Hey folks I’m in the process of buying out my Nissan Leaf lease. Nissan says that Virginia will charge me tax on the residual value again even though I paid the full 4.15% at the inception of the lease. I looked it up and the wording to me seems like if I can show them the original contract with the sales tax I do not have to pay it again. Can anyone confirm this?
Thanks in advance! Love this community.
Copy paste from dmv site below
SUT Exemption
If you already paid the SUT when you leased the vehicle, you may be exempt from paying it again, if:
You present proof you paid the SUT in Virginia
The title includes your name on the lease and not a commercial entity
You purchased the vehicle directly from the lessor, or from the selling dealer if one existed
Nissan is 100% wrong here. You already payed tax on the full value already. I’m fighting with them now around extending my nissan lease. They want me to pay tax on that extension.
Nissan cannot charge tax. It was already paid on full cost of vehicle when the lease was executed. The payoff is the payoff - just like a loan. Nissan will send you the title. Take it to DMV to register in your name and they will not make you pay tax again when you register it in your name.
Also, you should be able to chat or call Nissan finance and get the payoff amount and pay it electronically.
Sorry for the confusion the agent was warning me that his system says VA will charge me sales tax on the residual value. Not paying to nissan but to Virginia.
Nissan is so behind they cannot take a lease payoff digitally I have to send a check or go through a wire process in person at my bank… seems silly.
Good luck on your lease extension they told me absolutely not we gave you a 2 week grace period and thats it the car MUST be returned by that time…. Week later I get an email for my monthly payment I paid it and then called them back and the agent said well I cant refund your payment so keep the car for another month “ it shows in the system that you paid April’s payment”…. Lease was up March 8th its been a fiasco between the dealer being a dealer to silly agents on the phone.
Well I paid tax on the purchase price at the start of the lease (38k or something). So technically I should just need to bring my contract and should be fine.
I was curious if anyone has recently been through this process in Virginia before I lose 1000$ on taxes its always good to double check.
This has been discussed before, you can search the forum and find them.
Besides, the official verbiage you posted is pretty cut and dry. Who cares what the dealer said. Don’t ever rely on someone with a vested interest in giving you the wrong answer.
There was someone recently asking the same question. Search. And yes - bring your contract to DMV and they won’t charge you.
Edit: Max said this before me.
I am in Virginia and I went through this with GM Financial. Paid off the lease using their online lease pay system. Got quote from GM Financial Chat. Verified payoff amount with my excel lease amortization calculator. GM Financial sent me the title. Went to DMV with that and my sales contract showing full tax was paid at lease inception. Left with vehicle and title in my name. Cost like $15 bucks at DMV and that was it.
Great information. I have Googled and cannot find the answer. I have moved from Virginia. Have a lease. Paid sales tax upfront in full. Moved to Ohio, paid in Ohio (no reciprocity – out of luck). Moved to AZ now and they charge USE TAX (basically sales tax) monthly. AZ does not waive tax if you pre-paid. Does any know if I can apply for a rebate of VA tax for the months I did NOT live in Virginia? Thank you so much for any information.
I’m pretty sure that since VA tax is on the full price of the car and not on monthly payments, you don’t get any refund. It’s no different than going to Home Depot and buying a lawn mower. Once you’ve paid sales tax, it’s gone.
