[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
he bought it in CA

He made the check out to the dealer in CA (Sacramento?)

He had it delivered to AZ

the issue came up when he had produced the paperwork for AZ DMV, they didn't match

He did not have a receipt from the name on the title, only from the dealer and there was no reassignment of the title by the dealer

[/ QUOTE ]

I was the Director of Fleet Sales for Brown & Brown Nissan and sold 1000s of cars to autobrokers in the surrounding states. When you are trying to pay minimum tax (as taxes are different state to state) you can have a car transported to the state with the tax advantage and pay the tax there as it is DELIVERED there.

It would depend on how the receipt was written from the dealer. If he showed it as a consignment then he was simply orchastrating the passage of title for the seller. If AZ DMV had a problem with this they would have asked for a bill of sale from the owner of record. It would be up to the DMV offical to make the call. The main thing they would consider is the title and who's name it was in and if it was prpoerly signed off on. My GUESS would be that the buyer complicated things by providing a bill of sale for the car, which is not necessary to transfer the title from private seller to private buyer. Showing a bill of sale written on a dealers invoice WOULD raise a red flag for taxation in this case, but from what you have laid out here it is all "explainable."