Thread: $1 + OVC
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  #6  
Old January 22nd 04, 02:40 AM
rip
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There's an easy fix for your conundrum. When the taxman starts to argue,
send him a photo of the object in question, and suggest that he come and
get it, with a check for his valuation in hand. This has worked for me
100% over the past 30 years.

Rip

Kathy wrote:
The seller of the first plane we bought gave me a bill of sale for $1 and
OVC. He was an old hand and I'd never done this before, so I figured it
must be customary, like it is with home purchasing. The state tax guy set me
straight. He billed me sales tax based on the "estimated value." The plane
wouldn't have cost *that* much if it had been sparkling perfect with a new
engine and top-of-the-line avionics. And it wasn't. So I had to go back to
the seller and ask for a corrected bill of sale.

When I presented that to state franchise tax board, the guy compared his
very high estimate to the now-correct bill of sale and concluded that I must
be lying about the price. We argued for months before suddenly he quit and
was replaced with a more reasonable fellow. He accepted the bill of sale as
correct and taxed us $1500 less than his predecessor had demanded. Now I ask
for a dollar-value bill of sale to keep the tax folks from even starting to
guess at the value.

Kathy