So you want to "own " your own company

A lot of states don't charge sales tax on trucking equipment and parts, some do. As far as the question of an out of state purchase getting charged AZ sales tax, that's easy. Your state gets the sales tax on your purchase when you register it.

 

If you purchase a class 8 truck or a car out of state, you pay sales tax in the state in which it is registered. In my state we don't pay sales tax on class 8 equipment. You must have a motor carrier number in order to qualify for the exemption. However, you don't have to be the one with authority to receive the exemption. If an owner of class 8 equipment leases his equipment to a carrier, he can still get the exemption, but there is a form which must be filled out and filed at the time he applies for the title. You should be able to title your equipment in another state which does not charge sales tax on class 8 equipment as long as you have a physical address in that state. If the carrier that you want to lease to has an office or physical address in the state and can title the equipment in your name, they that will save you money. If you leave the carrier you can always change the title to your home state. When you already own equipment and title in a different state there should not be any sales tax since you titled it in another state first. Some states may require that the equipment be titled in another state for a minimum mount of time prior to moving the equipment and applying for a title in their state. That is to prevent owners from applying for a title in the sales tax free state first then immediately transferring the title into their home state.

 

I don't know what they are feeding you, maybe there is a legitimate method to there madness. You shouldn't be paying sales tax on your truck period. It's for your business. I would rather take care of all that stuff myself anyways. Could mean less hassle down the road if things change as far as companies

 

There you have it, GMAN summed it up better than I could

 

A lot of states charge sales tax on trucks. It all depends on the state. FL charges it, which is why all my trailers have been registered in ME or IL. If I buy a new truck, I'll title it through Landstar's people in IL. That'll save me $9,000+ in sales tax if I keep it under an IL title for 6 months.

 

So if I understand this right, when I buy a truck i won't get charged sales tax till I license it? So if I can register it with the company I lease to (given they are a sales tax free state) I won't get charged sales tax at all? Sorry, I'm dumb with this.

 

I appreciate the comments from everyone. As I understand it, this appears to work as described above and agrees with what I was hearing from the carrier. I TITLE, in my name, with the carrier's help, in Illinois - even though this is not my residence/business state. Some amount of time goes by, say 6 months. I can re-title after that amount of time in my home state and not pay taxes (because I own it, I did not just buy it). Now this is starting to make sense. After spending a lot of time looking at companies to lease to, type of freight I wanted to get involved with, etc., I thought the buy it, title it part would be the easy part. But, that's to be expected. I've been away from this for almost 30 years and things have clearly changed. Lot's of useful information here from folks that have been doing it for a while. Thanks again. The next challenge is moving the units to the mid-west prior to putting plates and a DOT/MC number on the side. Just bringing them down from CO to AZ was a $175 permit adventure. Some things haven't changed and high on my list of top ten rules is not to argue with the guy at the scales. Get out the cash and move on!

 

Thanks, I guess I just assumed since NY doesn't charge sales tax on heavy trucks no one did . I figure they would be the first to do so.

 

I believe is paying as little tax as possible. I figure we all pay more than our fair share. I see no need to "volunteer" to pay more when you can do things a little differently and legally avoid paying an extra tax.

 

Yes, but that depends on the state in which you live in.

Yes, and some companies (Mercer) plates all of their O/O trucks in Illinois for this reason, there may be other reasons for it also.