We’ve all seen those articles about best states to retire in due to taxes, cost of living etc…When I started doing research regarding leasing, I was amazed by how much information was out there like taxes, tax credit (Texas), money factor, discount, dealers fees etc… I was wondering if their was a city or state that is best known for good leases ?( for a well informed person ).
Ex: we all know if you lease a vehicle in Chicago,IL…you’ll have to pay two taxes. And it’s about 17% (don’t quote me on that ) so a lease from Chicago even with the same discount, same MF ,will most definitely look a lot different than New Jersey, due to the high tax.
Hopefully the question makes sense.
Tax is based on registration address, not purchase location. Are you going to move to a city/state just because it has better tax rules on leases?
2 Likes
Not anytime soon, I was checking to see which states I should stay far away from because I enjoy leasing my vehicles way too much and I know some states taxes are just ridiculous.
I feel like NJ is probably up there as one of the best. They allow MSD, no tax for electric cars and state EV incentives.
4 Likes
If you don’t like paying taxes move to Washington and shop in Oregon. Problem solved
1 Like
1- PNW (WA/OR/ID) as a market is one of the worst places to lease a car from.
2- Sales tax is still applicable when registering a car in WA, and a hefty one if registering in/around Seattle.
3- The majority of WA’s population lives closer to Canada than the closest major urban center in OR (Portland), any potential savings from a purchase would be offset by the cost of getting there, possibly overnighting and back unless it’s a rare Patek Philippe.
2 Likes
There’s 400000 people who live across the river from Portland in WA. 
but the rest of the stuff is right.
Actually I think best state is NH. No sales/state taxes and you can bug Mike for his deals.
From a pure taxation perspective both NC and SC are among the best. NC is 3% on the monthly lease payment, and last I checked SC charges the lesser of 5% of total lease payments or $300.
Of course if you buy a car here locally you’ll be subject to the typical $600-800 doc fee, as with most states in the south. But nothing’s stopping anyone from buying in a more doc fee friendly state, as mentioned taxes are based on where the car is registered, doc fees on where the car is purchased.
2 Likes
If driving a car up from CA to WA is too much of a chore, come on down to CA and pay our income taxes and enjoy our cost of living. We’ve got room based on the apparent CA mass exodus columnists keep writing about 
To Jon’s point, it’s pretty nonsensical to up and move to a new state just to save taxes on a vehicle lease 
4 Likes
Loll. CA is just straight ridiculous. Isn’t it more expensive than NYC.
It’s always people who never lived here (and expat @mllcb42 ) who say that.
I pay less in taxes, overall, in SoCal than I did in Ohio.
When I lived in Northern VA, the most expensive lease I had was a 30k msrp because of the car tax. Sure gas was cheaper there, but taxes or not, there are maybe 5 places in the US I would live other than SoCal, and none of them claim to be “tax free” anything (which is code for “it’s a trap”).
Hush, you finally found a house. None of the people writing those articles have watched a house they backed out on (at 11% over list in 2016) increase 67% since. For every person outside CA saying we have an exodus, if just 1 person actually left I’d be able to find a house to throw a party.
1 Like
After 30 years in CA, I (and my wallet) couldn’t be happier to have left.
1 Like
It’s a pay to play state, baby! But yeah, it’s definitely expensive - especially if you’re a high earner because the state income tax is on a sliding scale. Even low income folks who make <$60k/year are able to inch into the 9.3% state tax bracket. Every year, we feast on the enjoyment of figuring out what we owe to the state. The good news is the pain stops at 12.3% (for now) 
: haven’t you heard?? Everyone is leaving CA so there’s no excuse anymore 
You’re also welcome over any time. But we’re still pouring our money into fixing everything the inspector overlooked.
1 Like
CT isn’t much better than Chicago since they charge property tax, even on leases. I am not sure if it gets added to the monthly like Chicago or is just a yearly tax bill, but it stopped me from bothering to save money by registering my car in CT instead of Chicago.
2 Likes
No tax in NH, registration can be a bit pricey depending on your town, but it’s better than paying taxes in the purchase price!
It’s interesting to see everyone take on this.everybody seems to think their state is the best state 
. But I can say my state is the worst state, it’s almost close to impossible to get a decent deal in chicago due to our taxes.
New Hampshire or Delaware and pick up your car in eastern PA. End of discussion.
In what way?
How many places have you lived in? Are you like 70 years old??
2 Likes
Don’t flatter him
2 Likes