[ipilcher]

Refusing to take my money.

I don't have a mortgage on my residence, so I'm right on the edge of itemizing my U.S. Federal income tax deductions or taking the standard deduction. In order to maximize my deductions over time, I alternate between "itemize years", in which I pay 2 years of property taxes (in January and December), and "standard deduction years." (Our property taxes are due on January 31.)

I also live in Texas, which does not have a state income tax, so I can deduct the sales tax I paid during the year on my Federal income tax. The IRS allows one to deduct the actual sales tax paid, which is an enormous amount of work to track, or to use an estimate based on income, number of people in the household, etc. Even when using the "estimate method," however, one is allowed to add on the actual sales tax on certain major purchases, including automobiles.

I ordered my F34 in late 2013, for 2014 delivery. 2013 was an "itemize year," so I very much wanted to pay for the car in 2013, so I could deduct the $3,400 of sales tax. One of our local dealers flat out refused to take my money before the car was delivered. Fortunately the dealer closer to my house was willing to do this. It took a few emails to explain that I wasn't crazy, but they finally just wrote up the order with a deposit amount equal to the full "out the door" price.