Please give me the gift of how to gift a car.
September 22, 2024 2:57 PM Subscribe
I want to gift a car to my adult daughter. Too much information has me confused.
I live in Pennsylvania. I want to gift my beloved 20-year-old Prius to my also-beloved adult daughter who lives in Virginia. I want that to happen some time next week when she is visiting here in PA all week long. But this is one of those things where there is so much info on the internets, it's leaving me confused. As I think it should go: 1)She arranges for VA insurance 2)We grab the title and fill out that we're transferring it to her, marking 'Gift' in the sale price. 3) She goes back to VA and registers it. But all sorts of other things are being hinted at. Do we have to go do this in person at a transfer/tags place, or at AAA? Do we have to create a Bill of Sale? Do we have to fill out an Affidavit of Gift? If so, here, there, on the moon? She absolutely needs to leave here a week from Monday with the car. Soooooo ... is there anyone out there with experience in this matter? Anyone who has worked transferring car titles? Anyone who is a Wizard? Your assistance is much appreciated as we're also planning a wedding (not her's; her sister's) and the week is as hectic as you can imagine. I hereby toss you a 'You guys rock,' ahead of time. Thanks.
I live in Pennsylvania. I want to gift my beloved 20-year-old Prius to my also-beloved adult daughter who lives in Virginia. I want that to happen some time next week when she is visiting here in PA all week long. But this is one of those things where there is so much info on the internets, it's leaving me confused. As I think it should go: 1)She arranges for VA insurance 2)We grab the title and fill out that we're transferring it to her, marking 'Gift' in the sale price. 3) She goes back to VA and registers it. But all sorts of other things are being hinted at. Do we have to go do this in person at a transfer/tags place, or at AAA? Do we have to create a Bill of Sale? Do we have to fill out an Affidavit of Gift? If so, here, there, on the moon? She absolutely needs to leave here a week from Monday with the car. Soooooo ... is there anyone out there with experience in this matter? Anyone who has worked transferring car titles? Anyone who is a Wizard? Your assistance is much appreciated as we're also planning a wedding (not her's; her sister's) and the week is as hectic as you can imagine. I hereby toss you a 'You guys rock,' ahead of time. Thanks.
I can’t contribute to the title aspect of things but it may be helpful to know that the fair market value of a 2004 Prius is likely significantly below the gift exemption of $18,000 and in that case, you won’t have to pay gift tax on it.
posted by donut_princess at 5:38 PM on September 22 [1 favorite]
posted by donut_princess at 5:38 PM on September 22 [1 favorite]
it may be helpful to know that the fair market value of a 2004 Prius is likely significantly below the gift exemption of $18,000 and in that case, you won’t have to pay gift tax on it
$18K is the reporting threshold, not the taxation threshold, which is far higher.
posted by praemunire at 5:55 PM on September 22 [2 favorites]
$18K is the reporting threshold, not the taxation threshold, which is far higher.
posted by praemunire at 5:55 PM on September 22 [2 favorites]
Assuming you originally financed the car, do you have either a copy of the title that no longer lists the bank (or other lending institution) as lienholder, or the lien release letter that the lender would have sent you upon receiving the final payment? If not, that can take some time to obtain, so that would be good to start pursuing now.
posted by staggernation at 6:16 AM on September 23 [1 favorite]
posted by staggernation at 6:16 AM on September 23 [1 favorite]
FYI if you use AAA it IS a legal and authorized title transfer place. They have daily couriers to Harrisburg with the paperwork, though most is probably electronic now. I just did this in PA, without the out-of-state transfer issue. They asked verbally for the amount we sold the car for, and did not request any sort of bill of sale - this was done to assess how much sales tax to charge the buyer. Not sure about tax on a gift, but if you call AAA I'm sure they can answer your question, and I suspect you would be exempt from sales tax. I think both parties have to do this in person, as there is paperwork to sign. I think the AAA person was a notary, but not positive on that.
I seriously doubt any title place in PA can issue a VA tag, and she will have to do this as the car's owner in VA. She may have to get a new PA plate, too. The person who bought our car actually had a plate from her old car, which died, but was not allowed to use it. They issued her a new plate on the spot. Our AAA (South Philly) required a reservation, and the process took about a half hour.
posted by citygirl at 2:29 PM on September 24
I seriously doubt any title place in PA can issue a VA tag, and she will have to do this as the car's owner in VA. She may have to get a new PA plate, too. The person who bought our car actually had a plate from her old car, which died, but was not allowed to use it. They issued her a new plate on the spot. Our AAA (South Philly) required a reservation, and the process took about a half hour.
posted by citygirl at 2:29 PM on September 24
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Since the car won't be registered under her name yet when she drives it back, you should keep the Pennsylvania plates on it and leave your registration in it. For that trip, if she gets pulled over, she doesn't own the car, she's borrowing it. She can say she owns it once she has the Virginia title and registration for it.
posted by Redstart at 3:50 PM on September 22 [3 favorites]