WA.

They want to charge us a USE TAX of 8.02 percent on the value of the vehicle.  Problem is they can't tell us what its worth.

Any ideas on where to go and get a value on it.  Looking for a low number here.  Just trying to see what others have done.

Thanks.

-Sean

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I think $1.00 is fair. 

[Astro]

As a Washington resident, I have played this game before. It is what you say it is worth unless they can prove otherwise. They can only use the title as their only document. It is the government sanctioned document other than a sales receipt or other purchase document you provide. They can not use a private party such as KBB or other for taxation purposes. Burden of proof is in them. Don't let them forget it. If in doubt, go to Dept of Revenue (without bus) and talk to them. They are way more lenient and nice then licensing agency people.

Also, they can only charge you use tax if you have never paid a use or sales tax in Washington or any other state. If you paid the tax anywhere regardless of amount, they can't charge you unless the vehicle was transferred.  I usually go to Dept of revenue office and say I bought a hulk and need a value cert. They ask what it's worth, I tell them and they issue me a cert to shut the agency people off. They have to accept it and do.

[Seangie]

As a Washington resident, I have played this game before. It is what you say it is worth unless they can prove otherwise. They can only use the title as their only document. It is the government sanctioned document other than a sales receipt or other purchase document you provide. They can not use a private party such as KBB or other for taxation purposes. Burden of proof is in them. Don't let them forget it. If in doubt, go to Dept of Revenue (without bus) and talk to them. They are way more lenient and nice then licensing agency people.

Also, they can only charge you use tax if you have never paid a use or sales tax in Washington or any other state. If you paid the tax anywhere regardless of amount, they can't charge you unless the vehicle was transferred.  I usually go to Dept of revenue office and say I bought a hulk and need a value cert. They ask what it's worth, I tell them and they issue me a cert to shut the agency people off. They have to accept it and do.

We paid use tax when we bought the bus in NC 5 years ago.  Trying to see if we can get proof of that.

It seemed pretty wishy washy about how we could show the value.  She was pretty nice at the counter and gave lots of options.  She really didn't say she could tell us what the value was unless there was something documenting it.

If we can't get a receipt from NC DOR then I'm thinking Ill take it by a scrap yard and aask me to write an estimate of what they would pay scrap value for it and we can go on that.

Wifey is pretty adamant about going to the DOR and talking to them if we can't get a document from somewhere else.

-Sean

[Oonrahnjay]

     Not that it will do you any good in any real sense but you might get a kick out of my friend's experience in Maryland over 30 years ago.  Her brother gave her a might-get-you-there Maverick with bald tires, little paint actually sticking to it, frat brothers had liberally treated interior with puke often, etc.  The tax office said that she had to pay tax on the Blue Book value, so she pulled out the title, handed them the keys, and said "where's my check??".  After a bit of bluffing and stammering, some supervisor walked down with her to look at the car, turned right around and walked back in and said to the clerk .. without even slowing down as he walked into his office ... "put $700 on the value", and closed his office door.  She was hoping to get by with $1200 so that made her really happy.

[luvrbus]

I guess all states have a way to get you,here in Az they just go by the year,our MCI was $58.00 and that included 5 years on the plates.In Texas you pay 4% on the purchase price plus 3 other fees and the plates

[brmax]

You might want to use your property tax, assessed each year on vehicles.
As mentioned all states can be different and depending how its presently titled.

[Astro]

Go to the DOR. Trust me, it will save you a lot of time. Say you have a basket case old bus and use it for hauling chickens. It's worth $500 on a good day. Do NOT bring the bus with you. They will take your word for it and issue a value cert. There are DOR offices all over.

[RJ]

Sean -

Let me know how it works out, because I get to do the same thing with Tortoise when Pat & I get back to WA around the end of March or early April.   

RJ

PS: I sent you a text just before you did your last big show. . .