I know there's already a car thread around, but my question is about paying the tax and registration fee on a used car purchase. Any help is appreciated as the dmv and tax assessor's websites are a little unclear. I live in Austin (Travis county) but the car is in Houston (Harris county), and I plan to collect it this Saturday. I'll have the signed title, form 130-U, proof of insurance with me, and the Vehicle Transfer Notice would have been submitted online. My questions: a) Can I pay the tax and registration fee at a Harris county tax assessor? or must I pay it to a Travis county assessor? b) Am I allowed to drive the car around before I have been to the tax assessor? i.e. drive around Houston on Saturday, take it for servicing, and then drive it back to Austin- all without valid registration, and only signed papers in my hand? Thanks
Thanks for looking at the thread, but I had Travis County tax assessor's office on the line as well and they were able to answer my question. I'll post them here in case anyone is interested: a) I can pay the tax at a Harris county tax assessor, but I can't pay for the registration. Instead, I would have to get a temporary registration from the DMV in Houston (~$25) which would allow me to drive the car back to Austin without issues. b) I didn't really get this answered... but I'm guessing the answer is no, since expired registration is a good reason to stop someone on the road, and without the temporary registration, it could be bad news. Path I'm choosing: Have signed documents mailed to me prior to visiting Houston, then I'd visit the county tax assessor, and then collect the car from Houston with no headaches. Mods can delete the thread. Thanks
