Buying a car in Florida from out of state: tax, DR-123, delivery

If you live in another state and buy a car from a Florida dealer, you pay Florida sales tax, but usually at your home state's rate rather than Florida's 6%, provided you sign a notarized Form DR-123 at the time of sale and register the car at home within 45 days. If the dealer delivers the car to you outside Florida, no Florida tax is due, though your home state may still tax you. Here is how buying a car in Florida from out of state works, step by step.

Florida charges out-of-state buyers at their home-state rate

Under DOR's GT-800030 and TIP 26A01-01, a resident of another state whose sales tax rate is below 6% pays Florida tax at that lower rate when three things are true:

• You take possession of the car in Florida.
• You give the dealer a completed, notarized Form DR-123 at the time of sale.
• You license the car in your home state within 45 days.

DR-123 is signed at the sale, and notarized

Form DR-123 is the document in which you state to Florida that you are a nonresident buyer who will register the car in your own state. It has to be completed and notarized when the sale happens. If it is not completed at the time of sale, the full 6% applies (TIP 26A01-01). Plan on signing it the day you buy, not afterwards.

If your state's rate is 6% or more

If your home state charges 6% or more, Florida collects its full 6%. DOR's examples make the difference concrete: an Alabama resident (2%) buying a $50,000 car with a $17,000 trade-in owes $660 with DR-123 and $1,980 without it. A Tennessee resident (7%) owes $1,980 either way.

DOR's state table

TIP 26A01-01 includes a table of every state. Some entries: New York 4%, New Jersey 6.625%, Texas 6.25%, Colorado 2.9%, Alabama 2%. Georgia is listed as having no sales tax on titled motor vehicles (it uses TAVT). Delaware, Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, Alaska and North Carolina are listed with no state sales tax on the vehicle. Read the table for what Florida will collect from you; DOR says it should not be used to determine tax due to another state.

Buying through a company

A corporation or partnership with a Florida-resident officer or an owner holding 10% or more generally cannot use the partial exemption, unless the vehicle leaves Florida within 45 days and stays out for at least 180 days (TIP 26A01-01).

Delivery outside Florida: exempt, with the dealer's paperwork

A sale is exempt from Florida sales tax when the dealer delivers the vehicle to the purchaser outside Florida, or to a common carrier, licensed exporter or freight forwarder for shipment out of state. The dealer keeps the documentation for the exemption (GT-800030). Exempt from Florida tax is not the same as tax-free: see the next section.

Your home state may tax you too

Your state may charge its own tax when you register the car. Whether it credits what you paid in Florida depends on the state: the TIP names Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia as states that do not credit tax paid to Florida. Check your state's rule before you buy. If the car is delivered to you and no Florida tax was paid, there is nothing to credit and your state's rule decides what you owe. Rules change; check the official source or ask a tax adviser.

Your license is fine in Florida

You do not need a Florida license to drive here: nonresidents aged 16 and over with a valid license from their home state or country may drive in Florida without a Florida license (Fla. Stat. 322.04).

If you register in Florida instead

Buyers with a Florida address pay Florida's fees: title transfer $75.25 for a car with a Florida title or $85.25 for an out-of-state title, $2 to record a lien, $225 initial registration when there is no Florida plate to transfer, $28 for a new plate, $4.50 to transfer a plate (FLHSMV fees, checked Oct 18 2026). Out-of-state buyers pay their own state's title and registration fees instead.

Xuma delivers anywhere in the U.S.

Xuma Auto sells from Miami and delivers anywhere in the U.S.; every car is checked by our own mechanic and inspectors and comes with its documents. See the cars for sale. If the car you want is not in stock, sourcing finds it and you approve each car before anything is bought. For a DR-123 question, delivery to your state, or help arranging financing, ask us.