Sales tax error

[ElectraCar]

I ordered my M3 LR on 10/20. I'm still waiting for it.

I looked at the price details for my car on the Tesla website and redid all of Tesla's math. The sales tax charged is $65.55 too high. How do I get them to correct this?

I sent an email to my SA, but so far, no response.

 

[jjrandorin]

I would not worry about even trying to correct it until you receive a vin, and a MVPA (motor vehicle purchase agreement). Until the numbers are on a contract (MVPA) they are just estimates.

 

[CarlThompson]

Back in 2019 I bought EAP and FSD for my 2018 Tesla Model 3 after the fact. They charged my credit card. When I was sent the invoice I noticed that the total on the invoice was different than the amount they charged my credit card; the invoice had a total price hundreds of dollars less. Looking at the numbers on the invoice I believe that the invoice didn't show the full amount of sales tax that I was charged. Put another way, when I calculated sales tax on the full purchase price myself and added it to the purchase price it came pretty close to what was charged to my credit card. But the sales tax listed on the invoice was considerably less than what it should have been if the full purchase were taxed and less than what I actually paid.

I contacted Tesla about it asking for either a corrected invoice that matched what I was charged or for a refund of the difference. I got no response. Over the next year or so I wrote dozens of emails and made dozens of phone calls about it and on the few occasions they bothered to respond they said they would look into it and get back to me. They never did and to this day I have never received a corrected invoice that reflects what I actually paid or a refund. I very seriously considered reporting them to the state of California in case they didn't actually turn over to the state all of the sales tax they collected from me which would be very illegal but I didn't do it.

Good look getting your $65 back.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Double check your math. They've sold a lot of cars and it's pretty unlikely that you're the only person to have ever been charged the wrong tax.

 

[kpinthebay]

Maybe new tax rates took effect on Jan 1?

 

[COrocket]

This has happened to me twice - in 2018 on a new Model 3 they charged a bit over $200 in extra sales tax. The error was caught at when registering at the local tax collector. After contacting Tesla they ran the numbers admitted fault, and issued a refund check after months of time spent having emails forwarded to every department at Tesla trying to figure out what the issue is.

Fast forward to this year purchasing our second Tesla, we look over the state/county/city sales tax numbers that are supposed to be charged and they do not match the number on Teslas paperwork, again by over $200. When this error was brought to the attention of the sales manager, they claimed that the paperwork process is “all automated” and they don’t have the authority to change the numbers and we were left with a take it or leave it scenario. We even asked for a detailed breakdown of the sales tax being paid and the manager was unable to do so, and by that point was apparent that no body working that day had a functioning knowledge of how the numbers on MVPAs work. Pretty unbelievable. Now we are going through the same process all over again.

So in summary there are errors in Teslas sales tax collection computer system that have existed for 4+ years uncorrected and nobody at Tesla seems to care about fixing them. So yes, I would encourage anyone buying a Tesla to go over their contract very carefully and demand a refund if the sales tax numbers are not correct.

 

[mtmra70]

The perks of Michigan.....6% sales tax on the sale....done

 

[The Other Dan]

Lol, I just got a 50c refund from tesla due to overpayment of registration fees submitted 4 mos ago.

 

[alset3000]

I received a check for $135 yesterday from Tesla with excess dmv fees in the memo line. No other explanation included. I guess the accounting bots are hard at work.

 

[diggydan]

My MVPA has incorrect registration/transfer/titling fees. I can't figure out how to get Tesla to fix it. Though one guy I spoke with asserted the fee was correct, and my misunderstanding was that some of the fee was going direct to Tesla.

That would be consistent with the asterisk next to the government fee line - "*Seller may retain or receive part of the amounts paid to others."

Shady, though - if they are charging me a doc fee, why not just list it?

 

[BigNick]

Lol, I just got a 50c refund from tesla due to overpayment of registration fees submitted 4 mos ago.

I once got a refund check from a credit card company for ten cents. I never cashed it, intending to frame it as a joke but lost it about a decade ago.

It literally cost them more to mail it than the check was worth. Even the IRS won't make you pay or send a refund check for amounts under $1.00 these days.

 

[Clover]

I once got a refund check from a credit card company for ten cents. I never cashed it, intending to frame it as a joke but lost it about a decade ago.

It literally cost them more to mail it than the check was worth. Even the IRS won't make you pay or send a refund check for amounts under $1.00 these days.

We once had to send at least a half dozen copies of a $0.14 check to a company who kept not cashing it. I'm sure they did not think it was worth their time, but we had to keep sending new copies and accounting for the uncashed check/ open payable in the monthly close. I think they just overpaid a bit but don't remember any longer. I remember thinking how dumb it all was. Accountant's time each month, Controller or CFO signing the checks, clerk stuffing and mailing the checks, etc. In fact, if a company ever pisses you off, sending them a small amount and never cashing the refund would be a good way to make them jump through hoops for you.