For used vehicles, they don't know what you paid, so it is the current book value tax or the $90. For almost everyone, that means the flat rate. The only tiem they really try to collect the sales tax is if a Texas resident went out of state to buy the car and brought it back to Texas for its initial title/registration. This may be common in some border cities, like Texarkana where almost half the city is in Arkansas.ScottDLS wrote:So if the car is worth more than 1500 then you make out pretty well on the 90 bucks. Also, for used vehicles how do they know what tax you paid when you bought? my car had been registered in 3 states before I got here and they never asked for the original bill of sale.srothstein wrote:I just looked. If the car is bought out of state, you owe the full sales tax minus any you paid to the other state. If it was previously registered in another state, you owe either the lesser of the sales tax or $90 flat rate. The sales tax is based on 6.25% of the current presumptive market value (book value). This is in tax code sections 155.022 and 155.023.
I guess it would also apply if you were in Vegas and got lucky on one of those slot machines where the grand prize is a car. I don't think that is nearly as common, though.
