Ok one of my good friend wants to sell me one of his old car but the title is LOST and he had never gotten around to getting a new one from the courthouse. Since he is moving out of Houston for a new job, he's offering it to me at a very good price. But my question is how do I go about getting a new title under my name on this car? The car has just been sitting in his garage for the past 3yrs since he had brought 2 new cars since then. Any advice on if I could get a new title?
Question: Can you transfer title if you gift someone a car rather than sell it to them? Does the giftee have to pay sales tax on the gifted car?
Found it. "Less Common Title Transfer Situations Giving a car as a gift: If you wish to hand over your car to another person without receiving payment, you must sign the title over to that person and have the recipient complete a title application. The recipient should present these items to the County Tax Assessor-Collectors office. On the title application, the recipient must check the $10 gift tax box located in section 21." This begs the question of why private parties would fill out the forms truthfully - well, besides the fact that its dishonest & a felony if caught not doing so. What I mean is this. If you sell the car the buyer has to pay taxes on it. That could be a nice chunk - $1k or more at $20k... Wouldn't it behoove both parties to the sale to simply chalk it up as a gift? Buyer pays the $10 gift tax & slips the seller a bit of extra cash. Seller made more than he might have made otherwise. Am I missing something here?
Why doesn't walmart just pretend it's giving out gifts instead of selling to people. They just happen to get cash gifts in return.
But what happens if the TITLE is LOST? I mean he doesnt have the title or cant find it anymore and he's moving this weekend to San Antonio ... so he wants to just sell it to me, but how do I go about getting a new title for me?
better make sure he has a title. not squaring the title could cause BIG headaches for you or the seller. i knew a guy who sold a car to a big dealership in houston. under law the dealership was supposed to change the name on the title so that they took full ownership of it. they forgot to do this... they ended up selling the car to a felon, who drove the car to oklahoma and commited a few felonies. the police ran the plates and saw that it was under my friends name. he was arrested and had to appear in court in oklahoma to straighten out the mess. they dealership paied for the lawyer fees and everything but it still took a lot of time to straighten everything out... today he still gets calls from police every now and then. all bc the dealership forgot to change the name on the title.
the owner fills out a little form and either send it it, or go to the DOT. When the original owner gets his title he will sign it over to you
You do not have to pay Sales Tax in Georgia as an individual if you resale your car. I don't understand that law at all. That would be double taxation because you paid the sales tax at the time of original purchase.
You've used it since then. It's not like you were buying wholesale. As for the guy who wants to buy the car, make your friend get the title first. He could have a lien on the car.
