Buying a Car in Florida When You Live in Another State

What Florida collects from a buyer who lives somewhere else

A lot of the cars we sell leave Florida. The buyer flies in, or the car goes out on a transporter, and the plate that ends up on it is from another state. The tax question comes up on every one of those sales, and the answer is set by Florida law, not by the dealer.

The rule is s. 212.08(10) of the Florida Statutes. When a car is sold in Florida to a resident of another state, Florida collects an amount equal to the sales tax the buyer's home state would have charged on the same sale, and never more than Florida's own 6 percent. The Department of Revenue publishes the rate of every state each year in a Tax Information Publication. The current one is TIP 26A01-01, issued 11 February 2026.

This article covers the conditions, the states that need a second look, the export exemption, trade-ins and temporary tags. It is one part of our guide to Florida tax, tag and title for exotic cars, which covers the Florida resident side as well.

The DR-123 partial exemption and its two conditions

Florida calls this the partial exemption for a motor vehicle sold to a resident of another state. The form that claims it is Form DR-123, revision 01/21, an affidavit naming the buyer, the seller, the car, the sales price, any trade-in allowance and the Florida tax paid. Both conditions sit at the moment of sale.

1. The form is signed in front of a notary at the time of sale. The statute says the purchaser executes a notarized statement at the time of the sale. TIP 26A01-01 says the same: completed at the time of sale and given to the selling dealer. It cannot be done later.
2. The car is registered in your home state within 45 days. The affidavit is a sworn statement of intent to license the car at home within 45 days of the date of purchase.

Three consequences follow from the wording.

• No county surtax. The surtax follows the address on a Florida registration or title, and there is none. Both worked examples in GT-800030 end the same way: no discretionary sales surtax is due.
• The car does not have to leave Florida. The statute says nothing in the subsection requires removal of the vehicle from the state, as long as it is licensed at home within 45 days. A car that goes into storage here after the sale is fine.
• Without the form, the full 6 percent is due. The TIP lists two cases where Florida must collect its full rate: the buyer did not complete a DR-123 at the time of sale, or the home state rate is 6 percent or higher.

Buying through a company changes one thing. A nonresident corporation or partnership loses the exemption when an officer, a 10 percent stockholder or a 10 percent partner is a Florida resident, unless the car leaves Florida within 45 days and stays out for at least 180 days.

Read the state chart before you sign

The chart in TIP 26A01-01 lists every state's rate, whether Florida allows a credit for tax paid there, and a few notes. It leaves out every local tax, and the Department says the chart should not be used to determine tax due to another state. Three groups of states need a second look.

States listed as None

Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon and South Dakota show no state sales tax on a motor vehicle. With a signed DR-123, Florida collects nothing. That is not the end of the tax, because most of those states charge something else when you register: a highway use tax in North Carolina, a title ad valorem tax in Georgia, an excise tax in Maryland and North Dakota. The DR-123 has you initial a line saying you understand you may owe tax to your home state.

Three states give no credit

Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia impose a sales tax on motor vehicles and do not allow a credit for tax paid to Florida. A buyer from one of those states pays Florida at the sale and the home state again at registration. The TIP tells buyers to check with their own tax authority first.

Caps and tiers

• South Carolina is 5 percent, not to exceed $500. On any car priced over $10,000, Florida collects $500.
• Virginia is 4.15 percent with a $75 minimum.
• Connecticut is 6.35 percent on a sales price of $50,000 or less and 7.75 percent above it. Both are over 6, so Florida collects 6 percent either way.
• Mississippi is 5 percent on cars. It is also one of the three no-credit states, so the 5 percent paid here is not credited at home.
• Texas is 6.25 percent, which is capped to 6. So is every other state at 6 or above.

Everything else is an ordinary rate below 6, such as New York at 4 percent or Ohio at 5.75, and that rate is what Florida collects on your sale.

Four buyers, one $100,000 car

The same car, sold here for $100,000 with no trade-in, to four buyers who each sign a DR-123 at the sale and register at home within 45 days. The $695 title, tag and docs line is on every purchase here, in Florida or out, and it is not taxed.

Each of those buyers still settles with their own state at registration. The North Carolina buyer paid Florida nothing and pays the highway use tax at home. The Texas buyer paid the full 6 percent here and may owe Texas the difference. None of that home state arithmetic is on a Florida form, and we do not compute it.

The full exemption is a different thing

Florida also has a full exemption, and buyers mix the two up. GT-800030 lists the sales that are exempt outright. Two of them matter here: the dealer delivers the car to the purchaser outside Florida, or the dealer delivers it to a common carrier, licensed exporter or freight forwarder for shipment outside Florida. On those sales no Florida sales tax is due at all, and no DR-123 is needed.

The test is who moves the car. Section 212.06(5) says every retail sale made to a person physically present at the time of sale is presumed to have been delivered in this state. Fly in, sign and drive out, and the sale is taxable in Florida. A hauler you hire yourself is not the dealer delivering to a common carrier. If you want the export route, say so before the paperwork is drawn up.

Buyers from other countries and United States territories

The partial exemption is written for a resident of another state. Section 212.08(10)(a) uses those words, and the DR-123 asks for a state of residence. A buyer who lives abroad, or in a United States territory, and takes delivery in Florida pays the full 6 percent on the sales price. Only the export route above can apply instead, and only when the dealer does the delivering.

Trade-ins follow your home state's rule

In Florida a trade-in taken in the same transaction comes off the taxable price, and the DR-123 has a line for it. The catch is the statute's own measure. Florida collects the tax your home state would have imposed, so where your state gives no trade-in credit, there is none to pass through.

• Virginia defines the sale price for its motor vehicle sales and use tax as the total price paid without any allowance or deduction for trade-ins. A Virginia buyer trading a car in here gets no reduction.
• Ohio reduces the taxable price by the trade-in credit only on the sale of a new motor vehicle by a new motor vehicle dealer. On a used car the trade-in does not reduce the price.

Most states do allow the credit. The Department's own worked example in TIP 26A01-01, an Alabama buyer with a trade-in, takes the trade-in off before applying the 2 percent. If you are counting on a trade-in to lower the Florida tax, check your own state's rule first. Our calculator subtracts the trade-in for every buyer and does not model each state, so a nonresident figure with a trade-in can come out low.

Temporary tags and the drive home

A Florida temporary tag can be issued when a car is sold here to a resident of another state for registration there. Section 320.131 sets the fee for the tag itself at $2 each. An agent of the department adds the service charge authorized by s. 320.04 per transaction, so the all-in figure depends on who issues the tag. A temporary tag is valid for 30 days unless the statute says otherwise for a specific case. The 45 day clock for registering at home runs from the date of sale, not from the tag.

What AutoVault does at the sale

We sell in North Miami and deliver anywhere in the country. For a buyer from another state the sequence is fixed. The DR-123 is completed and signed in front of a notary at the sale, with the sales price, any trade-in allowance and the Florida tax paid written on it. Florida tax is collected at your home state rate, capped at 6 percent, with no surtax. You register the car at home within 45 days, and the car does not have to leave Florida in the meantime. The $695 title, tag and docs line applies to every purchase here, and it is not taxed.

Our terms say the rest: out-of-state buyers are responsible for registering the vehicle in their state of residence and for any tax, title and registration requirements there. None of this is tax advice. The figures come from the documents listed at the end, and your signed purchase agreement settles the final number.

Run your own number

Put the price into the Florida tax, tag and title calculator, pick "I live in another state" and choose your state. It applies your state's rate from TIP 26A01-01, caps it at 6 percent, drops the surtax and adds the $695 title, tag and docs line, so you see the Florida side of the deal before you fly in. Then pick the car from our current inventory, and we put the tax, tag and title figures in writing before you sign.