CA Use Tax

[rogerl]

who owns it

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by rogerl

[stevesm20b]

If you base your plane in California or register it there. Calif has a 1% ( I believe it's 1% could be higher now) tax on the assessed value that you have to pay every year. I moved out of California and registered my plane in Nevada, and California still tried to tax me every year. And to make it even worse, they assessed the value much higher than the aircraft was actually worth. I would not register your airplane in California. If you rent a hanger, the owner of the hanger is required to give the county assessor your N # so the county can tax you. AND, it's a pain in the ass to get them to stop taxing you even after you move out of the state. If you get a bill from the county assessors office and you don't pay it ,they will just turn the tax bill over the the franchise tax board and garnish your wages with interest and penalties, until the bill is paid off.

[Immelman]

I can't help on the OP's question about use tax for relocating to CA, but on property tax, I have found the local assessor to be fair (that is, they slightly under-value my airplane). I don't complain.

[RJBrown]

When I sold my last plane it went to california. The buyer took delivery and kept it in Nevada for 90 days to avoid taxes. Moving into the state should not incur use tax I believe.

Other than sales/use tax on purchase Colorado has no property taxes city, county or state.

[johnggreen]

Roger,

At least in my experience, which is considerable I might add, a sales tax is collected by the state where the sale takes place.  A use tax is really a sales tax through the back door collected where the property is taken after the sale.  Example:  If you buy a boat in Tennessee but take delivery of it in Mississippi, then you would not have to pay a TN sales tax.  MS, on the other hand, would charge you a use tax.  If you did take delivery in TN and paid a 5% sales tax, then brought it to MS and their sales tax was higher, say 7%, then MS would charge you a 2% use tax.  I don't personally know of any state that levies a use tax where full sales tax has been paid; full meaning the same rate as that state's sales tax.  My experience comes from being in the construction business and buying heavy equipment all over the country for use in other parts of the country.

Confusing isn't it.

Remember the recent hullabalu about Maine levying a use tax on new airplanes brought to the state within a certain time period of purchase.  That was because the airplanes were either not subject to any sales tax in the state of the owner's permanent residence or the sales tax was less than Maine's.  Where the owner paid a sales tax in his home state equal to or greater than Maine's, there was no assessment.

The 1% annual assessment that one writer referred to is obviously just a personal property tax and if you take the airplane to CA, you will owe it every year.  As for a use tax, in your situation, I don't think there is any chance of that.

If you need someone who is closer to the situation, contact a CPA in CA.

 

[thinwing]

The best advice regarding Calif. sales and use taxes comes from Associated sales tax inc...including out of state,inter state commerce exemptions and aircraft moved to CA within a year of purchase..kpc