We pay our property tax when we renew the registration. I did two of ours in March, and they were both comparable to prior years.

aok, here we pay the state vehicle registration fee separately (to DMV) from the personal property tax bill which is mailed out by and goes directly to the county.

Interesting. Cars are only taxed here (effectively a sales/use tax based on the current value of the vehicle) when there is a change of ownership/registration. It is a one time deal for as long as you own the car. Annual licensing fees are minimal.

@vgkg Z-7 Va, I wonder if you could protest it because of the artificial value increase that is the direct result of COVID-caused supply chain issues?

"This is due of course to the new and used car shortages which has artificially (in my opinion) driven up the assessments on all vehicles"

If the tax is based on fair market value, and those for whatever reason have gone up, what would you expect would happen?

Is there any discretion on the part of the counties to step in and moderate increases?

In Oklahoma, we only pay taxes on our vehicles when they are purchased. Then every year we pay to renew the license plates.

We also do not have personal property taxes.

We voted in legislators years ago to repeal it.

Paying taxes year after year on the same vehicles & personal property is double taxation. You pay tax on it when you buy it and then year after year, you pay taxes on it for owning it.

Our governor recently passed a bill making the old taxes stay the same. People who had already paid the higher amount are being given refunds. I live in KY.

Just as one data point, info I found said that Oklahoma's public school system is one of the worst in the US. It's ranked in the bottom 5 (of 50 states). If that isn't precisely accurate, it's unlikely to be far off. I suspect the state's population and communities would be better served by not having one of the worst systems in the US. What a terrible way to treat children, the future of Oklahoma.

Governmental services have to be paid for. Too often people want those services but don't want to pay for them. It's a choice, you either pay for the services or go without having them.

Another data point, NJ has the best schools and they don’t have this tax. It’s an odd concept to me, this tax.

"Another data point, NJ has the best schools and they don’t have this tax"

No, but they do have the highest real state property tax rate in the nation. Somehow, somewhere the funds to support the state school system have to be accounted for........

btw, your RE property tax rate is 2.5 times the rate it is here in WA and we rank very highly with quality schools as well.......#4 in the country.

First off I don’t live in NJ, I named them becaiee they have the best schools. Yes, here in NY real estate taxes are high, too. I went from about $13K to $25K when I moved essentially across the highway to a nicer neighborhood. Same schools and everything. I don’t complain much about it (beyond SALT cap) because it is a wealth tax. But for most people a car isn’t an indicator of wealth. If you save up to go from a 20 year old Accord on its last legs to a new Accord, why should you get hit year after year for this in taxes? Why not assess an annual tax on refrigerators and charge more for a Sub Zero than a base GE? Because it’s impracticsl to? My impression is that the car value tax js ”because they can”; I’m not seeing the rationale.

States have many different ways of raising money to pay for services as you know, food. I probably could have made a better choice in my earlier response. No one tax is either a problem or a solution.

It gets up my nose more than it should when I hear people grousing about state and local taxes. It's local democracy at its best - tax those in the region where the money needs to be spent. Absent a magic wand, taxes and governmental fees are the only source to pay for services people want and need.

Many decades ago when I lived in CT there was a PPT, included horses and cattle also, don't know if it's still levied. TN and FL don't have it.

Of course taxes are needed and I don’t generally complain about them. I’ve got no issue with progressive income taxes, nor with regressive gas taxes, etc. It’s just that this one particular tax doesn’t make logical sense to me. Even with wide range in new car prices, the average value doesn’t fluctuate all that much relative to income. The tax just seems random, and a deterrent to folks wishing to drive a newer, safer, more efficient vehicle. I just don’t see the justification.

Elmer, what would I expect? ....I expect the tax to go up and I do not mind paying taxes, but I also expect the tax to be raised fairly. My 75% increase does not match the going rate of used car price increases. Besides that my 2007 auto could be mounted on cider blocks with a blown engine for all the county knows.

On our local Nextdoor site posters are saying that their PPT vehicle increases have gone up as much as 100%. Below is a local news article about this issue with one local county's explanation...For the past 50+ years of owning vehicles the PPT has never increased from year-to-year. Hopefully the state's counties will issue rebates rather than take this unwarranted windfall, Generally state wide Va is in very good fiscal shape and our budgets are balanced annually.

https://www.nbc12.com/2022/04/27/chesterfield-county-personal-property-taxes-skyrocket-used-car-assessment-values-surge/

vgkg, I'm not sure how the math works out with the info in that article to result in the percentage increases you relate but that's fine.

Every state is different. In my state, the personal property tax on vehicles is assessed along with the annual license fee from the state. The bill has the break down, so much for registration and fees and so much for property tax. I'm sure it's a matter of greater concern to those at lower income levels but I've never heard anyone even bring up the topic. It's not inconsequential, I believe it's about 1% of value per year. Maybe people think of it like the monthly charge for trash pickup - there's no alternative, the bill comes and you pay it.

“I believe it's about 1% of value per year.”

If I’m reading the following link correctly, VA is 4.57%. Can you imagine paying over $2000 a year taxes for a $50,000 car?

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/vehicles/tax-rate

Our legislature tinkered with, and adjusted upwards the vehicle license fee several years ago. It starts out very high (especially for SUVs and trucks and the like) and then levels out after 10-12 years. After that, it's 50 bucks a year ...which is more than double what it was; until they 'adjusted'. Listen to what your statehouse is doing ...

food, I think it's hard to take it out of context. As before, states levy different taxes in different relative ratios. As an example I just found, Virginia's top individual income tax rate is exceeded in my state by a single person with over $50k of income and the rates continue to go up from there. I'd gladly pay their car tax and income tax instead of what I pay, it would save me a lot of money. But again, that's not the whole story, more to know.

Also, is assessed value for Virginia's personal property tax the same as fair value? In my state, real estate "assessed value" is defined as 25% of fair market value for tax purposes.

Elmer, Understood but it doesn’t change my fundamental issue with the tax as unfairly and inequitably targeting citizens.

Whatever, apparently about half the states are fine levying it so my opinion doesn’t matter.

@Elmer J Fudd, I didn't understand your last sentence. You said, "In my state, real estate 'assessed value' is defined as 25% of fair market value for tax purposes."

As I understand property taxes in California, they are levied on the real estate value (assumed to be FMV) at the time of purchase increased by 2% per year thereafter.

Fun2B - thanks, you're correct and I was wrong.

I've just looked at the most recent bills for my two properties and the mechanics of how it's presented seems to have changed somewhere along the line. Maybe not recently, because since forever I look at the total and never at any of the details.

What they're now calling "assessed value" is the value that the tax rate is applied to. It's not fair market value except in a year of acquisition because of the Prop 13 2% per year increase ceiling when there's no change of ownership, just as you said. Thank you Howard Jarvis.

Ta-da, I did some scrounging around to try to see if I was imagining things or if there was some basis for my false info, On site of the Office of the Assessor, County of Santa Clara, a page presenting "Dictionary of Terms", I thankfully found this:

"Assessed Value The taxable value of a property against which the tax rate is applied. Since 1981-82, the assessed value is 100% of the property's value pursuant to the provisions of the Revenue and Taxation Code. In prior years, the assessed value was 25% of the full cash value."

I bought my first house and began my career as a tax advisor in the early-mid 1970s. As career advancement also involved putting distance between what I needed to know to do my role at a higher level and the nitty gritty details of earlier years, the details changed when I was past the point of needing to known them. It was an arbitrary practice all the same. When assessed value was one-quarter of FMV, the rate was four times higher. Same result for the amount of tax levied.

https://www.sccassessor.org/index.php/terms-page

Thanks for the clarification, @Elmer J Fudd. I moved to California in 1980, so I can see why I never knew of the earlier calculation method.

We don't pay a PPT in Illinois, but I doubt that's why the state is so deeply in debt!

Re: Vehicles. We pay an annual fee for state vehicle licenses. We pay an annual fee for a city sticker. (Not required if you live in an unincorporated area, but then you may be paying for private road maintenance and police/fire protection.)

We pay RE taxes to the county that fund schools, libraries and other services. IDK if the assessed value is still a third of estimated market value. Chicago and other cities in Cook County were assessed every third year when we lived in Cook. Our current county assesses annually.

Hey there! It's frustrating to hear about the increase in personal property taxes on vehicles in your area. It sounds like the new and used car shortages are impacting assessments, which can have a real impact on your annual payments. It's always a good idea to stay informed and understand the reasons behind such changes.

If you're looking for assistance with tax planning, especially in the international tax realm, you can check out the resources provided by sfb.group at https://www.sfb.group/whatwedo/help-for-businesses/tax/internationaltax-planning/. It's important to stay proactive and explore options to ensure you're making informed decisions when it comes to taxes.

Vgkg, here where I live one can appeal the valuation of real property tax. Is there an appeal process for vehicle taxes there? In your example of a 2007 on cinder blocks with a blown engine, it hardly seems fair to pay the going rate that applies to a car that actual runs.

Our county here in Central VA did step in and recalculate the rate. There was such an outcry!

Yes the initial estimates have been recalculated to be more fair now. Never mind :-)

I have to pay for the license plate sticker and a wheel tax. My auto insurance went up $95 as well.