Hi, looking to buy a friend’s Audi as their lease is ending in 4 months. Audi Financial said that since it’s less than 6 months to expiration I can’t be added to the existing lease and we also can’t start the lease transfer/assumption process. Is there a way to avoid the NY double tax issue, where the leasee has to pay tax on the buyout price and then I also have to pay tax when the leasee transfers the title to me right after getting the title from Audi? I knwo CA has a 10 dya grace period for lease transfers, but no such thing exists in NY.
One idea I had is if I send Audi Financial the payment for the buyout amount plus taxes. Audi would still release car to the leasee. Then the leasee transfers the car to me, but we would claim this transfer as a gift or $0 transaction for tax purposes, since she received no direct funds, and I paid taxes to NY upon first transfer. Would this be allowed by the DMV or would they want me to pay tax twice on the one payment I submitted to Audi?
Good suggestion. If you were able to find the right dealer, that could be significantly cheaper than paying taxes (twice). This obviously also depending on the money in question. I.e. the taxes on an $80k car will be uglier than say $20k.
I mean, IF you find a dealer willing to… I would think that you would still save a bit. I don’t know what one would charge for something like this, but an assumed $1k would still obviously yield ~$2,250.
