[caw]

Your trade in does reduce your sales tax burden, but it doesn’t work against the $45k limit for the partial tax exemption.

I paid the full sales tax on my FE, minus the trade in

I'm aware that the trade-in can't be subtracted from the sales price, but I'm not understanding why a dealer couldn't discount the sales price to $45K, and then reduce the trade-in offer by the same amount, such that the sales price meets the rule and the dealership makes their profit back on the sale of the trade-in.

 

[nigela]

I'm aware that the trade-in can't be subtracted from the sales price, but I'm not understanding why a dealer couldn't discount the sales price to $45K, and then reduce the trade-in offer by the same amount, such that the sales price meets the rule and the dealership makes their profit back on the sale of the trade-in.

Because the trade in is completely separate and specifically excluded from the MSRP+Delivery requirement that the state set for the $45k limit.

 

[Nai3t]

Because it would be an overt intent to circumvent the rules of the program. I don't know where this falls legally in terms of "cooking the books," but I would assume there are accounting ethics at play, at minimum, and the possibility of the dealership being sanctioned by the state? Pure speculation, I'm no accountant, but didn't pass the sniff test.

 

[pksea]

I know this is a dead thread, but interested in knowing recent experience dealing with WA tax exemption. My dealer is VW of Kirkland & I am expecting to receive delivery in the next 2 weeks. Going through the thread, permaplate appears to be a viable option. Any additional inputs would be super helpful.