Van's Air Force
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Taxes in Ventura County
- Thread starter JBHansen
- Start date
“Use tax” is an end run around the constitutional prohibition of charging sales taxes on interstate commerce. It is the same rate as the sales tax is in Ventura, and only applies to purchases on which you did not pay CA sales tax. It’s due on April 15 of the year following the purchase. There’s a line on your CA state income tax return where you pay it.
Property tax is collected annually by the counties, and is close to 1% everywhere. It’s due if you owned an airplane on Jan 1, but you won’t get the bill until late July/early August. IIRC it’s due on Aug 30.
The state is pretty dilligent about tracking airplane owners down.
Edit: in response to following posts: I paid mine on the state income tax forms, never had any trouble with the state. I guess YMMV.
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bruceh
Well Known Member
You should pay this to the State Board of Equalization. I put the use tax on my CA state taxes one year and they didn't accept it. Ended up getting the money refunded to me and then I had to send it to the BoE with penalties for late payment!
Keep track of what you pay on all of the kits from Van's. When you register the airplane with the FAA, the State will come knocking looking for their "sales tax". I provided them with the evidence of the use tax prepaid, along with the bills from Van's on all of the kits and ended up not having to pay anything more. The rest of the project components came from ACS and the engine from a company in CA, so sales taxes were already withheld.
The property tax bill gets mailed to you first with a questionnaire where they get you to estimate the value of the aircraft. Send that back in with your taxable value. They will then send you the property tax bill. Mine is around $640 per year.
Keep track of what you pay on all of the kits from Van's. When you register the airplane with the FAA, the State will come knocking looking for their "sales tax". I provided them with the evidence of the use tax prepaid, along with the bills from Van's on all of the kits and ended up not having to pay anything more. The rest of the project components came from ACS and the engine from a company in CA, so sales taxes were already withheld.
The property tax bill gets mailed to you first with a questionnaire where they get you to estimate the value of the aircraft. Send that back in with your taxable value. They will then send you the property tax bill. Mine is around $640 per year.
I had a similar issue when I purchased my wings and fuselage kits but with a different outcome. I read the instruction on both the BoE and Franchise Tax Board websites and they clearly said I could report and pay use tax on my state income tax so that is what I did. About Sept/Oct I get a nasty gram from the BoE that says we see where you reported use tax but we don't have your money. Cough it up plus fines and interest. Called the FTB the following day and they said oops, sorry about that. We will cut you a check for the amount you said you owed. Next call was to the BoE. I explained what the FTB told me and said I would mail them a check right now for the initial use tax but made it very clear in a polite manner I was not going to pay a dime of penalty or interest because I followed the instructions on their website, the state had my money for 6 months and it wasn't my fault the FTB can't get their act together.
Incredible! When I started my project, I called the Board of Equalization, and they told me it was OK to put it on my state tax return, which is what I've been doing as I order each kit.
BlackhawkSP
Well Known Member
No offense intended guys, but I can't understand why anyone in their right mind would live in California. I'm waiting for the bill on my newly registered plane in Indiana, but hopefully it will be at lesser rates than CA.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin passed a law in 2014 exempting all aircraft parts from sales and use tax. I believe purchases made at airventure qualify. The registration fee for an experimental in Wisconsin is a one time $50 fee. Considering our other high taxes, this was an absolute relief when I encountered it a few months ago!
Wisconsin passed a law in 2014 exempting all aircraft parts from sales and use tax. I believe purchases made at airventure qualify. The registration fee for an experimental in Wisconsin is a one time $50 fee. Considering our other high taxes, this was an absolute relief when I encountered it a few months ago!
What if you purchased a kit from a private seller that could not finish it and paid cash? Possibly at a pretty good savings verses a new kit from Van's? Would you report that? How would they know how much you paid? Or, is this going to be based on what they think the "value" is?
I have dealt with this before with the DMV and a car I built from basically parts acquired from almost everywhere. I was guilty and had to prove my innocence!! The DMV decided what "THEY" thought it was worth, which was way more than the sum total of the used parts I had purchased. Basically charging me tax on my labor! I won the argument, but it was an uphill battle.
God, I hate this state.
I have dealt with this before with the DMV and a car I built from basically parts acquired from almost everywhere. I was guilty and had to prove my innocence!! The DMV decided what "THEY" thought it was worth, which was way more than the sum total of the used parts I had purchased. Basically charging me tax on my labor! I won the argument, but it was an uphill battle.
God, I hate this state.
Just my experience:
Report and pay the sales/use tax now. They won?t ask any questions until you register it. Then point them to the old tax forms. As far as I can tell if the numbers look anywhere near reasonable they don?t look any further. Property tax is a different story (different government agency). First, you may need to remind them that you owe nothing if the so-called airplane didn?t have an A/W certificate on the last Jan 1st. (Even if you got an N number prior to that). Then, the county will attach a value to your RV, based on market value. If you think it?s too high you can appeal but be ready for a fight.
bruceh
Well Known Member
Just get a receipt from the seller. You'll also need to have this to get the Kit Bill of Sale from Van's, which you will need to get the airworthiness cert.
Why live in Calif?
Weather. It is perfect. Almost no bugs. Low humidity. Diversity. Intellectual stimulation. Fresh produce all year. In the SF bay area the smog levels are low.
Politics are strange but I ignore that.
Is it expensive? Yes. Every place nice I have been to is.
Bob Grigsby
Los Altos, Calif
Weather. It is perfect. Almost no bugs. Low humidity. Diversity. Intellectual stimulation. Fresh produce all year. In the SF bay area the smog levels are low.
Politics are strange but I ignore that.
Is it expensive? Yes. Every place nice I have been to is.
Bob Grigsby
Los Altos, Calif
hgerhardt
Well Known Member
Plus you can split lanes with your motorcycle! Only state that allows that. Otherwise totally agree with Bob. A hot day in Torrance is 78F. And a cold one is 45F.
