California 10 day tax exempt For lease buyout

[savington]

Thanks, this is fantastic.

The most interesting part about this is that it took 20 days from initial payment to receiving the fresh title, and 14 days from receipt of the original title to sale of the vehicle, but the state still agreed to refund the tax.

This is the text from the DMV’s website:

@savington

("The sale of a vehicle to a lessee by a lessor may be considered a nontaxable sale for resale. If the lessee transfers title and registration to a third party within 10 days from the date the lessee acquires title from the lessor at the expiration or termination of a lease, the sale will be presumed to be a sale for resale. Transfer of title and registration occurs when the lessee endorses the certificate of ownership.)

It appears that in this case, “lessee endorses the certificate of ownership” is the actual receipt of the new title from DMV, and not the receipt of the original title. This is a logical interpretation, but I don’t think anyone has had the gusto to try it before this.

(The other explanation is that CDTFA is lenient on the 10-day rule as long as it’s clear the delay was out of your hands and you sell the car very quickly after receiving the new title)

Thanks very much for sharing your experience!