Tax on shipped vehicles?

Megan,
From all the research I have done, the tax on a non-US vehicle is 3.5% of the bill of sale. Somewhere I read it was taxed on the book value of the car, however I am pretty sure it is on the bill of sale.

~S

When I brought my English car to STX 3 weeks ago, they taxed me 3.5% of the book value. We were able to haggle a little about the value however.

A Canadian car would be 6%. The United States and Canada have a trade agreenent where they don't tax each other on cars. The Virgin Islands and Canada do not.
When the United States purchased the then Danish West Indies from Denmark, the ageement was that all import taxes be taxed at 6%. Since foreign cars coming into the US are taxed 2.5%, you are taxed the difference here(Canadian cars are not considered foreign, in this case, for the previously mentioned reason).
This is why we are referred to as a duty free port, because here you have items that are taxed stateside like perfume and jewelry at a higher rate like 30%, and only taxed here at 6%. Unfortunately the Canadian cars are the only ones that come up short in this case. They will use a blue book to determine the amount to be taxed unless you have documents to prove otherwise.
Ronnie

Wow, Ronnie, that's a great explanation!

The tax on our Kia was 3.5% as well. That was a year ago this month......and I'm not ready to move back yet.

Rita