| (A) A dealer who makes a seller-financed sale must
apply to the appropriate county tax assessor-collector to title and
register the motor vehicle by filing an Application for Texas Title
and/or Registration no later than the 45th day after the date the
motor vehicle is delivered to the purchaser.
(B) A dealer making a seller-financed sale must also:
(i) collect and remit motor vehicle tax on the total
consideration for the motor vehicle at the time the Application for
Texas Title and/or Registration is presented to the county tax assessor-collector;
or
(ii) collect and remit the motor vehicle tax to the
comptroller as the payments are received, as explained in subsection
(d) of this section. A dealer making a seller-financed sale must include
its 11-digit Seller-Financed Sales Tax Permit Number on the Application
for Texas Title and/or Registration if the dealer intends to remit
the motor vehicle tax on a report to the comptroller instead of remitting
the motor vehicle tax at the time the Application for Texas Title
and/or Registration is presented to the county tax assessor-collector.
(2) Retail sales other than seller-financed sales.
(A) A dealer must collect motor vehicle tax on each
retail sale, unless an exemption applies. The tax is imposed on the
total consideration for the motor vehicle.
(B) The dealer must remit the motor vehicle tax due
to the appropriate county tax assessor-collector at the time the dealer
submits the Application for Texas Title and/or Registration. Motor
vehicle tax is due within 30 calendar days after the date of the sale.
(C) A dealer is not required to collect motor vehicle
tax on the sale of a motor vehicle with a gross weight in excess of
11,000 pounds. If the dealer does not collect the motor vehicle tax,
the dealer must provide the purchaser with an Application for Texas
Title and/or Registration, signed by both the dealer and purchaser,
and all other documents required by the Texas Department of Motor
Vehicles to apply for title or register the motor vehicle. The purchaser
must remit motor vehicle tax to the county tax assessor-collector
within 30 calendar days after the date of sale.
(D) If a dealer sells a commercial motor vehicle that
is required to be equipped with a body or other necessary equipment
before the motor vehicle can be registered under the Transportation
Code, then the dealer must remit the motor vehicle tax within 30 calendar
days after the date on which the motor vehicle becomes eligible for
registration.
(3) The dealer must retain copies of the documentation
provided to the purchaser and all other records pertaining to the
sale. The specific records each dealer is required to keep are listed
in Tax Code, §152.063 (Records) and §152.0635 (Records of
Certain Sellers). The dealer must keep the records for a minimum of
four years from the date on which the record is made, and throughout
any period in which any tax, penalty, or interest may be assessed,
collected, or refunded by the comptroller or in which an administrative
hearing or judicial proceeding is pending, unless the comptroller
authorizes in writing a shorter retention period.
(4) The motor vehicle tax due is 6.25% of the total
consideration. Except as provided in paragraph (2)(C) of this subsection,
the motor vehicle tax is a debt of the purchaser to the dealer until
paid. Unpaid motor vehicle tax is recoverable by the dealer in the
same manner as the total consideration for the motor vehicle, if unpaid,
would be recoverable. The comptroller may proceed against either the
dealer or purchaser, or both, until all applicable motor vehicle tax,
penalty, and interest due has been paid.
(d) Remittance of motor vehicle tax on seller-financed
sales as payments are received.
(1) Each dealer making seller-financed sales who collects
motor vehicle tax as the payments are received from the purchaser
must remit the motor vehicle tax collected to the comptroller on or
before the 20th day of the month following each reporting period.
The dealer must file a consolidated report with the comptroller, together
with the motor vehicle tax collected for seller-financed sales made
at all locations owned by the dealer.
(2) The dealer must file a consolidated seller-financed
sales tax report for seller-financed sales made at all locations owned
by the dealer, together with the motor vehicle tax collected. The
report must be signed by the dealer or the dealer's authorized agent.
The fact that the dealer does not receive the form or does not receive
the correct form from the comptroller for the filing of the report
does not relieve the dealer of the responsibility of filing a report
and remitting motor vehicle tax. The report is available at comptroller.texas.gov.
(3) A dealer making seller-financed sales may file
reports and remit motor vehicle tax electronically, such as through
Webfile at comptroller.texas.gov. Dealers who paid $100,000 or more
in motor vehicle tax to the comptroller during the preceding fiscal
year must remit motor vehicle tax electronically, as provided by Tax
Code, §111.0625 (Electronic Transfer of Certain Payments). Dealers
who paid $50,000 or more to the comptroller during the preceding fiscal
year must file report data electronically, as provided by Tax Code, §111.0626
(Electronic Filing of Certain Reports). For more information on electronic
filing and payments, see §3.9 of this title (relating to Electronic
Filing of Returns and Reports; Electronic Transfer of Certain Payments
by Certain Taxpayers).
(4) A dealer completing a seller-financed sales tax
report must allocate the motor vehicle tax paid on a motor vehicle
to the county in which the dealer submitted the Application for Texas
Title and/or Registration for the vehicle.
(5) A dealer who remits less than $1,500 in motor vehicle
tax per quarter may file reports quarterly. The quarterly reporting
periods end on March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December
31st.
(6) A dealer who remits $1,500 or more in motor vehicle
tax per quarter must file monthly reports, except a dealer making
seller-financed sales who chooses to prepay the motor vehicle tax,
as provided in paragraph (7) of this subsection.
(7) Discounts and prepayments of the motor vehicle
tax.
(A) Each dealer making seller-financed sales may claim
a discount for timely filing a seller-financed sales tax report and
remitting motor vehicle tax due as reimbursement for the expense of
collecting and remitting the motor vehicle tax. The discount is equal
to 0.5% of the amount of the motor vehicle tax due and may be claimed
on the report for each reporting period. The discount is computed
on the amount of motor vehicle tax timely reported and remitted for
each reporting period.
(B) A dealer making seller-financed sales who makes
a timely prepayment of at least 90% of the total amount of motor vehicle
tax currently due, or an amount equal to the actual motor vehicle
tax liability due and paid for the same reporting period of the immediately
preceding year, may retain an additional 1.25% of the amount of motor
vehicle tax due.
(i) The monthly prepayment must be made on or before
the 15th day of the month for which the tax is due.
(ii) The quarterly prepayment must be made on or before
the 15th day of the second month of the quarter for which the tax
is due.
(iii) The dealer must file a seller-financed sales
tax report showing the actual liability and remit any amount due in
excess of the prepayment on or before the 20th day of the month following
the quarter or month for which a prepayment was made.
(iv) If there is an additional amount due when the
seller-financed sales tax report is filed, the dealer may claim the
0.5% discount for timely filing, including on the additional amount
of motor vehicle tax due, provided that both the seller-financed sales
tax report and the additional amount of motor vehicle tax due are
filed timely. If the prepayment exceeded the actual liability, the
dealer will be mailed a notice of overpayment or a refund warrant.
(v) A remittance that is less than 90% of the total
amount of motor vehicle tax currently due, or less than the amount
of actual motor vehicle tax due and paid for the same reporting period
of the immediately preceding year, is not a valid prepayment and the
1.25% discount will not be allowed.
(8) Penalties and interest.
(A) If a dealer does not file a seller-financed sales
tax report together with payment on or before the due date, the dealer
forfeits all discounts and incurs a mandatory 5.0% penalty. After
the first 30 days delinquency, an additional mandatory penalty of
5.0% is assessed against the dealer. After the first 60 days delinquency,
interest begins to accrue at the prime rate, as published in the Wall Street Journal on the first business
day of each calendar year, plus 1.0%.
Cont'd... |
