If you buy a car in MA and live in NH do you pay tax?

Answer 1

Yes, regardless of where you live, if you purchase a car in MA you must pay the 6.25 percent sales tax in MA within 10 days if you're going to register in MA or within 20 days if you're going to register it anywhere else. Use MA DOR Form ST-7R Motor Vehicle Certificate of Payment of Sales or Use Tax.

Others have said:

I have purchased cars in other states and registered them to my "home" state thus avoiding taxes. It all depends where the car is being registered for the amount of taxes paid.

However, this procedure would be completely illegal for anyone purchasing a car in MA, unless it was purchased from a family member and thus exempt from the MA tax.

Answer 2

NO! There is ABSOLUTELY NO SALES TAX in the the state of NH! Ergo, if you buy a car in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, or any other state, as long as you are: A PERMANENT resident of New Hampshire; or have dual residency via ownership of a second home in NH where you legitimately spend at least 50% of your time. I would advise you to look up the current law statute and requirements on that one as 50% may no longer be the accurate duration to claim a second residency. Although it is very difficult to prove if you have utilities, insurance, etc., providing proof of your potentially longer than 50% time spent in the good ol' granite state. You WILL be REGISTERING the vehicle in NH. Why wouldn't you if you live here? DO NOT listen to people who clearly haven't lived here for 50+ years and purchased dozens of new, used, certified pre-owned etc from dealerships and private sale. Folks, I have bought vehicles from nearly every state in the US, and really, truly, NEVER paid a dime in tax to the respective state of my out-of-state purchase including- in fact- ESPECIALLY The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

But if you are still unsure, this information is available on the state of NH DMV website (link to specific page with information directly answering this question provided below, as well as 1 example of a reputable car dealerships' website- Acton Toyota, specifically addresses this question with detail. Here's the link: (Ok apparently that's not allowed)

NH DMV link not permitted. I apologize for referencing these websites, but only finding out upon submitting my answer, that URL are not allowed. Which is where I am really concerned about the credibility of this website considering one cannot site links as references- especially state government links.

And I can only post ONE screenshot as I just discovered as well. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that this is not a good option for answering questions with factual based responses. Ergo not a reliable source for information. I'll keep this in mind for the next time I get an email asking if I can answer a question for this site.

Just the same:

Thank you very much for reading, I really hope this helps you decipher the BS claims made by the "rated best answer" on this website. I find it very unfortunate that a trusted resource has such blatant disregard for the accuracy and TRUTH of the answer to a very common question. At least it is very common here in NH- we are bordering states, we share a lot of commerce, employment, and reciprocal tourism, travel, families and friends. Yet a question of whether or not a NH resident buying a car- a major purchase- is subject to 6.5% taxation for simply buying the car from Massachusetts, when it's not going to be registered year after year in the state of Massachusetts, the majority of the gas/fuel will not be purchased in the state of Massachusetts, and really, why would a NH resident buying a car from Massachusetts have to pay Massachusetts taxes when they wouldn't have to pay any other state's taxes if purchased in that state. LIVE FREE OR DIE!