ICBC audit for buying under valued vechicle

[heremath676]

Just got a letter from ministry of finance (ICBC) to provide documents to support the lower price i payed than the average market value of motorcycle i recently purchased .They wont count the icbc transfer form as bill of sale where the buyer agreed signed to the price .They want another written BILL OF SALE between seller and me .The guy who sold me the bike had to leave the country immediately and hence gave to me for a good deal .the bike was not running as its been sitting for four years without starting not insured for for 4 years either .but the mileage was very less .i brought as is .the seller is gone i have no way contacting him now as he is not living in Canada anymore.i don't have proof of repairs done as i did service myself mostly basic service,new battery and oil changes and tune up.they want repair receipts only from licenced mechanic .
not sure what to do in this situation.any suggestions

[E90M3]

Show that you've made an attempt to contact the seller multiple times but could NOT reach him due to him leaving the country.

[blkgsr]

provide invoices for parts bought?

remind ICBC that it hasn't been insured in 4 years

[The_AK]

Copy and paste the letter and rewrite it declaring that ICBC salaries are overvalued and you will be required to audit them, MF pricks.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by E90M3

Show that you've made an attempt to contact the seller multiple times but could NOT reach him due to him leaving the country.

Yeah, I'd say this or tell them they're welcome to contact the seller themselves to verify. ICBC should know better that in the majority of private used car sales people consider the transfer form THE bill of sale, it's technically a legal document. No one writes up some other arbitrary extra document.

[trollface]

Originally Posted by Great68

Yeah, I'd say this or tell them they're welcome to contact the seller themselves to verify.

That's like telling CBSA to prove it. That usually don't work out too well.

[Marco.911]

I’m not a lawyer, however I work with many lawyers and have been faced with similar situations. I can only share my experiences.

Regardless of the reasons, if the documentation you have, bill of sale, and receipt such as a bank draft etc. you’ll be fine. You can provide that for them if necessary.

If they wish to contact the seller, provide the details you obtained to them and they can feel free to contact them directly. In addition, if the vehicle was previously insured, you can suggest they may have more information that you do as to the history and nature of their whereabouts (I’m aware it was not insured for a number of years).

If it is a grossly under valued, provide a legitimate reason. There is no specific law that says someone MUST sell something at specific price BUT there are caveats for some sales that deem the sale must be what’s reasonable. (Because it’s totally reasonable to charge tax on something that has already had the tax paid on it 0_0.)

Reasonable is a broad term so you need to justify it.

I can provide a few examples:

I purchased a car for way below market value and explained the colour combination of the dash and seats was disgusting to my eyes and to replace it would be the price they discounted the car for me. The car was 6 months old with 2000km.

The guy was in a hurry to sell due to financial challenges and since the car was extremely expensive, there was a very thin market to make a quick sale. ICBC already had the persons info as they were already in the system and still had a few other cars insured.



Another time I got the last model year of a specific car before a facelift. Again, purchased for way under value, 3 month old car with nearly 0km. Again, guy going through a divorce, needed the money and I explained to ICBC these cars depreciate like a rock and with a new model coming out in 8 months, nobody is going to buy this car. I told them if they don’t believe me, call the seller and check out the notice of claim filed in BC Court to see the divorce proceedings.


I even told ICBC the seller was clueless as to the true value of the car. I low balled him and they actually accepted it! I said call the seller if you want but please do me a favour and don’t tell him how good of a deal I got.


The biggest thing they’re looking for is fraud and people trying to get away with something. If you’re being honest just tell them what’s going on and it will be cool.

[GIZZ]

How much money do they want? To collect tax on X amount of $? Anything else? If it's just a small amount of tax I would pay it.

Last week something along the same lines happened to me, I tracked down the owner of an abandoned car. He signed it over for free except insurance girl had me say I paid $100 for it so I paid the $12 in tax, I paid and went on with the day.

If we are talking thousands of dollars, come up with some sort of receipt, track the guy down somehow. Or get it appraised locally confirming the low value.