On 3/2/04 10:52 AM, in article ,
"Rob Thomas" wrote:

I'm curious if anyone has ever done this:

Purchase a used aircraft in California (my state of residency) and have it
delivered by the dealer to Oregon. There it will stay for 91 days and be
flown on occasion, then brought back down into California.

My real question here is "if I buy the aircraft in California and have it
delivered to Oregon, in what state does my ownership begin?" The tax law is
clear that as soon as I bring the aircraft into California, then I may be
subject to use tax. So, is it my aircraft when I make the purchase in
California, or when I receive the aircraft in Oregon?

r.



I bought an aircraft about a year and a half ago. I live in Eureka, so
keeping it in Oregon was easy. I was successful in obtaining a sales tax
waiver. There is really no need to go to a professional; all you need to do
is keep records. There are some things I kept in mind:

* Do NOT go for the straight 90-day exemption. Go for the 90-days-out-of-180
exemption, and stay out for 120 days to cover all bases. This prevents the
tax board from disqualifying you because of some single day on a whim. If
you apply for the straight exemption, the tax board will examine your log
books and say, "We think you *overflew* California during this here flight.
Sorry."

* Keep PERFECT records of where the aircraft was located on EVERY DAY for
six months following the purchase, and actually keep the airplane out of
state. Make sure people see your airplane there too. The tax board
telephoned every airport at which I claimed to keep the airplane for more
than a single night to confirm that I actually had kept the airplane there.

* I believe that a CA resident cannot purchase an aircraft currently
registered inside the state and be exempt here. I phoned the tax board to
ask about this one, but I forget the exact response. But I do remember
throwing out consideration of California-based airplanes after that
conversation.

* Go on a nice coast-to-coast cross country trip during the exemption
period. You don't get the exemption if you don't make significant
out-of-state use of the airplane.

* After the 120 days is up, apply for the exemption before the tax board has
a chance to send you a tax return.

Good Luck!