Car Registration Question - Moving from TX to CA

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Hi all, I am moving from TX to CA and wanted to get some thoughts on how to minimize registration payments. When I signed my lease in October of 2020 I got a pretty significant amount of tax credits, which was done in an effort to reduce my total financable costs as an alterantive to reducing the purchase price. That said, now that I am moving, I am unable to reduce any potential CA taxes by the amount paid in TX, since it was pretty close to zero.

Question is, should I just try to sell the vehicle and buy another here in CA or just pay the tax bill? Happy to answer any questions that may help provide an informed response.

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California is just going to tax the lease payment. Your payment on a comparable car today would likely be more.

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Do they do that upfront on total amount?

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CA taxes monthly. If you move your current lease to CA, that’ll be your new base rate and then each month you’ll pay somewhere in the 7-10% tax range on it, depending on where in CA you are.

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This might be a silly question, but how do I go about moving the lease to CA?

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Contact your leasing company and give then your new address. In your case maybe 29 days after you move (you have 30). You’ll need a POA from them to register the car, so maybe don’t cut it that close.

You will have to get the car smogged, and a vin scan before you register. If you have it smogged first and get to the dmv early, you may be able to do the last two and change your license in the same appointment (dont forget to study for the written test).

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  • Must have 7500 miles or you can’t do it. (Or be a 50 state car)
  • Bring the car for a CA Smog Check
  • Change Address on your lease site.
  • Bring both the Smog Check and the Official Change of address to the local DMV (get an Appointment) and pay the fees, (maybe a couple of 100?)
  • Get new license plates.

Note : This might be able to be done a AAA for $75 to skip the appointment, but I don’t remember.

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These are sent electronically, have been for years. The receipt is just that. It does have to be done before anything else at dmv.

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Thank you both. On the taxes point, when I go to this calculator, it spits out an absurd amount >$4K – is that right?

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/FeeCalculatorWeb/newResidentForm.do

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That applies if you own the vehicle and purchased it less than 12 months ago.

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On top of taxes, just be mindful of your new CA DMV annual reg fees. They’re ridiculously high.

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