I called DMV twice and verified that it is ok to have them collect the sales tax and registration. The dealer from NY will pay CA DMV and they will mail the license plate to me. But now, i am arguinig with the dealer of registration fee because they said CA reg fee is 2% of sales price but i checked with DMV web site and it is only 0.65% + misc charges which is less than 1% in total. (Will increase in 5/19/09).