TN-status and registering personal vehicle - paying sales tax?

K

ky357830

New Member
Trying to find answers, please help:
I’m Canadian, currently working temporarily in the USA on a TN-status visa. When moving to the US, I drove my personal vehicle across the border, and completed all the necessary import paper.
I got a Florida driver's license and car insurance to cover me while I live in Florida.
I've been told that I need to register my vehicle Florida (license plate), where I now reside under the TN-status (I still have my permanent address in Canada). In order to register my vehicle, Florida requires that I pay the sales tax (7.5%!!) on the vehicle’s current value. Is this correct? This does not seem right to me (my vehicle has been paid in full in 2010). Shouldn’t the TN status (NAFTA free trade) make that sales tax exempt, given that I am taking my vehicle back to Canada when my work is done? I cannot seem to find any information on this. Any help is appreciated.
 
Nothing in NAFTA exempts you or your car from sales tax. Since you have imported the car, it is like any other US vehicle.

That said, the DMV website (did you consult this) states the following:
http://www.flhsmv.gov/dhsmv/newflres.html
"If the motor vehicle was purchased six months or more before being brought into Florida, Florida sales or use tax or local discretionary sales surtax do not apply. You'll need to show proof that you used it for six months or more in another state or jurisdiction."​
That should be too hard for you to comply with.
There will be a separate registration fee.
 
Thank you, this is helpful!
Yes, I was required to import the vehicle at the CAN-US border given that my work stay extends over a year.
Having said that, my car has been bought and paid-in-full (in Canada) since 2010, so well beyond the 6 months you noted. (I'm hoping this applied to vehicles from Canada just the same!). But I've been to the vehicle registration office twice, and explained this to them, and they still tell me that I'll be charged the sales tax... I'll have to go try again at a different office.
 
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