Not charged tax! | Imamother

amother

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:00 pm

My husband and I needed a car and due to the fact that a family member of his sells car we decided to get one from him. The dealership is in a different state than where we live. You do not pay taxes on the purchase of the car until you go to register the car in the state you live in. When I was talking to my DH I asked how much the tax of the car came out to and we realized the DMV never charged him! He should of been charged at least 1500 in taxes but I guess it was an oversite. Now I feel guilty. On one hand we could use the money and it was a total oversite on the DMV side. If I was not so OCD I do not think anyone would realize you are charged taxes at the DMV. On the other hand I want to be an honest person. Do I send a check to Obama or see this as a small miracle to help save us money? Advice please.

MaBelleVie

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:13 pm

What I learned:

You are not required to pay at this point.

You are not allowed to pay at this point, either, unless it will lead to kiddush Hashem. So don't send in an anonymous check or anything of the sort. If you really want to pay, send in your obviously Jewish husband and make it clear that you are rectifying their error, as religious Jews bla bla.

amother

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:23 pm

OP here
You say you learned that we do not have to pay at this point. Where did you learn this from? Is there a jewish idea regarding not having to go back once the mistake was made? I guess we could claim it on our taxes and pay it then so it is not too late. I understand the kiddush hashem aspect but this is a lot of money!

MaBelleVie

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:42 pm

Money that a non-Jew neglected to collect is not required to be paid. If you went to the supermarket and they forgot to charge you for the milk, so long as no Jews are losing out, you don't owe them a dime.

A Jew is not allowed to return a lost item to a non-Jew. The only exception is if a kiddush Hashem will result from his actions. So, you find a wallet on the street. The wallet has this guy's membership card to Holy Cross Church, so you know he's not Jewish. You are not allowed to drop it off anonymously in his mailbox. You are allowed to knock on his door, explain that you found his wallet, and as an honest Jew, wanted to return it to him.

Again, I'm sharing what I learned just to give you background. Your situation is one that really requires guidance from a rav to determine the best response in your specific scenario.

sequoia

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:48 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

The wallet has this guy's membership card to Holy Cross Church, so you know he's not Jewish.

Oh really?

Would that it were so!

MaBelleVie

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:51 pm

sequoia wrote:

MaBelleVie wrote:

The wallet has this guy's membership card to Holy Cross Church, so you know he's not Jewish.

Oh really?

Would that it were so!

True. But if you have enough reason to believe he's not Jewish- name, church membership, not an overwhelmingly Jewish neighborhood- you are allowed to assume.

amother

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:54 pm

Ok OP here, just a note...not everybody has a Rav on speed dial so I did not want to jump to this first. Is there a source for the whole returning jew/non jew thing. I have to admit I am liking what I am hearing since we are expecting a baby and this could really help. I just do not want to be getting nervous come Yom Kippur.

MaBelleVie

Tue, Aug 16 2011, 10:57 pm

You don't need to call a rav tonight, but you should do so at some point. I would not have posted if I thought you would take my words as practical advice. I really just wanted to provide some background so you know what you are likely to be dealing with. If you want the name and number of a rav you can call, I'm sure we can help you out.

Marion

Wed, Aug 17 2011, 12:48 am

I would definitely send DH back to the DMV. Forget the whole kiddush Hashem business...but if they figure it out at their annual audit they're going to come knocking on your door...and then they'll want the payment you owe them AND interest and some sort of late payment fee too, and they won't care if it was their mistake to begin with.

Monsey Mama

Wed, Aug 17 2011, 1:26 am

Very unlikely DMV forgot to charge. The more likely scenario is the paper work was filled out wrong either inadvertently or otherwise. I don't know if that changes anything; but it is improbable the "mistake" is on the side of the state.

amother

Wed, Aug 17 2011, 7:16 am

I mean it is on the err of the state. When my husband went to go to get the temporary registration which is when they charge the tax they said since he already had plates from his old car on him to skip that step and just go for the emissions and come back that day and get a full time registration. My husband would never try to be sneaky, he did exactly what they said to do. We had a bill of sale from a dealer filled out STAMPED with total amount of car. My husband did not even realize they did not charge the tax till I asked him about it later.

amother

Wed, Aug 17 2011, 7:18 am

In addition, like I said before the DMV probably did not realize on the bill of sale that the purchase was made in another state and therefore the tax was waved. USUALLY you buy a car in your state and pay taxes at the dealership it is only when bringing the car over state lines do the dealership wave taxes and you pay at the DMV.

OOTBubby

Wed, Aug 17 2011, 10:35 am

We were once told by Rav Shimon Eider zt"l that specifically in the case of not being charged sales tax (large amount) in error, we did not need to tell them or pay it.