[sean eady]

How long does it generally take for the BATFE to cash the check for the tax stamp? I have heard they are running 6 months or so on approval but do they normally cash the checks immediatly or does that also seem to take a while?

[AlexanderA]

They cash the checks immediately.

[Captains1911]

Yup, on my most recent Form the checked posted to my account 6 days after my dealer mailed the package in.

[fulltanghalo]

My most recent times on a F4 Can that the dealer had in stock
01/27/2012 - Forms Sent
02/01/2012 - Forms Arrived
02/03/2012 - Check Cashed
02/21/2012 - Pending
07/02/2012 - Problem status - Dealer screwed up on the model
07/27/2012 - Approved
08/16/2012 - Stamp Received

[sean eady]

Is there a web site to see the status or is it just by calling in? I sent my form 1 in on the 10th and they still have not cased the check a week later. I know I have a long wait ahead of me but seeing the check cashed will atleast let me know the ball is rolling.

[Swing]

Is there a web site to see the status or is it just by calling in?

AFAIK, telephoning is the only option. Info here (http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/national-firearms-act-processing-times.html).

[mbogo]

They took one day to cash my first two checks, but another five weeks went by before the forms went to 'pending' status wherer they have languished for four months and counting.

My most recent check was cashed the day after receipt. Form is not yet in 'pending' state.

You can use nfatracker.org to get an idea of how long you will probably wait.

mbogo

[Ranb]

Two weeks to cash my last check, 6 months for approval of my latest form 1.

Ranb

[Cluster Bomb]

i thought it was illegal to pay for a service before it was rendered.

[GarySTL]

You're paying a tax, not for a service. Think of it as withholding.

[Aaron Baker]

i thought it was illegal to pay for a service before it was rendered.

Why did you think that?

[GoingQuiet]

How long does it generally take for the BATFE to cash the check for the tax stamp? I have heard they are running 6 months or so on approval but do they normally cash the checks immediatly or does that also seem to take a while?

Check is cashed inside a week. 6-8 months after that.

[crimsoncomet]

Yep. Check cashed with in a week. About 3-4 weeks to go pending and around 6 months for approval. Mine took around 6.5 months from my dealer to the ATF and back to my dealer. Supposedly they are super bogged down. The person who reviewed my paperwork is not the normal agent that reviews for my state.

[Landric]

In my experience it takes considerably longer for checks sent to Martinsville (form 1) to clear than it does for checks sent to Atlanta (form 4). I suspect that this is because Martinsville actually does the work, and therefore the envelopes with the forms and checks probably sit around unopened for a week or two. Whereas Atlanta is just a clearinghouse, they open the envelopes, deposit/submit electronically the checks, and then forward the remaining paperwork to Martinsville for processing.

[Cluster Bomb]

Why did you think that?

In Maine it is Illegal to pay for a service/item until it is rendered.

this may be different in other states.

[Aaron Baker]

In Maine it is Illegal to pay for a service/item until it is rendered.

this may be different in other states.

While I am not a Maine-licensed attorney, I suspect that this is an urban legend, not an actual law.

I didn't want to spend time doing extensive research, but for instance, Maine Statutes 10 M.S.R.A. Chapter 219A Section 1487(5) is a good example of an area where that's not true. It describes the law on home construction contracts. The law requires that no more than one third of the cost can be required as a down payment. (Although the law also allows the contractor to make you put down a much larger downpayment, as long as he makes you aware that you're waiving your rights under this statute.)

Now that's just one area of law--home contracts, but if there was a general rule on not paying for services up front, then it would apply there too and no statute saying no more than 1/3 up front would be necessary. So unless you can cite to a specific statute where the general law is that you can't pay for services before they're rendered in Maine, I doubt it's true.

Of course, the other issue is that you're actually dealing with the Federal government, which would probably be somehow exempt from Maine law even if this were the case. And more importantly, you're not paying the Federal government for a service. You are paying a tax on an item that you're either creating or buying, and that tax is due to the Federal government. In order to prove that you're eligible to pay the tax and own the item, you have to undergo a background check, which it apparently takes them 6 months to do because they're a slow bureaucracy.

So to keep this on topic, it's not an issue of paying for services. It's an issue of the Federal government is only devoting a limited amount of resources to fulfilling this government function, and therefore, we all have to suffer through long wait times in order to get our tax stamps. Which isn't good. But the ire should be directed at things we can change, such as asking our elected representatives to change the tax stamp requirements or allot more funding to the ATF so they can hire more examiners. Not at wondering if what they're doing violates some supposed state law.

Aaron

[MasterSergeantA]

I don't like the long wait for the NFA branch to process my forms, but I can see two reasons for them to immediately cash the checks:

1. If the check does NOT immediately clear, they have not wasted the time of the rest of us on some no load, and

2. Some banks will not honor checks that have passed a 180 day window from when they were written, thereby causing the examiners to again waste our time (this time through no fault of the applicant.)

[nosmr2]

I called today, pending 7/19/12, should receive it in January. Sounds about right, 6 months. Was hoping to have it before the holidays.

Oh well.....

[ny32182]

I sent one last week that had the check clear 6 calendar days after I dropped it in the mail; that included a weekend and probably at least a day of mail transit, so that is the fastest I've ever had a check clear.

Every Form1/4 I've ever done has taken almost exactly three months mailbox to mailbox. Even when others were claiming 6 months. I've had someone different sign every time.

Many more people seem to be adament about 6+ months right now, but... I'm rooting for me just the same. :)

[CoRoMo]

I'm not so much concerned about the ATF wait times as I am about the AAC wait times!!!

Placed an order in March and I'm still waiting. :banghead:

[sean eady]

Check cleared today..... Guess now the wait begins. Makes me happy knowing the ball is a rollin':D

[Captains1911]

I'm not so much concerned about the ATF wait times as I am about the AAC wait times!!!

Placed an order in March and I'm still waiting. :banghead:
I placed an order (and paid in full) in early Feb for a YHM can, and am still awaiting its arrival to my dealer. I feel your frustration, but when it comes to NFA stuff, patients is key.

[Charger442]

Wait times in Texas are getting down to 4 months. Giggity

[JERRY]

I wouldnt mind having a 14" bbl 12ga. Mossy 500. But the yearly tax stamp would cost more than the gun, every year over and over....

[Charger442]

I wouldnt mind having a 14" bbl 12ga. Mossy 500. But the yearly tax stamp would cost more than the gun, every year over and over....

Uh wat?

[JERRY]

uh wat?

wat what?

[Charger442]

The NFA tax is a tax collected only at the time of transfer of Class III weapons. You dont pay tax on it yearly.

[JERRY]

wow, so i can pay a $200.00~ or whatever tax stamp once, then cut my shotgun barrel down to 14" and be legal?

[Charger442]

After forms, waiting,and approvals from ATF among other things, yes the tax is a one time deal per weapon

[MasterSergeantA]

wow, so i can pay a $200.00~ or whatever tax stamp once, then cut my shotgun barrel down to 14" and be legal?
As Charger said, there is some red tape involved. But the tax for you to "make" the short-barreled gun on a Form 1 is a one-time payment of $200. If you ever transferred (sold) the gun on a Form 4, the person receiving the gun would pay a 'new' transfer tax in the same amount. If you inherit a NFA firearm, you don't pay the tax, but that is one of very few circumstances where you would not.

[JERRY]

i have a mossberg maverick 88 that i wouldnt mind cutting down to 14" or so, strickly for home defensive use, not to re-sell or transfer. i realize the tax and fees would be more than what i paid for the gun itself but its the only way i could i get a short bbl 12ga. legally.

[Prince Yamato]

Do eeeeeet!

[tyeo098]

Take the stock off and make it an AOW.
Transfers for AOWs (I believe) are only 5$.

EDIT: Nvm, it has to start life as a pistol-gripped SG. Then you can chop it for 5$.

EDIT: Nvm again, the MAKING tax on an AOW is $200, transfer tax is 5$.

Disregard. Google was broken, I swear!

[JERRY]

i already have a breachers pistol grip on it for recoil reduction.

[ny32182]

There are no other "fees"; the total cost, one time for the rest of your life, would be:

-$200 tax stamp
-$0.41 postage stamp to mail in the application

Plus whatever it costs for the new barrel or to chop your old one.

[theautobahn]

In Maine it is Illegal to pay for a service/item until it is rendered.

this may be different in other states.

WHAT???? I think Aaron's correct, this must be some sort of urban legend. I live in Maine and can easily think of any number of times I've paid for services before they were rendered.

Can you cite where you got this from?



Question related to thread topic - not that any "high road" person would do this, but if they cash the check and you cut the barrel on an SBR after they've already cashed the check, then wouldn't that preclude you from the "tax evasion" portion of the charges, which to my understanding are much, much worse than the "illegal firearm" portion of the charges? I might be misinformed...

[Charger442]

Unless tax evasion carriers a sentence longer than ten years in fed PMITAP, which
Is what the penalty is for unregistered NFA firearms

[Charger442]

And this stuff about state law and rendered service at time of payment is bull**** since Federal law trumps state law in this matter, because your paying a tax to the government, not paying for a good or service.