This week's 'Ask Evan' question is from Kim G. Kim asks, "My husband and I would like to buy a new vehicle here in Oregon where we reside. There is no sales tax in Oregon. Then we would like to gift this vehicle to our daughter who lives in Pennsylvania. She has lived in PA for the last 8 years. What will be involved with title and registration fees?"
I checked with the folks at PennDOT to get your answer. The bottoms line is this. Even though you are donating or gifting the vehicle to your daughter, she will have to pay fees and sales tax no matter how long she's live in Pennsylvania.
The law says the donor of a vehicle purchased out-of-state that is to be given as a 'gift', must provide proof that sales tax was paid in a reciprocal state. First, as you indicate, no sales tax was ever paid. And even if it was, PennDOT says Oregon is not a reciprocal state.
So, when your daughter goes to PennDOT or to a messenger service to get her Pennsylvania title and tags for the car you've given her, she will have to pay six percent state sales tax on the current fair market value of the vehicle. In addition, your daughter will also pay a 53 dollar fee to transfer the title and 38 dollars for annual license and registration.
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