Motor Vehicle Tax Guidebook 2011 - Texas Comptroller of Public ...

Bond Requirements
• State Law
• Amounts
• Record
State Law
A person elected or appointed county TAC must give
bonds to the state and to the county, conditioned on
the faithful performance of duties.
The county TAC is bound to account for and remit the
state monies collected, less commissions, or the bond
surety must pay it for the county TAC. See Boggs v.
State, 46 Tex. 10 (1876). Either the county TAC or the
bonded surety must replace all missing state funds.
For the state taxes, the bond must be written for the
TAC’s term of office and payable to the Texas Governor
(and successors in office).
To be effective, the county commissioner’s court
and the Comptroller must approve the bond. The
Comptroller may require a new bond for state taxes
at any time.
Amounts
The bond amount must be equal to 5 percent of the
net state collections from motor vehicle taxes and
motor vehicle registration fees in the county during
the year ending Aug. 31 preceding the date bond is
given. The bond may not be less than $2,500 or more
than $100,000.
The total amount of state bonds required of a county
TAC at any time may not exceed $100,000.
Record
The county TAC must file an official oath and bonds
for state and county taxes in the county clerk’s office.
The county judge is required to submit the original
bond for state taxes to the Comptroller who will retain
possession of the bond.
Collection Procedures
• Collection Due Dates
• Payments by Purchasers and Dealers
• Dishonored Checks
• Title Application Receipt
• Reporting Due Dates
• Earned Interest
Collection Due Dates
Purchasers and dealers are to remit motor vehicle sales
tax within 20 county working days of purchase. Use tax
is due within 20 county working days from the date a
motor vehicle purchased outside Texas is brought into
Texas. Active-duty military personnel have 60 county
working days from the date of the Texas purchase date
or first use in Texas.
The even exchange tax and the gift tax are due at time
of title transfer.
The state will not hold a purchaser who properly paid
the tax to the selling dealer liable for any tax due if
the dealer failed to transfer title and submit the tax.
The purchaser, however, must provide acceptable
documentation that the purchaser paid the tax to the
dealer. Acceptable documentation includes a dealer’s
invoice or sales contract that itemizes the tax paid to
the dealer.
The county TAC may collect a tax payment before
a vehicle is transferred so any penalties may be avoided.
In rare cases when a vehicle transfer is delayed, a person
may request to pay the motor vehicle tax to avoid the
late payment penalty. If the county TAC is agreeable,
the person may pay the tax and the county TAC
issues a manual receipt since the transfer is not entered
into RTS.
Payments by Purchasers and Dealers
A county TAC may accept money orders, cash,
cashier’s checks and certified checks as valid methods
of payment of motor vehicle tax.
V-2 Motor Vehicle Tax Guidebook