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Samael13 t1_jaela70 wrote

I am not a lawyer, but, according to the Mass.gov website, transfers to family are only exempt from paying sales tax if the original owner paid MA sales tax on the vehicle.

https://www.mass.gov/guides/motor-vehicle-and-trailer-sales-and-use-tax

Under exemptions:

>Family transfer (Form MVU-26) – As long as the transferor paid any Massachusetts sales or use tax before, casually selling or transferring a motor vehicle or trailer to a:
>
>*Parent

*Spouse

*Child, or

*Sibling

Is exempt from the tax. A vehicle owned jointly by a married couple may be treated as owned by either.

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Shrinking_Violette OP t1_jaemebn wrote

That makes sense reading it from that webpage, but then on the actual gifting page it says,

“The person transferring the vehicle must have met the tax laws of the state they registered it.”

https://www.mass.gov/service-details/familygift-transfers

So if they paid tax in their state (NH=$0) doesn’t that statement conflict with what you posted above? Is it not bizarre that on the actual gifting page it doesn’t mention anything about the previous tax in MA?

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Samael13 t1_jaeod8y wrote

I mean, like I said, I'm not a lawyer, but the gift form also states:

>An exemption from the sales or use tax for a motor vehicle transferred as a gift is provided for in the Massachusetts regulations and statutes. In order to be exempt from the sales and use tax, you must meet the requirements of the law and complete the affidavit above. You must fill in all blanks and print or type your entries, except at the end of the affidavit where your signatures
are required.

​

My non-lawyer interpretation would be that two things must be true: the person gifting the car must have met the laws of the state they registered it in *and* the gift must also meet the exemption requirements set out in the MA regulations and statues.

This is likely a question that needs an actual lawyer to answer, unfortunately.

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