Each week during the 2025 Kansas legislative session, we will provide Johnson County lawmakers the opportunity to share their thoughts about what is happening in the state capitol.
Below is a submission from Republican Rep. Carl Turner who represents Kansas House District 28, covering portions of Leawood and Overland Park.
The Post also published an update this week from Democratic Rep. Jerry Stogsdill and extended an offer to publish an update to Republican Sen. TJ Rose later this week.
The views expressed in each Capitol Update are solely those of the lawmaker.
Good news! You may be able to pay much less sales tax the next time you buy and sell a vehicle. How?
A bill that I sponsored became law on Jan. 1.
This law gives equal sales tax treatment when purchasing a vehicle to replace an old vehicle whether the old one is traded in at the time of purchase or sold via private sale within 120 days.
What doesn’t change is when you purchase a vehicle and trade in a vehicle in the same transaction, sales tax is charged only on the net amount that the value of the new vehicle exceeds the value of the old one.
Take this example as a scenario:Mr Smith buys a 2020 Acura for $30,000 and trades in a 2015 Ford for $10,000. He would owe sales tax on the difference in value of $20,000.
What changed on Jan. 1 is what happens if you choose not to trade in your old vehicle but instead sell it yourself. Prior to the new law, you had to pay sales tax on the full cost of the new vehicle with no allowed reduction for the sale of the old vehicle.
Here’s another example. Mr Smith buys a 2020 Acura for $30,000 but does not trade in his 2015 Ford. Instead, he sells it to his neighbor for $10,000. But Mr. Smith still owed sales taxes on the full $30,000 purchase price of the Acura.
As of Jan. 1, you get equal sales tax treatment when purchasing a vehicle to replace an old vehicle whether the old vehicle is traded in at the time of purchase or sold via private sale within 120 days of the purchase.
In both cases, sales tax is charged on the difference between the value of the new vehicle and value of the old as in the first example. A constituent in my district saved $4,000 when she bought a new car and sold her old car to a friend.
There are two ways to get the deduction. If you’ve already sold the old vehicle when you go to the county treasurer to register the newly purchased vehicle, just take the completed bill of sale with you and pay tax on the difference.
If you haven’t sold the old vehicle by the time you register your newly purchased vehicle, you’ll have to pay sales tax on the full value of the new vehicle and then if the old vehicle is sold within 120 days, you can apply to the Department of Revenue for a refund. You have three years to apply.
Car buying and selling has changed. There are a lot more options available on the private marketplace, including at TrueCar, Vroom, Carvana and We Buy Any Car.com, to name a few.
This new tax law allows Kansans to take full advantage of these options to buy and sell without paying more in sales tax.
For more information, here is a link to the Kansas Department of Revenue’s frequently asked questions page on the matter.
