Massachusetts sales tax on automobiles

Apr 04, 2010 1 Replies

Suppose....



I have a summer home in New Hampshire but permanent residence in Mass. On May 1st, I purchase a car from a NH dealer and register the car in NH (NH has no sales tax). The car never enters Massachusetts during the first five months of ownership. On October 1st, I close up my NH house and come "home" and now register my car in Massachusetts. Do I have to pay sales tax on the brand-new purchase price, or is it less because the car is "used"?


Too bad you didn't buy the car a month earlier or keep it out of MA a month longer. If the car was more than six months old in your scenario no sales tax is due at all:

If while a resident of another state your vehicle was either purchased and registered in that state for more than six (6) months or purchased in Massachusetts more than six (6) months ago but was delivered to you out of Massachusetts by the seller, you are exempt from paying Massachusetts sales tax.

As for your situation, it appears the sales tax is based on the full purchase price or the NASA trade-in value whichever is *higher*.

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-- Rich Carreiro snipped-for-privacy@rlcarr.com

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