Has anyone tried to take advantage of the California law that allows no sales tax if you buy Model X at the end of a lease and sell it within 10 days? With FSD, free supercharging and premium connectivity, my Model X may be worth more than the residual. Seems tricky, but might be worth the effort to save thousands in sales taxes.
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Selling Model X within 10 days after lease to avoid sales tax
- Thread starter doctoxics
- Start date
FUSC stays with the vehicle in a private party sale.
If sold back to Tesla they are free to strip it out before selling again.
If Tesla were allowed to remove the feature in a private party sale then that would mean the original owner should be free to port it over to their next vehicle. That’s not how it works.
I'm not so sure about this anymore. There's specific nomenclature in Telsa's listings referring to FUSC not transferring to any subsequent owner(s) after the original. I think that it should follow the VIN, but who knows what they'll do. It should mention this in the owners account.
Maybe it depends when you bought the car. Mine is good for the life of the vehicle and will transfer to a new owner via private party sale.
Tesla is notorious for changing their terms and conditions and this sounds like another instance of shady business practices on their part.
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
A little off-topic, but when we first got a Model S back in 2014, we had a year left on a lease with our other vehicle. We basically stopped driving the other vehicle because Tesla was so much better, therefore, that vehicle had VERY low mileage at end of lease. The car was worth $7K more than the residual so we worked a deal with the dealer to basically, via paperwork, have me buy the vehicle and then sell it to them. I was expecting to pocket the $7K, however, I didn't account for sales tax. I had to pay tax on the purchase of the residual which was around $3K if I remember correctly. So, I ended-up with $4K instead of $7K.
Yeah, it does depend on when the vehicle was ordered/purchased. If I recall correctly the cut-off date for when transferrable FUSC changed to non-transferrable FUSC was January, 2017.
That's great to know. Basically, market the car a couple months prior to lease expiration and work out a buyout/sale with new buyer.
Yinn
Active Member
Officially yes. But inventory cars existed that we’re still transferable.
Tesla bases “ownership” on the Tesla website. If the vehicle transfers from the leasing company to the lease holder, it’ll still be seen as the same owner to Tesla even if the title and registration may have changed hands if the person leasing the vehicle keeps the same profile on the ownership page.
It is Revenue and Tax Code Section 6277. This is explained in a CDTFA publication with California gives to Motor Vehicle Dealers. It is tricky, but if you do it right you could save thousands in sales tax. But the ten days is firm, and there is a declaration you need to submit, and you cannot use the vehicle for any purpose after the transfer of title and registration. You will want to look at this closely.
Your car needs to be in a specific build date range, and needs to be sold privately, for FUSC to transfer. I know because I had to go down this rabbit hole when I recently sold my Model S. Your car needs to have supercharging code "SC01" for FUSC to be transferable. There aren't a lot of cars in this group, and you can find out the SC code by calling Tesla.