Topic: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

My wife spotted a Freecycle posting the other day.  Somebody bought a new car a few years ago, got offered next to zero trade-in for their current car, so kept it as a spare.  It apparently served them well until now in that respect, but they were moving on 10/1 and didn't have room for the car at their new place.

They offered the car for free to somebody who could commit to meeting them at noon last Monday, then head to the courthouse with them to transfer title.  I think several people responded to the posting, but we were selected to receive the car.

It is a 95 Cutlass with 200K on the clock.  Not bad for free, but also easy to see why the dealer offered pocket change as trade-in.

Anyway, at the courthouse, they filled out the paperwork.  To report the price, they checked the box that said "gift".

Boy, did that ever raise the eyebrows of the bureaucrat recording the transaction.  She asked, "OK, if this is a gift, how is the donor related to the recipient?"  They aren't related, except that they both Freecycle.

The bureaucrat absolutely could not believe that somebody would give a car to a stranger, so she started going down a list.  "Spouses?" No.  "Siblings?"  No.  "Cousins?"  No. "Registered non-profit organization?"  No.

"Then it wasn't a gift.  I'll have to look up the blue book value, and that's how much we'll base the tax on."  Apparently the law (Texas) changed last month so that only certain categories of people can receive a car for free and call it a gift.

Now, I wasn't there to look in the book myself, but I'm kind of sure it didn't show value deductions for things like broken a/c, no undented body panels, or windows that keep popping off their tracks.

So, basically, had we exaggerated the price and claimed it was $300, instead of the $0 truth, it would have cost less to register than it cost for telling the truth.

Moral of the story:  something believable trumps something that is true.  I guess that applies here, too.

Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

Cousins is the answer I give in that situation... names are different..  the gooberment doesn't need money when it is REALLY a gift....  pisses me right off...

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Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

Don't ya just love the Texas Presumptive Value rule.  It's been around a couple of years now, it's burned me twice.

Recently I bought a 1994 F150 for $1300, according to Texas it was worth $4900.  It has/had about 150,000 miles, broken a/c, crappy paint, trashed seat and so on.  Edmunds.com put it right around $1300, NADA was more but still less than the state of Texas says.

Hey Murly, aren't you a lawyer in Texas?  This is fraud on the States side versus some guy saying they paid $1500 for a $3000 car.  Is there a way to get this rule/law canned?

I believe this only applies to private seller transactions.  Your recourse it to have the car appraised by a dealer at a "minimum" cost of $100 or a licensed insurance adjuster can do it and that had no minimum fee.  I called my insurance company, State Farm, they wouldn't help me.  I had to have a claim for them to give me an appraisal. 

Maybe some dumbass will hit me now and I can say it's a $4900 truck in the state of Texas, pay up!  I can find another one.

My other thought is, the state should have to buy the car on the for their evaluation if we felt it was to much.  That creates a check on our side of the balance of power equation.  I could quit working, surf the web and make more money than I ever had.  I'd imagine we could bankrupt the state in a matter of months.

Texas presumptive value seriously blows!!

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

Maryland, too. When I brought my 2000 Plymouth Voyager to Maryland, I had to pay sales tax on the KBB value of it at the time - $5,000. I told them that there was no way the car was worth that, then - heck, I said I'd take $3,000 for it and be happy with that.

It's not nearly so crazy here in Ohio - but you have to go to a different place for the emissions check, the title, and the tags. Is it worth the couple hundred bucks you save in fees? Maybe.

Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

Should have just documented it as a dollar.  If they asked why a dollar just say it needs a new flux capacitor. Those flux capacitors are expensive to replace you know.

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Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

NJ pretty much taxes you on a minimum of $300 so everything I buy just gets written up as $300.  If you state anything below that they pull out the book for a value.

http://wartburg.misfittoysracing.com
OTTER: "I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part."
BLUTO: "We're just the guys to do it."

Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

JThw8 wrote:

NJ pretty much taxes you on a minimum of $300 so everything I buy just gets written up as $300.  If you state anything below that they pull out the book for a value.

i'd like to see them try that on the wartburg

Re: BS inspection at Tax Assessor!

eljefe17 wrote:
JThw8 wrote:

NJ pretty much taxes you on a minimum of $300 so everything I buy just gets written up as $300.  If you state anything below that they pull out the book for a value.

i'd like to see them try that on the wartburg

You know....its almost worth telling them I paid $5 just to get them to look it up  smile

I have bigger issues to deal with before that though...like the lack of title.

http://wartburg.misfittoysracing.com
OTTER: "I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part."
BLUTO: "We're just the guys to do it."