Tax treatment for lease in WA state?

xublet · Nov 23, 2016

Loving the Soul EV. Have a small issue with the lease payment. I just got my first monthly statement and they've added a 9.8% sales/use tax as below:

.

The dealer (Lee Johnson Kia in Kirkland) verified that contract is correct and clearly says sales/use tax is "N/A" and I should speak to Kia Finance to resolve the issue. After three calls, Kia Finance customer service is finally acknowledging the issue. They're saying I'll keep getting Monthly statements with the sales/uses tax added but I should pay only the amount without tax - they'll credit me for the tax each month. And I shouldn't use Autopay since that has to be for the full amount.

CS is also saying that's how they are doing it for all Soul EV buyers in WA state. I find that hard to believe - what's your experience?

Also, do you have "Kia Soul" or "Kia Soul EV" in the Vehicle Description in your monthly statement? My monthly statement has "Kia Soul" in the Vehicle Description, even though the VIN is correct for the EV. That may be the issue?

Any advice on how to get this resolved would be appreciated. I'd much rather set Autopay and not have to worry about accidentally missing a payment.

vanillagorilla · Nov 23, 2016

I'll double check mine but I'm on autopay without tax...

xublet · Nov 24, 2016

Thanks for the info.

BEC · Nov 26, 2016

It doesn't help that the state keeps changing the rules on the sales tax exemption and you might be caught in the middle of that. Something changed in July (I don't recall the specifics now) but I think they were supposed to start charging tax on the price above a certain amount.

We got ours at Kia of Puyallup on September 15th. I just checked my autopay...and we are not getting charged sales tax. Also, ours also shows up as a "Kia Soul" with no note of it being an EV. The dealer wrote our deal up per the prior sales tax ruleset and I just let that go......

vanillagorilla were you in Renton in the morning a few days ago? I saw another blue/white Soul EV on Park and couldn't quite get alongside to honk or anything before we went different directions.

xublet · Nov 26, 2016

Thanks Bernard. Good to know you are able to use autopay and have had no sales/use tax issues.

GizmoEV · Dec 8, 2016

Unfortunately I was caught between the old sales tax exemption law and before the new one started so I'm stuck paying sales tax.

Not only that, my 829lb 3-wheeled Gizmo has to now pay $150 in road tax even though it falls under the motor cycle class of vehicle licensing. This makes my road tax nearly three times what it is for my 2000 Silverado pickup that gets about 12mpg!

Maybe it is a green state because of all the green they like to collect.