Ridiculous, unfair taxation

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VetteCoins
4,422
Car
1986 Corvette
Province
QC
I am writing this in abject disgust and resentment that governments (Quebec and Ontario) have a system in place that unfairly charges tax on vehicular sales pertaining to those over 25 years of age. I have just sold my 86 Vette, and the purchaser was obliged to have the car evaluated before getting it plated. The reason...so the government could collect more tax dollars(9.975%) on the sale of the car. This car was sold probably 4 times since it was new, and each time the government collected on it. As these vehicles over 25 years are no longer "on-the-books", one was able to pay far less, as both parties would set an agreed price before going to the DMV. Although not "ethical" at least the government would collect something. Now they collect far more than what the car was purchased for new! For example, a 1963 Corvette, around $6000 new, now sells for $60000. Well, they now collect provincially and federally in spades, for no other reason than a money grab.
Now comes the next best part. A vehicle inspection in Ontario, even though it was done recently, is not valid or recognized in Quebec, and vise versa. So now another money grab ($85.00 approx) takes place. So, here I am, a guy in Montreal, who locates a nice Vette in the Ottawa area, decides to go check it out with a good chance of purchasing it. I checked with Service Ontario as to how to get this car back to Quebec. He "thinks" I need a Quebec temporary permit to be able to bring it home. Well, the Quebec (SAAQ) counterpart says no. I will need to have a transit permit issued by Ontario, pay all taxes pertaining to an Ontario automobile purchase, based on an evaluation. Then, I have to arrange for a Quebec Motor Vehicle Inspection, then go purchase my license plate, whereby I must pay (again)the taxes based on the evaluation. No one said if I can apply for a refund of the Ontario taxes, as I am not a resident of Ontario. At the same time...all this must be done by appointment only, as we are obviously in the middle of Covid19. So I probably would be able to finally drive this car somewhere before the end of October, just in time to put it away for the winter. Needless to say, I had to beg off this purchase.
This crap has been quietly slipped past us as a means of extra taxation. Anyone who dabbles in collectable, vintage, special interest cars will be unfairly bilked by this regulation. Any company that specializes in vintage replacement parts, performance parts, specialty restoration shops, manufacturing unique auto parts, all will be affected by this, as many people in the old car hobby will be afraid to get involved, as it will be harder to obtain or sell a vintage or collector vehicle. Revenues in the aftermarket auto industry will fall if people will be "nickled and dimed" out of the market by the very same governments that glean millions of dollars of income out of this sector of the auto industry annually.
So in closing, I ask all of you fellow car buffs (and nuts) to figure out as to how to create some sort of a protest, a petition of sorts, that we can all sign and embarrass these governments into reversing this nonsense. Perhaps a sliding scale of taxation that reduces based on the year of the vehicle and it's general condition. I'm not opposed to some form of tax, nor to a vehicle inspection, but when you look around, there are some serious rotboxes out there endangering the population, whereas most collector car enthusiasts generally maintain their vehicles far better than the average person. Don't penalize those who enjoy the collector car hobby.
 
I hear ya. Imagine what my mood was when I recently bought my 97 C5 and, after standing in line for 45min at Service Ontario, finding out I could't get plates until the car was appraised first. So, I had to pay for a 10 day temporary permit, an appraisal and tax on whichever was the higher amount from the appraisal or purchase price. Plus the cost of the plates.
 
The unjustifiable fact is that you can buy a brand new house, obviously worth more than the average auto, and rightfully pay all the taxes normally involved in any "new" transaction. Yet, when it is sold repeatedly, you only pay one price, the agreed selling price. The unfair cost (extra) is the "welcoming tax", but let's not get into that! What makes an automobile any different? Let's hear from the rest of the country, what other provinces do this stuff?
 
I feel your pain and can totally understand your anger and frustration.

That's one reason I shied away from buying out-of-province. I had found a couple of nice looking C3's from Ontario, including Ottawa (which is not that big of a deal for driving from Montreal). However, all this bullsh*t with taxation, inspection(s), yatta-yatta turned me completely off. I felt like my pocket was about to be assaulted. Screw that ..

I was patient for a long time, even to the point of becoming totally discouraged that I would never find locally what I was looking for. I was even preparing myself to drive five hours within Quebec if need-be.

And then, BAM! I found it. Picked it up last week-end. Locally, 40 minutes from my home. I guess I was lucky, I don't know. Then again, I've been looking for a looong time. It cost me a bit more than what I had budgeted, but after factoring in all the above-mentioned non-sense, it's really not that severe.

Even though your heart's in the right place about petitions and such, unfortunately it's like pissing in the wind. If the governments can make a buck any way they can, they'll do it. They don't give a rat's ass about double, triple or quadruple taxation and they don't give a damn about our hobbies, your pocket (or mine).

It used to be in Quebec, you'd show up to the SAAQ for buying a car that was not listed in the "book" and you could tell them any purchase price you want. They had no choice but to accept it and tax you accordingly. I know this from personal experience when I sold my older Honda Civic to my brother-in-law. The lady tells me since it's not in our books, mark down that the car was sold for $10. So, I think the tax on the sale was like $1.50 (or something).

Then, they woke up.

Hang in there.
 
The unjustifiable fact is that you can buy a brand new house, obviously worth more than the average auto, and rightfully pay all the taxes normally involved in any "new" transaction. Yet, when it is sold repeatedly, you only pay one price, the agreed selling price. The unfair cost (extra) is the "welcoming tax", but let's not get into that! What makes an automobile any different? Let's hear from the rest of the country, what other provinces do this stuff?
Better keep that to yourself!
All the governments will be looking for "new" taxes so they can spend more of our money.
No wonder they want us to go to cashless transactions. Then there is a record of everything so they get to tax everything.
And no wonder "we the people" want to keep cash so we can hold them back at least a little bit.
 
That whole scenario just seems rediculous and truly unfair. I don’t understand how they can justify taxing a private sale. This is not a business transaction. From what I remember hearing a while ago, you’ll folks down East can’t even gift a vehicle to your child without having to pay this BS tax.
Totally unfair money grab. If you end up starting a petition, and an Alberta boy can sign it, I will be more than happy to, as one earlier post mentioned, “piss in the wind” with you.
 
That whole scenario just seems rediculous and truly unfair. I don’t understand how they can justify taxing a private sale. This is not a business transaction. From what I remember hearing a while ago, you’ll folks down East can’t even gift a vehicle to your child without having to pay this BS tax.
Totally unfair money grab. If you end up starting a petition, and an Alberta boy can sign it, I will be more than happy to, as one earlier post mentioned, “piss in the wind” with you.

pretty sure BC does it. Sold a few cars and a boat going back to BC and they all asked me to “doctor” the bill of sale so they would pay less tax.....which I wanted no part of. Was vehicle shopping there this summer and the tax on a new one is insane.....GST, PST and luxury tax I think came to 23%...... imagine Having to pay that on a 100k car.... over 150K and the luxury tax hits 20%
 
The residents of Quebec and Ontario elected these governments so it must be that the majority of people want to pay more tax. I'm sure glad we are still relatively free here in the mid-western prairies part of the country.
Just wait.....it’s coming....
 
pretty sure BC does it. Sold a few cars and a boat going back to BC and they all asked me to “doctor” the bill of sale so they would pay less tax.....which I wanted no part of. Was vehicle shopping there this summer and the tax on a new one is insane.....GST, PST and luxury tax I think came to 23%...... imagine Having to pay that on a 100k car.... over 150K and the luxury tax hits 20%
You have that right. I don't mind paying for the car - say, a new C8 - yes, probably $100K; but the - - - - - - - taxes really irk me big time and are a deterrent. I am an old dog; so, will probably bite the bullet - maybe? Been thinking about it for quite a while!
 
Yep that describes my first experience buying a used car in Ontario after I got off the boat from the UK. I laughed then cried in disbelief.

And that was back in the day when private sales were only subject to pst and not HST or MVT which dealers lobbied for successfully. I purchased an old beater that had changed hands at least 10 times. That's 10 times the same tax on the same 'goods'. How this is legal or ethical I'm not sure.
 
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remember Quebec and Ontario are different countries

🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
I wish that was true because the rest of Canada subsidizes Quebec: they get the majority of the transfer payments from the Feds mean while boycott AB oil - only in Canada this s**t happens.
 
My c7 is a prime example of wtf taxation.
June '18. Original owner paid tax on 124K.
Sep '18. I pay tax on 100K.
May '20. Next owner paid tax on 80K.

That's a ton of tax from one car in less than 2yrs.
Wait until the Liberals get done putting us further in debt: tax on residence value, tax on capital saved, inheritance tax... tax and more tax. Then, of course , the provinces will add on their own like taxes.
 
Guys..this is an imposed tax that does not favour or reflect political party preference on any side. It is a tax grab period, and it is hurting the collector car world in this country whether you vote Liberal, Conservative, NDP or other. We must make a countrywide stink about this. If anyone knows someone in politics, provincial or federal, speak to them now. Let us not whine and do nothing, which as Canadians we are prone to do! I don't have to pay tax on a second hand refrigerator, why on a second hand car?
 
Guys..this is an imposed tax that does not favour or reflect political party preference on any side. It is a tax grab period, and it is hurting the collector car world in this country whether you vote Liberal, Conservative, NDP or other. We must make a countrywide stink about this. If anyone knows someone in politics, provincial or federal, speak to them now. Let us not whine and do nothing, which as Canadians we are prone to do! I don't have to pay tax on a second hand refrigerator, why on a second hand car?
Big picture - matters to me. Provincially matter - not so much based on political ideology. Bottom line: every province is over spending and are in debt and need to increase revenue. They forget about maybe reducing expenditures like you and I would to balance the budget,. Cars are an easy target - period!!
 
I've not seen too many provinces pushing to rollback taxes and this year will put everyone in deficit so that's not going to happen. Having said that this in no way forgives any province save AB for unethical garnishing. It would be great to put pressure on provinces to stop this practice. Not only are you selling cars at a loss but none of these rules apply to other private sales.

Neat charts of what you pay in each province:

 
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