Paying up front taxes on a lease from TX dealer but registering in LA?

I leased a 22 Expedition from a Texas leasing company who also owns a dealership. I live in Louisiana and they registered the vehicle in LA for me. But they charged me 100% of the sales tax rate on the vehicle based on my zip and included it in the gross capitalized costs. Vs me being charged it on a monthly payment or total for just the term of the lease. Since the vehicle was registered in LA should the dealer be required to pay that tax back especially at lease turn in? If i lease a vehicle from a Texas dealer should they charge me the tax according to the laws in my state?

You should be charged tax on the monthly payment. Contact the dealer tomorrow and tell them to fix it.

If they registered the vehicle in LA for you and also knowingly charged 100% of TX sales tax… I have a bad feeling about this one but I hope Im wrong.
Are u able to post a redacted version of ur purchase order / contract ?

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Do you have a copy of their paperwork?

Dealers can do whatever they want for many line items on a sales contract. The exception is taxes. Maybe Texas is different but in Virginia and Maryland it is very illegal to charge too much in tax and then not submit the tax to the state. If they submitted all tax charges to state it is a minor problem but you should be able to get your money back.

A more important question, was it picked up in TX or shipped to LA?

If picked up in TX, taxes get a bit murky.

There was a loophole a while ago for NAFTA trades with Mexico and Canada. I remember reading in the paperwork that you could essentially take a car and pay the taxes where you purchased it (Canada), and then transfer the vehicle with the right paperwork within 30 days to the states. Then you would submit your registration to the state where you were importing it to, and request a refund for your taxes within 30 days to the Canadian government.

This might be similar if they don’t help you unwind those extra taxes/didn’t give you the tax credit. You could show proof to the Texas DMV that shows you took your car outside of the state and registered it elsewhere within a certain amount of time. It’s all based on intent and, the window of timing for some states. Keep copies of your paperwork too.

I questioned them at the time and had them redo the numbers twice, because this dealer/leasing company primarily does business in Texas they are used to collecting all the tax up front. I have all the paperwork along with emails with info, but this Dealer is a client of my company and wouldn’t feel comfortable putting the info out there. I questioned them on the taxes from minute one, the problem we had is our vehicle was stolen and because of supply shortages we had been looking all over the country to find one. They explained that they used a FCU to finance the lease from a dealership they owned and they had to pay the full tax amount to the dealership for the FCU. So my problem with this is if the leasing company owns the vehicle registered in LA and I walk away from the lease at the end they should owe me those taxes back, correct.

Yes the vehicle was purchased from a TX dealership and delivered to us in LA.

Very confusing explanation. Is your lease agreement with the credit union or a sub-lease with the leasing company itself?

You can maybe redact all the names and display only the itemized line items for the breakdown of charges.

There is an assignment notice that the leasing company is assigning the lease to the credit union. I make all payments to the credit union.
so the credit union is the Assignee. I have leased enough vehicles and been in the business with dealerships long enough to know what’s what on a contract etc. no need to put itemized docs on here. I know I paid in the itemized fees the full amount of taxes box 2A and its added to the total capitalized cost. I am just trying to figure out if I need to go after the leasing company or credit union?

Ok and yet you knowingly paid the 100% TX taxes and are asking for tax advice after signing over here instead of checking with the State? :slight_smile:

I know enough to know whats on a contract etc. What I don’t know is tax laws on vehicle purchases/leases state by state. I believed the explanation the dealer gave me at the time when I questioned it. But I am now learning he might have been incorrect as was the credit union.
just trying to get all the details before I accuse anyone of anything.

You should pay taxes based on your residence address, not where you leased the car from. The end. End of discussion.

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