I recently purchased a Mustang Gt convertible.  My wife and I have been wanting a convertible, and I being who I am wanted something that was fun to drive..   Ok, here is where it gets interesting.  I paid cash for the car. I bought it about 3k under book because there was some moderate damage to the drivers door.....about 800 to repair.  So I jumped on the deal, a low mileage silver GT convertible for a seriously decent price.  I then of course have to license the car in my state so that it is legal to drive.  When you license the car you also pay taxes on the transaction.  This of course puts this libertarian in a cranky mood already, little did I know I was about to get just a tad bit more cranky.  Just a quick question...why do we pay taxes on a car that had taxes paid on it when it was first sold??????  It makes no sense to me...but I am straying...lets get back on it.

So I go in.....provide the notorized bill of sale and the title which was out of state(Idaho).  This is common by the way and does not really affect the situation.   I am then asked how much I paid for the car.  I tell her...and then she types in some numbers and then comes back with.   "Well fair market value is about 3k more."  I said......"cool, I only paid this much so that means I got a good deal!"  I was in a good mood at that point....knowing I just made a decent deal...which I always do by the way, I should do this for a living................but then she dropped the bomb.  "We have to tax you on the fair market value price and not what you paid."  Now I must of looked completely stupid at this point as she had to repeat herself.  Marshall????  well I was standing there looking up at the ceiling trying to figure out how the state could tax me on a transaction and contract that did not exist?????  "But I  did not pay that much for the car."  Of course she came back with the same answer that it didn't matter.  The government knows what I should be paying for the car, so I will be taxed that amount.

Now of course I tried to argue my case, that the car had damage, blah blah blah, to which she agreed with me but said of course that is what I had to pay.  I could of gotten a waiver if I had the seller and myself list all of the reasons why the car was not worth the fair market value price and sign it.   I didnt know the seller from Adam and did not want to drive 2 hours again.  I paid the extra taxes like a good little sheep and moved on.

I live in Washington State.  I don't know how many other states are like this.  I can tell you right now I will be contacting some people I know to try to get this stupid ass law removed.  All this does is hurt the poor.

Don't even get me started on the Discovery Pass........................................