How do taxes work when buying?

[danamano]

Maybe it's so obvious that I haven't found an answer to this here, but when buying a skoolie from a private seller, how is sales tax calculated? The scenario I have is the bus is already fully converted, titled as RV in California, and buyer is in California. Is the tax based on the bill of sale price?

So if someone buys a 25 year old school bus but it has been souped up to the max and sold for 60k, the buyer would need to pay ~7.5% sales tax on 60k? I don't suppose there's a Blue Book for used buses?

Thanks for any help!

[Danjo]

Hmm, I never thought about it, but when I bought mine ii didn’t pay tax to the seller. When I went to the DMV I paid the equivalent of 9%.

I never considered what the fees actually were. But here you go:

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/FeeCal...VehicleForm.do

[BeNimble]

You pay sales tax on the purchase price to the DMV when the title is transfered.
CA used to just ask you the price you paid, but maybe 10 years ago they changed policy to require a bill of sale with the actual sales price in writing and you pay tax on that amount.

[danamano]

Do they bother inspecting the vehicle, or compare it to some blue book value? I know with used cars, if the bill of sale is lower than blue book they might ask why or charge the higher amount.

[john61ct]

Some jurisdictions also have personal property taxes, or "use tax" ongoing every year.

May or may not be tied to registration.

Usually the "where garaged" location applies, not where **you** reside / have a DL necessarily.

Best if the insurance "where garaged" address matches.