Has anyone gotten an exemption for CA Use Tax?

[rayza]

Originally Posted by cruzbill

Is your rig diesel powered?

Nope :(

[rayza]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

I use Barbs Auto Registration Service in Escondido CA instead of going to the DMV. Knowledgeable and a lot less hassle. Well worth their modest fee. Suggest to give them a call to discuss.

That doesn't solve my problem since I can't bring it into the state of CA at all.

[BobnShelley]

We bought in Phoenix and took delivery in Nevada. Paid no sales/use tax. Registered in Cal. Cal DMV doesn't have a clue how to handle the registration. There is a form you need completed by (the former BOE). You have to have the vehicle verified, but Cal won't accept out of state verification. We had to pay for a verifyer to drive from the Bay Area to Reno to do the job. Take all that paperwork to DMV. Our temp from Arizona was good for 90 days. You will still have problems cause they just don't get it. Keep every single receipt for everything you do and buy and put together a huge binder that accounts for every day of that first year you have to be out of Cal. Just went through it. It is a real pain but a big financial savings if you aren't going to be in Cal anyway. Don't have a suggestion on smog. Ours is a diesel. But I guarantee if you don't have written approval from BOE to take it into Cal for smog, they will deny your application.

[rayza]

Originally Posted by BobnShelley

We bought in Phoenix and took delivery in Nevada. Paid no sales/use tax. Registered in Cal. Cal DMV doesn't have a clue how to handle the registration. There is a form you need completed by (the former BOE). You have to have the vehicle verified, but Cal won't accept out of state verification. We had to pay for a verifyer to drive from the Bay Area to Reno to do the job. Take all that paperwork to DMV. Our temp from Arizona was good for 90 days. You will still have problems cause they just don't get it. Keep every single receipt for everything you do and buy and put together a huge binder that accounts for every day of that first year you have to be out of Cal. Just went through it. It is a real pain but a big financial savings if you aren't going to be in Cal anyway. Don't have a suggestion on smog. Ours is a diesel. But I guarantee if you don't have written approval from BOE to take it into Cal for smog, they will deny your application.

I wish you had found this post two days ago, your advice is spot on! I finally thought of calling some verifiers in CA and seeing if they will come out, and found a great guy who is flexible, understands what I am looking for and is willing to meet me in Ashland to do it. If anybody is interested, I will give a referral to this guy, my stress has dropped from a 10 to a 2 after talking to him.

[BobnShelley]

rayza, glad you found someone. We ended up actually driving our car to BOE and personally met with someone who guided us through the process including what DMV should be doing. She was a tremendous help. Even in the end, DMV tried to say we were wrong and I told them to call her. Their supervisor decided not to call and told the staffer to give us our registration. As soon as the paper touched my fingers, we ran for it. Took us from April to June to clear up the registration so we were ready to hit the road.

[CountryB]

Originally Posted by rayza

Second issue is smog check. I can't drive the RV into CA to get a smog check, so how can I handle that requirement? Is it even required since I am staying out of state for a year? I have gotten mixed messages on this, but from what I understand it has to be checked by a CA authorized mechanic.

Why can't you drive to CA and have the smoke check and the VIN verification done? Once that is done then head back to wherever you intend to park/keep it.

Sorry if I missed that explanation somewhere.

As long as you have "insurance" and a "bill of sale" you could drive it to CA (home) without a registration. At least in FL you can.

When I bought my coach (private sale) I could not get the title paperwork right away because the title had a lien on it and my bank was handling title work and said it could take a couple of weeks. So I asked DMV about getting a temp tag to drive motorhome home (get it off sellers property) and they said it was "fine to drive it home as long as I have the insurance and bill of sale paperwork with me". It's done all the time I was told (if I was to get stopped, the police would not give me any trouble with that paper work).

[BobnShelley]

Originally Posted by CountryB

Why can't you drive to CA and have the smoke check and the VIN verification done? Once that is done then head back to wherever you intend to park/keep it.

Sorry if I missed that explanation somewhere.

As long as you have "insurance" and a "bill of sale" you could drive it to CA (home) without a registration. At least in FL you can.

When I bought my coach (private sale) I could not get the title paperwork right away because the title had a lien on it and my bank was handling title work and said it could take a couple of weeks. So I asked DMV about getting a temp tag to drive motorhome home (get it off sellers property) and they said it was "fine to drive it home as long as I have the insurance and bill of sale paperwork with me". It's done all the time I was told (if I was to get stopped, the police would not give me any trouble with that paper work).

Because it isn't allowed by the BOE. There are extremely strict guidelines for this exemption. Driving your rig into California for these purposes will disqualify you. I had this discussion with BOE staff and they (multiple staff) were consistent in their determination that you cannot go into the state for verification. Hence me paying to have someone drive from California to Nevada to do the verification. Smog check may be another issue, (it MAY meet the repair definition) but I wouldn't do it without talking directly to BOE staff. DMV won't know the correct answer.