Sales Tax in NJ

Shoot, I bought my plane from a dealer in NJ. I flew it home to RI
immediately after the sale. A few months later NJ found me and started
hassling me for the tax. I had to prove that I was not a NJ resident
AND that the airplane was not based in NJ.

On 2 Mar 2007 08:37:27 -0800, wrote:

On Mar 1, 9:38 pm, "Gary" wrote:
On Mar 1, 1:36 pm, wrote:





On Mar 1, 9:11 am, wrote:

On Feb 28, 5:43 pm, wrote: would get a bill from the state of NJ months from now?

At least until a couple of years ago, the "casual" sale of an airplane
was exempt from NJ Sales Tax. Casual being defined as between
individuals with no "dealer" involve. But with the new tax, tax, tax
administration, that may have changed.

Sorry, that's not the case. I had a skylane tied down at Essex, I am a
new york resident and the NJ tax officials tried to get me to pay
sales tax on the plane because it was tied down there and they wanted
to assess me the tax with penalties. How they found me? I guess they
must walk around the airports taking tail numbers. I am a new york
resident and the plane is registered to a delaware corporation. They
couldn't care less, as the NJ law states that they are owed the tax,
even if the plane was registered and owned from an out of state
individual or corporation.
The only way I got out of if it was thru a loophole in their law, that
stated that if the plane was brought to NJ after being in another
state for over 12 months, it would be exempt. I did have in in NY for
the previous 12 months, and had to prove it with cancelled checks for
the tie down in another state which I fortunately had.
If you buy a plane and register in NJ or NY you will owe the tax on
the purchase amount, if you don't pay right away they will assess you
the tax, with penalties and interest.
If you want to avoid the tax, you must register the plane in a
delaware corporation. This cost some money and annual fees. If the
plane is a lower cost plane, I would say $25,000 or less it just might
not be worth the hassle, but as I said earlier, in NJ they don't care
if it's in a delaware corp, they want the tax, unless you are willing
to keep the plane in NY for 12 months first and if it is in a delaware
corp.
Hope this helps, sorry it was so long, but I have been stung.
My last plane was a C150, and I paid the ny tax.
contact the tax officials and they will explain it to you and send you
the forms.
Dave

With all due respect if you don't know the law then don't advise
someone regarding it, especially if you don't live in NJ. The law is
rather clear on aircraft purchased and BASED in NJ. If purchased from
a Dealer, Broker or Commercial operation, such as a Flight School then
Use Tax is due on the purchase price. If the plane was purchased from
a private individual or group of private individuals, such as a
partner ship, then it is classified as a "casual" sale and NO USE TAX
IS DUE. The state of NJ, however will attempt to bully everyone into

One of you is talking sales tax and the other, USE tax. In most states
they are different. USE tax is much like sales tax but for a business.
Sales tax is pretty much self explanatory.

believing that a Use Tax is due and will badger you with registered
letters and threats. Simply supply the sellers name and attest to the
casual nature of the sale and they will eventually stop. Now there
was a study done and Bill proposed, probably at a great expense to the
NJ taxpayers, which recommends the repeal of this statute. seehttp://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/commish/s2210.pdf
The bills sponsor, Senator Bryant, says that the casual sale exemption
gives the private seller an unfair advantage over a Dealer (LOL).
AFAIK this bill has not been signed into Law. If it has then I stand
corrected and all bets are off.

To the original poster. Please don't confuse airplanes, which are
registered on the Federal level with Cars which are registered on the

I can't speak for NJ, but in Michigan airplanes are registered on BOTH
the federal and state level. When you purchase an airplane, car, boat,
what ever, you pay sales tax. You also register the airplane with the
state and we have to renew that registration yearly with a dated
sticker that goes on the tail. If you sell the airplane in state said
purchaser is required to pay sales tax and register the plane in his
or her name. Registration fee is $1 per 100# so a plane that grosses
at 3100 requires a $31 fee.

This year they screwed up getting the registration renewals out so we
have a grace period as to when the stickers have to be on the tail.

State level. If you are indeed buying from a private party then you
don't owe the State of NJ any tax.

NJ actually has something positive about it? :-))


Gary- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Gary,
you sound very knowledgeable and I will stand corrected, I purchased
the Skylane from a dealer, the situation from a private party as you
stated was different.
Dave
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Roger wrote:


Here in RI, the use tax applies to individuals too. If you avoided a
sales tax by buying something out of state or on the internet, you are
supposed to pay a use tax on the item. Aircraft included. Both the use
and sales tax are 7% here. You get credit against the 7% use tax for
taxes paid to another locale if you have documentation proving you paid
the tax.

On Mar 1, 10:36 am, wrote:

How they found me? I guess they
must walk around the airports taking tail numbers. I am a new york
resident and the plane is registered to a delaware corporation. They
couldn't care less, as the NJ law states that they are owed the tax,
even if the plane was registered and owned from an out of state
individual or corporation.

I was tied down overnight at Sacramento Executive airport over new
year's eve (actually in front of a friend's house at Fullertown, not
even the general airport area). I got a letter in the mail demanding I
pay county property taxes on the aircraft. Yes, they do walk around.
In addition, when we ran a small grass airport the state of California
required us by law to report the aircraft based there.

-Robert