Is this possible?

[daveblack99]

Hey everyone - very similar post to the latest one in this forum by mine is more tax related.

My wife and I are Canadian citizens but we want to purchase an RV in the US and leave it down there for the winters. We will be going to Palm Springs/Indio area for 6 months each year. We would never bring it back to Canada ... just leave it in storage during the summer months.

Here is the key thing - I want to try to avoid paying as much sales tax on the RV purchase as possible. Would that mean purchasing from a dealer in Arizona and having them deliver it to me in CA (out of state purchase would be tax exempt I was told). Would CA then allow me to plate it or would I have to pay CA sales taxes when registering it? Should I get it shipped to another state nearby with lower taxes and register it there to pay the least amount? If so, which state?

The RV we are looking at is 78K + 12% tax here in Canada = $87K CAD. The same rig is $52KUSD x 1.3exchange = $67K CAD before taxes. So at the minimum its an $11K savings - significantly more if there is a way to pay less sales tax.

Thanks for any help you can give! I have searched everywhere and so happy to have found this forum 🙂 Hoping someone can help me out!

[cruiserjs]

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
The other option not mentioned is Arizona. Some of the You Tubers have mentioned using Az for titling and registration without fully changing domicile there.
Bob Wells, @ cheap rv living is one, from his domicile series.
But do your due diligence there as well, He isn't an attorney.

OK - in AZ, if you buy from a private individual you do NOT owe/pay sales tax. Here in our park there are always RVs (motor hoes, 5th wheels) for sale. I know this from personal experience by buying our last MH privately and subsequently registering it in AZ.

PM me for location and info.

[moonstone]

Agree that a park model might be best if you don't intend to move it from place to place.
Years ago my in-laws got tired of driving their MH back & forth from north of Toronto to Florida. They found a nice, reasonable, used 30ft travel trailer (not park model) then found a campground with storage. They never plated the trailer since it never moved off the campground property.
As far as I know there were never any tax implications with either country, both when they bought it and, over a decade later, when they sold it.

[cruiserjs]

Oh boy - folks are confusing with the "CA" abbreviation - Canada or California?? It makes a difference. Need all to know what you are talking about?? Me included.

Now my input - look at buying a park model in an AZ park - from a private individual - no tax.

[pawatt]

I agree that buying a used Park Model would be your best deal if you plan on leaving it in one place you can probably get something really nice for one fourth of the cost of that new RV. You'll have more room. You can have a shed. You may be able to landscape your lot to your desires with permission. The savings would be far far more then shopping around for a low sales tax.

[bighatnohorse]

You might try calling Mesa RV and/or Camping World in Arizona and talk to someone in sales with your question.
They are the experts.

I was RV shopping at the Camping World RV sales and they attempted to explain to me how I could save money by doing what you are questioning.

I ended up purchasing a truck camper which does not require registration in Arizona (it's considered "cargo", not a vehicle there). That's another story, better left alone.

At any rate, they do have a "scheme" which is lawfully compliant and can save some money according to them.

[daveblack99]

Yeah its a sad day when I am ecstatic about paying 7% sales tax lol.

[time2roll]

OK I misread what you said... Many in the US go to great lengths to avoid taxes.

[daveblack99]

time2roll wrote:
Because if you want to put Calif. tags on the RV the lookback period is one year to determine if you will pay sales tax on the purchase. That was the question right?

CA does not allow you to just buy out of state to avoid the sales tax.

***Link Removed***

There are four states with no sales tax: Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and New Hampshire. A fifth, Alaska, has no state-level sales tax but allows municipalities to impose the retail-level tax. As a result, the average sales tax rate in Alaska is 1.69% (GOOGLE)

I am not trying to AVOID the sales tax - I just wanted to know the cheapest way to go about it. Even 7.25% in CA is much better than 12% where I am 🙂

[BarbaraOK]

Again, I have to ask, if you are not going to move it around, why not buy a Park Model? In fact, every RV Park that has park models will have several each year for sale and you can get them for a song. We got ours for under $15K, costs us ~$200 in property taxes each year, no 'plates' to worry about, no sales tax, just move in and enjoy it. Cost of the site it sits on would be the same with a trailer sitting there for the whole year, plus we have a huge covered carport/patio area to enjoy.

[time2roll]

Because if you want to put Calif. tags on the RV the lookback period is one year to determine if you will pay sales tax on the purchase. That was the question right?

CA does not allow you to just buy out of state to avoid the sales tax.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/portal/feecalculatorweb/index

There are four states with no sales tax: Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and New Hampshire. A fifth, Alaska, has no state-level sales tax but allows municipalities to impose the retail-level tax. As a result, the average sales tax rate in Alaska is 1.69% (GOOGLE)

[daveblack99]

time2roll wrote:
Stay away from CA until it is more than a year in your possession.
And document that it was out of CA.

Hey thanks for the info - why is that?

[daveblack99]

Great thanks everyone. AZ looks like it would come out at $2800 and CA would be $3625. It would sit in CA for 95% of the time so for the extra $800 I am better off to register/plate it in CA. I am still saving a ton vs. buying up here. $69K CAD vs $87K CAD. Unless I am missing something but I would imagine the registration fees etc would be fairly minimal?

Good point about insurance - it would be plated CA so would they insure it? Here in BC it is provincial insurance so it comes with the plates. How does that work in CA?

[time2roll]

Stay away from CA until it is more than a year in your possession.
And document that it was out of CA.

[owenssailor]

You may want to check on insuran ce coverage as well. A friend wanted to leave his Ontario registered motor coach in the US for the summer and he could not get insurance coverage.