additional taxes due ????

[flmgrip]

i'm sorry guys, my bad... but i didn't find it important to include the letterhead...

there is (of course) a letterhead...

from the dealership i bought the trailer from and the mail to address is the dealership also (but their accounting office in some other city pretty far away....)

regadless this letter is very unprofessional... doesn't indicate for what the taxes are due (even tho we all know...) this is just not the right way to approach this... and my 4 month old AS still has a water leak the service department can't find...

this whole thing is just odd...

[Gene]

A vehicle dealer or any retailer is an agent to collect sales and other vehicle taxes.

Nonetheless, they have to tell you what it is for, and in this case, explain the mistake. Contact them and ask them what it is about. Dealers miscalculate taxes from time to time; so do buyers. A telephone call may well clear this up quickly.

Gene

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by flmgrip

i'm sorry guys, my bad... but i didn't find it important to include the letterhead...

there is (of course) a letterhead...

from the dealership i bought the trailer from and the mail to address is the dealership also (but their accounting office in some other city pretty far away....)

regadless this letter is very unprofessional... doesn't indicate for what the taxes are due (even tho we all know...) this is just not the right way to approach this... and my 4 month old AS still has a water leak the service department can't find...

this whole thing is just odd...

In that case I would consider using the tax thing as leverage to get your leak fixed. I'm no lawyer but I would expect your purchase agreement is a binding contract and if the dealership made a mistake on the taxes that is their responsibility.

[byamcaravanner]

Originally Posted by overlander63

I would try to contact the California State Board of Equalization

Terry,

Is that the Gov't agency that works to make the tax you pay equal to the gross amount of your pay check?

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by byamcaravanner

Terry,

Is that the Gov't agency that works to make the tax you pay equal to the gross amount of your pay check?

That would be them. I found an advance copy of the 2009 California state income tax form (simplified):

1) Gross earnings:$_______________

2) Send it in.

[richinny]

Originally Posted by flmgrip

there is (of course) a letterhead...

from the dealership i bought the trailer from and the mail to address is the dealership also (but their accounting office in some other city pretty far away....)

if this is a scam, you'll probably find that address listed in google from someone that already has been scammed. scams, like airstreams tend to last a very long time.

[Ganglin]

Applying Tax to Your Sales and Purchases - Board of Equalization

[kennethowens]

I notice on the bottom...it says...Please remit to: ?????

Who is the entity listed...you left that out of the scan

A phone call to that "remit to:" entity could answer a handfull
of these questions. Retaining a lawyer can be costly. Middle school
and High school students often "pull adults in" with a portion
of a story. Things omitted are sometimes omitted for a reason.

[flmgrip]

Originally Posted by kennethowens

I notice on the bottom...it says...Please remit to: ?????

Who is the entity listed...you left that out of the scan

A phone call to that "remit to:" entity could answer a handfull
of these questions. Retaining a lawyer can be costly. Middle school
and High school students often "pull adults in" with a portion
of a story. Things omitted are sometimes omitted for a reason.

i only omitted what would be identifying of anyone involved... the sender address and "remit to:" are the same address and also carry the name of dealership i bought it from. however that address is over 100miles away from the dealership

i less doubt it that this is a scam, more so if i am responsible to pay or not?

[markdoane]

It's possible that the dealer was audited by the state (my brother is an auditor for Ca.) and they need to come up with more money. And its possible that they undercharged you and you do in fact owe more money.

I wouldn't just send the money to a different location. Have you called the dealer to find out if their accounting department is really located at the address given?

I also find the wording a little suspicious. A real bookkeeper wouldn't say "the 'check' is due and payable". . . ?

They should send you an itemized and numbered invoice. Otherwise I still think its a scam.

[Jim & Susan]

Here's another point of view. It looks maybe there are three possibilties.

1) The government is asking for more money. The government can't change a law and make the change retroactive to some arbitrary past date. It is done from time to time, but not if it works to the detriment of the citizenry ( the taxpayer).

2) The dealer made an honest bookkeeping mistake and simply didn't collect enough taxes (or some other fee that he's calling "taxes"), for some reason at the time of the sale. If that's the case, I wouldn't pay it.

3) It's a scam.

No matter the cause, I'd want a complete accounting and explanation in writing from the dealer. As others have said, a simple phone call should produce some type of result.

Jim

[Gene]

Depending on the state, both you and the dealer may be responsible for the tax. If there was a math mistake that doesn't excuse the purchaser from owing a tax. If the dealer pays it, they can come after you to reimburse them. The dealer may have to pay a penalty for nonpayment by the due date for each remittance, but the purchaser shouldn't have to pay a penalty.

A dealer may have an independent company handle their sales tax or other tax accounting, so a different address may simply indicate that, or the dealership could be owned by a company with several dealers and accounting is done at one location.

Taxes can be levied retroactively (again depending on the state). Constitutional prohibitions against retroactive laws apply generally to criminal, not civil laws. With California's perpetual budget crisis, some vehicle taxes may have been increased that did not exist the day you bought the vehicle. Or they may have increased, and the dealer used the older figure. Sales taxes can be different in every town and sometimes a dealer gets the wrong number.

It's more likely it's not a scam, but a mistake. Who hasn't made a math mistake? There are more people who make mistakes than there are scammers.

Just because the dealer handled the letter badly doesn't mean they are trying to screw you. It means they are bad at writing letters.

Gene

[Jim & Susan]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

..... Taxes can be levied retroactively (again depending on the state). Constitutional prohibitions against retroactive laws apply generally to criminal, not civil laws. With California's perpetual budget crisis, some vehicle taxes may have been increased that did not exist the day you bought the vehicle........

Gene

Well, I learned something today, Gene. I thought I remembered the US Constitution having a clause that applied to Criminal and Administrative matters (not Civil law). Guess we better watch out, the way Congress is going these days, we'll all be refilling our Federal Tax Returns for the past several years to help balance the budget. All they gotta do is rework the tax schedules.

Jim

[Gene]

Jim, the worst thing that can happen is you really will get bagpipes for Christmas.

Gene

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Jim, the worst thing that can happen is you really will get bagpipes for Christmas.

Gene

But will he get taxed for them?
Maybe a syntax for playing them?

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, if a vehicle is bought else-where, like out of state, [or even out of county] they need to charge and collect the amount of sales tax for the county in which you live. For example Orange county is lower than Los Angeles county. If you were charged the wrong amount for where you reside, then you owe the difference no matter who made the mistake. If the dealer cannot collect it from you, eventually the state will. If it comes to the point where the state has to collect it from you, interest and penalties will be added. Ask your selling dealer for all of the details as to why you owe more money. You should also be able to calculate the percentage yourself to verify if it is correct.

[flmgrip]

You make great points. I don't believe it's a scam.

However if I'd be sending money in response to this letter I'd be crazy.

This letter does not identify any details such as: purchase date, purchase contract number, place of purchase, vin, percentage of miscalculated tax, why this happened and an apology...

So until I receive a proffessional note from the dealer or state I will not pay anything, and as stated before I shouldn't be responsible for any penalties...

Beside all of that I am quite upset that I have a less than one year old airstream that has a leak the service department can't find... But that's an other thread I will start after I am able to take some pics...

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Depending on the state, both you and the dealer may be responsible for the tax. If there was a math mistake that doesn't excuse the purchaser from owing a tax. If the dealer pays it, they can come after you to reimburse them. The dealer may have to pay a penalty for nonpayment by the due date for each remittance, but the purchaser shouldn't have to pay a penalty.

A dealer may have an independent company handle their sales tax or other tax accounting, so a different address may simply indicate that, or the dealership could be owned by a company with several dealers and accounting is done at one location.

Taxes can be levied retroactively (again depending on the state). Constitutional prohibitions against retroactive laws apply generally to criminal, not civil laws. With California's perpetual budget crisis, some vehicle taxes may have been increased that did not exist the day you bought the vehicle. Or they may have increased, and the dealer used the older figure. Sales taxes can be different in every town and sometimes a dealer gets the wrong number.

It's more likely it's not a scam, but a mistake. Who hasn't made a math mistake? There are more people who make mistakes than there are scammers.

Just because the dealer handled the letter badly doesn't mean they are trying to screw you. It means they are bad at writing letters.

Gene

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by flmgrip

...This letter does not identify any details such as: purchase date, purchase contract number, place of purchase, vin, percentage of miscalculated tax, why this happened and an apology...

So until I receive a proffessional note from the dealer or state I will not pay anything, and as stated before I shouldn't be responsible for any penalties...

those are NICE additions to the letter, but don't appear essential.

in all likelihood who ever wrote the letter is following a required script with the 'legal notification' essentials...

and MAY have filled a copy of that letter with the county or state tax offices.

it's county taxes, they are a licensed collecting AGENT and the amount is specified.

having been notified, you could and should follow up with them IF questioning the issue or specifics.

but ignoring a letter like this doesn't get one OFF the hook, for the taxes OR penalty.

IF that were true, no 1 would open those eyeareUS envelops.

cheers
2air'

and buyers remorse or crappy build/service from a/s are NOT exceptions to tax due
_____________

[flmgrip]

1air, do you really believe that i should send money to someone just because it says taxes on it ??? let me just get this straight... i pay my taxes on time and the correct amount, i pay my mortgage, i pay my bills...

i got my prop tax bill - it had the parcel number and year on it, i had a correction to my income taxes - it refferenced to my social, i paid my mortgage, CC, Gas and electric bills - they all had account numbers and other details on it

if this letter is filed with the county, they wouldn't know what to do with either... there is no refference ANYWHERE on it... this is not a legal notification... i'm sorry, it's not... i'm not going to pay blindly what could be a scam and no-one can go after me for penalities until i receive a more detailed bill and actually explaining where this is coming from.

what if BB, or target or walmart sends you a letter like that, no reference to what purchase, what date, what percentage... you just pay them too???

really?

there is no buyers remorse here and as mentioned before i will start a sperate thread about the leak...

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

those are NICE additions to the letter, but don't appear essential.

in all likelihood who ever wrote the letter is following a required script with the 'legal notification' essentials...

and MAY have filled a copy of that letter with the county or state tax offices.

it's county taxes, they are a licensed collecting AGENT and the amount is specified.

having been notified, you could and should follow up with them IF questioning the issue or specifics.

but ignoring a letter like this doesn't get one OFF the hook, for the taxes OR penalty.

IF that were true, no 1 would open those eyeareUS envelops.

cheers
2air'

and buyers remorse or crappy build/service from a/s are NOT exceptions to tax due
_____________

[TomR]

Likely just a mistake on original purchase...taxes due calculation...perhaps how they classified certain protions of the original purchase as not being "taxable"...and they were audited and found owing additional taxes on your (and other) transactions. Not an unusual event.

My suggestion is to CALL THEM (dealership ACCOUNTING dept) and clarify the nature of the tax due and have them explain 1) the original calculation, 2) the error therein, 3) the revised calculation and 4) the resulting amount now due.

Request e-mail/fax or letter with ALL details of the money "owed" as outlined 1-4 above. If you still think you do not have to pay...call either the state of CA or an attorney to check your rights/obligations for the tax.

Another 40 messages on this fine site will not likely find you a definitive answer...make the CALL...Tom R..."Inactive" CPA..."Active" CEO

P.S. Please report back your findings...