Filing Your State Vehicle Sales Reports

When you get your dealer license most states require you to file some type of sales report that informs the state every time you sell a vehicle. Some states have paper sales reports that will be required complete then mail to your dealer license bureau. More and more states are allowing dealers to report sales directly on their website, or by using special software that uploads each sale automatically from your computer to your state vehicle transaction database. Some states allow both paper reporting and online reporting or your choice of either.

Most states have at least two different kinds of sales reports. Many states have a notice of sale report that you must fill out for every vehicle that you sell on your lot to a resident of your state. This allows your state to estimate the revenue it will receive from the sales tax paid by your customers when they license the vehicles they purchase from you. It also helps your state collect sales tax from your customers is they fail to properly license and title the vehicle you sell them within 30 days.

Another type of sales report is sometimes called a monthly sales report. Many states also require you to file a sales report that shows every sale you have had in a particular month. Your monthly sales report may require you to report every sale that you have had, including every sale on your lot, every out of state sale, and every sale to a customer in another country.

Sales reports are usually simple to complete and if your state requires you to attend a dealer educational seminar before you obtain your dealer license, your instructor will probably show you exactly how to fill out your sales reports.

If you have further questions regarding sales reports, be sure to contact your state dealer license bureau.