The temporary waiver issued for motor vehicle tax payment will end on April 14, 2021. The ending date is consistent with the announcement (PDF) by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to end the temporary waiver for title and registration on certain vehicles.
If a motor vehicle is purchased after April 14, 2021, the purchaser must remit motor vehicle tax to their local county tax assessor-collector (CTAC) within 30 calendar days after the vehicle is delivered to the purchaser. For example, if tax is due on May 14, 2021 – the CTAC will assess a 5 percent penalty if the tax is paid 1-30 days after that date, or a 10 percent penalty if tax is paid more than 30 days after that date.
For motor vehicles purchased on or before April 14, 2021, CTACs will continue to waive the motor vehicle tax penalty in the Registration and Titling System (RTS), provided the tax is remitted to the CTAC within 60 days of April 14, 2021.
Note: The extension does not apply to seller-financed motor vehicle sales. In these cases, the motor vehicle tax is reported and paid directly to the Comptroller's office instead of a CTAC upon registration.
A person who purchases a motor vehicle in Texas owes motor vehicle sales tax.
A Texas resident, a person domiciled or doing business in Texas, or a new Texas resident who brings into Texas a motor vehicle that was purchased or leased out of state owes motor vehicle use tax, the new resident tax or the gift tax, as applicable.
Standard presumptive value (SPV) is used to calculate sales tax on private-party sales of all types of used motor vehicles purchased in Texas. It is also used to calculate use tax on motor vehicles brought into Texas that were purchased from a private-party out of state. For more information, please see Private-Party Purchases and Standard Presumptive Values.
The dealer will collect motor vehicle sales tax from the purchaser when a motor vehicle is purchased from a dealer in Texas, if the motor vehicle has a gross weight of 11,000 pounds or less. The tax is a debt of the purchaser until paid to the dealer. The dealer will remit the tax to the county tax assessor-collector.
A private party purchaser must remit the appropriate motor vehicle tax to the county tax assessor-collector as follows:
Motor vehicle sales tax is remitted to the local county tax assessor-collector's office with Form 130-U, Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (PDF). The form must be signed by the purchaser.
In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 855, which requires state agencies to publish a list of the three most commonly used Web browsers on their websites. The Texas Comptroller’s most commonly used Web browsers are Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari.
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