Dealer "forgot" to charge sales tax on sale?

Dealerships suck.

I had a dealership "accidentally" put the wrong zip code on my purchase paperwork. This zip code happened to have a sales tax rate about 1% higher than my home address/city.

I caught it before I signed anything.

They said "oops, we'll fix that".

I say they were trying to scam another $360 out of me.

The right thing to do would be to nullify the incorrect paperwork and pay the sales tax on your lease/purchase. Legally, you have a signed contract and the dealership is now responsible for reporting the lease/sale and paying the appropriate taxes/fees (that they should have collected from you).

I doubt most dealerships would accommodate or nullify/change a signed contract if you, the buyer had made a financial error that you wanted them to correct or reverse . They would tell you to go kick rocks and refer you to your signed contract.

 

So to those saying that he will have to pay,can you explain why? If he has a signed contract (assuming no clause to get the dealer out of this) then the dealer agreed to the price including tax, which they messed up on. How do they have any recourse to collect what they said was not owed in the contract? I understand the state will get it's money, but I don't see why the OP would have to pay. I'm not versed in law at all, so I'm genuinely wondering.

Edit: and here in MA we have sales tax paid at the transaction and excise tax paid annually.

 

Be a good American and pay up.

 

Pay the dealer or pay the state directly when you register it, either way you’ll pay. Taxes are one thing you can’t avoid...

 

Make them give you a 100k mile warranty and some Touch Up paint for your troubles

 

But what if the dealer already paid the taxes on his behalf, and then realized they didn't collect the money from him?

Here is what I would do OP. Tell the dealership people that you will just pay your taxes directly to the DMV, as you are legally allowed to do this. If they say fine, thats no problem, then you should do that. If they say the taxes have already been paid to the State, then they are just trying to recoup from their screw-up, and I would say tough luck.

 

And in other states -- (Mo.for one) the dealer has nothing to do with the taxes. Here you go to Mo. Dept of Revenue pay your sales taxes -then you get your plates. I would call the state and see what they say about this.
My suggestion --if you will ( according to the tax agency) have to wind up paying it anyway -then and only then, try to get the dealer to sweeten your deal (maybe free oil changes for life of vehicle or a nice extended warranty.
If the state taxing agency says the "tax-monkey " is on the dealers back (they have to pay and you have a valid argument) then you are free to do what you will about it. Keep in mind the dealership WILL remember the "issue" and may treat you accordingly.
Good luck!! -BTW how much are we talking about?

 

Sounds like neither party actually read the contract before signing.

 

depends totally on state laws!!

 

@LocoLocal might have experience with this

 

OP left out his state so no one really knows for sure. Without knowing how his dealer or state handles things, the dealer will either A) eat the cost and piss off or B) OPs DMV or equivalent will wonder what happened and come knocking (on either OPs door or the dealer). One thing is certain - the tax will be paid.

Everyone saying "contract signed! you're good bro" doesn't really have a clear understanding of contract law. To preface this, I'm not a lawyer but deal with contracts and claims from an owner/contractor relationship regularly as part of my job. If this were to go to court (which is super unlikely due to cost vs. liability), one could easily argue that since the contract included not paying sales tax (which is illegal everywhere there's a sales tax), it is not a legal contract and also not enforceable. The other possible argument is that neither party were on the same page (mutuality) since no one noticed the sales tax was not on there and everyone knows it's required.

In any case, as a rule, make the dealer pay because they're probably assholes and pay up yourself only if the state comes asking.

OA

 

I had a similar situation where the dealer messed up on my mileage per year giving me 15k instead of 12k.
They wanted me to come back and fix it and I said no I signed a contract and it was what it was and that was it.

As others had said if the dealership agreed to sell you a car for 20k, then the paperwork you signed showed 21k, do you think they’d fix it?

This is probably different since it’s sales tax, but I’d hold the dealer responsible for anything.
You could always play dumb and say they said they were going to pay the sales tax and that was why the amount was na on the paperwork.

 

Their problem!

 

As was stated on page 1, the dealership is just the middle man for the state when it comes to collecting the tax. You can ignore the dealer all you want. The state DMV will send you a card saying you owe them money. If you don't pay, they'll pull your plates and registration.

I went through this at a school I was principal at. We bought a Dodge Caravan and the dealer didn't collect taxes because we're tax exempt. DMV came at us a year later and said anything under a 10 passenger vehicle pays state tax. When I mistakenly said we'd purchased other Caravans and paid no tax in the past they did a review and charged us for the previous vehicles as well.

Ignore the dealership all you want. No skin off their back. They got their money for the vehicle. The state on the other hand most definitely will come calling for their pound of flesh and will not care if the dealership screwed up.

 

Where's Judge Judy when you need her?

 

Pennsylvania. I am not trying to get out of taxes. I do not want to pay for their mistake. If the dealer has already paid the tax, I am not going to reimburse them.

 

She is in a state where they DO NOT pay taxes

 

But the dealership could have already submitted the tax on OPs behalf, then during book reconcile, it was found they didn't actually collect the money. If this is the case, the State has their money, they dont care about the dealership.

 

Heck no man that's a contract tell him to "live and learn"

 

So it's easy - ghost the dealer. If the DMV asks questions later then you can worry about paying. Otherwise, congrats on the discount.

OA