question for massachiusetts people

[jim1932]

Can you tell me how the taxes work on your historic car in Massachusetts? For ease in getting through the title process I am thinking of titling my car in my Dad's name in Massachsetts (it was registered by my uncle in mass but we don't have a title. I am thinking the taxes will be the same or less than going through all the title service stuff to try and title it in my name in Maryland.

[Ford46]

Oh Boy! Hang on Jim it could be an interesting ride. In Massachusetts there is a sales tax, you have a limited amount of time from a date of sale to pay the taxes, or interest and penalties apply. If all parties are still alive you can do a transfer (sale) from your uncle to you dad (family) and state a nominal amount for the transaction. You would pay sales tax on this amount. If not, they will go to their value book and assign a value to the car ( no matter what your bill of sale says), the sales tax will be based on that. There is also a title fee due at the same time as the sales tax. The only good thing is you will now have a title. Have you dad go to the Registry of Motor Vehicles and see what they say, you can always do the title service stuff as a back up... LouB.

[jim1932]

Yeah, i am trying to not trigger all sorts of problems. My uncle transfered the car to my cousin (a California resident) a couple of years ago but they never did any title work. The car never left Massachusetts and now they are trying to transfer it to me. Fortunately my cousin was also the executor on the estate so we may need to skip the tranfer to him and go directly from my uncle to me or my dad.

The sales tax is not an issue because I have that in maryland as well. you also have an annual property tax on the card too right? what does that run for say a $10,000 car?

[1938 Woody Cape Cod]

It would be easier if there was an old Ma. registration in place of the title,,,,The yearly excise tax on an old car is minimal about $5.00

[oldford2]

We pay $5 per year excise tax on our 46 in Massachusetts. John

[jim1932]

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Well what I have is a 1973 RMV-1 form which is an application for registration/title. It HAS been stamped in the appropriate places by the registry. The plates on the car match this as they have a 73 sticker on it. Actually it has a red ink stamp on it that say "Permanent Registration Certificate". The registry has confirmed over the phone that they do not have the car in thier system. I am not a resident of Massachusetts so I cannot get a Mass title but I think my Dad could.

[1938 Woody Cape Cod]

Your Dad should be able to get a title with that and a Bill of sale, from the estate.

[Mike51Merc]

If you live in Md and take the car to Md, but register and title it at your dad's Ma address, you might run into legal problems down the road, so to speak.

If the car is in an accident, the insurance company may raise alot of questions and very well may seek to deny the claim based on a fraudulent registration. Your home state may also have an interest because they are losing tax revenues on a car that is housed and used in Md.

I'm in Pa and we've had a lot of NYers get their relatives to register cars for them mainly due to the difference in insurance rates. There have been reports of people arrested in fraudulent registration schemes.

[1931 flamingo]

If I was you, and pa work is in order, have your dad register in Ma if possible, obtain Ma title. I bought my A last year in Ma, it was registered, running and had a title, brought to CT and only had to have VIN verified, pay taxes and it was registered in CT. Having that reg and title from ma, you shouldn't have any problems in Md. If you get it reg in Ma, all your dad would have to do is write a bill of sale to you and sign the back of the tirle. JMO
Paul in CT

[Ford46]

The reason I said the estate could transfer to you dad for very nominal amount, being in the family this should (key word should) be easy. Then your dad pays the sales tax and applies for a title. He will then receive a clear title and you can then buy it off of him for another nominal fee and get the Maryland title using the Massachusetts title. He (your dad) does not have to register it, just get a title for it. Once you have a clear title the rest is easy. Just my thoughts LouB.

[Frank Miller]

From sibling to sibling the vehicle can be transfered with no sales tax. That is how it worked when I got a car from my sister in law that I said was my sister, same last name, over 10 years ago. Parent to child should not be a problem. Private sales are subject to sales tax based on some book they use that prices cars way above what they are worth. You are at their mercy. You pay 10,000 and they say it is worth 20,000 then you owe an extra 625 dollars. It seems some people would actually get a bill of sale significantly less than the actual selling price to avoid paying the full sales tax. Can you believe that? There are more like me than I thought.

A bill of sale form a licensed dealer you pay tax on the actual selling price.

[jim1932]

For an update.... my cousin is not willing (nor do I really blame her) to redo the paperwork direct form my uncle (who passed in 2009). So what I have is the bill of sale (witnessed but not notorized) from my Uncle to my cousin's husband. He never did anything with the paperwork to get a title. So I will have the whole chain of ownership including the RMV-1 form and a notorized bill of sale from my cousin to either myself (maryland resident), or my dad (MA resident). If I run it through MA with my dad, he would then transfer it to me once he got the title and I would get a Maryland title. I am going to try maryland first as going from my cousin to my dad is not a close enough relationship to avoid Massachusetts taxes and Maryland does not waive taxes on a tranfer from a relative if the car was titled out of state.

[Slick Willy]

I hope I dont sound too crooked here...BUT... If maryland recognizes bills of sale as a legal document (which MA does not anymore) Have "your uncle" write you a bill of sale from him to you, backdated a few years, and proceed. pay any back taxes and fees and be done. Avoid MASS unless Maryland is worse (which I highly doubt)

My 31 roadster they taxed me %6.25 on "book value" of $27,500, plus new title $90 and a $50 dollar late fee, $15 registration, and $90 for vanity plates...
and now I get to do it all again with my 54 chevy!!

[jim1932]

Slick Willy,

The thought has crossed my mind......

[general gow]

if that works, you may be better off. otherwise you'll be paying sales tax in MA to get the title. then you'll have to pay sales tax again in MD to get it titled there. sounds expensive...

[jim1932]

Well to follow up on this....HAPPY DAYS.....Massachusetts accepted our paperwork for a title in my Dad's name. Best part is we got it as a gift from cousin to my Dad (nephew to Uncle) and there is no sales tax, only a $25 gift tax. Otherwise was going to be a $700 tax bill. Got to love small rural RMV offices. After he gets the title, he can tranfer it to me and I can get the Maryland title and tags. I have the 1932 tags sitting on my bookcase all ready for it.

[Mart]

Result!

Mart.