Washington apparently taxes manufacturer rebates. I don’t live in WA state. Dealer there told me the entire hefty lease incentive I’m eligible for is taxable. Even if I am not a resident and will register the car out of state. My state sales tax is applied on the lease payment, but the WA sales tax is applied on the incentive, even though I am a non resident and my state doesn’t tax incentives.
This doesn’t sound right but I don’t know for sure. I could not find a definitive answer anywhere on the WA govt website either.
So I should not have to pay the rebate tax then? That’s what I thought as well but the dealer insists otherwise. I don’t live in WA but the dealer says the rebate tax is still taxable because it’s a point of sale tax.my state does NOT tax rebates. And even if it did the sales tax is significantly lower than what WA charges.
I cast a wide net when leasing/buying new cars. Other than the tax issue this is the best deal so far.
Most states that tax lease payments tax incentuvrs because the tax is due at the time the payment is made and the incentives are applied as part of rhe upfront payment.
