Who Wants to Compare Personal Property Taxes? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[J-GriffsGlad]

Colorado - real property tax effective rate is very low (2nd or 3rd lowest in the nation)... but yeah our auto tax is insane. My sticker was $40k and I paid $33k. I think the first tax and registration I paid was $2,200. Three years later and I still paid $910 ?

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[Rahkmalla]

New Jersey has no personal property tax. Just sales tax of 6.625% and yearly registration of 71.50. Our gas taxes are pretty low too (though not as low as they used to be).

We make up for it with our high property taxes, extensive toll roads and bridges, and above average income tax.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

It's a combination of WEIGHT and value of the vehicle here. It's not a straight value tax....

You can only deduct the portion that is based on value.

 

[Labswine]

We don't have this in PA...thank goodness!!! I pay around $81/year for registration and $85/year for inspection. I liked NJ's policy. There...you only needed to pay every other year for registration and inspections were free plus, any new vehicle under 5 years old was exempt from inspection.

When I lived in Massatuchetts ('94-'05), they had an excise tax on automobiles and it was based on the value of the BASE vehicle in the class of vehicle you bought. In other words, if you bought a fully loaded Chevy pick-em-up truck that cost over $50K, you'd only pay excise tax valued on the most bare bones truck at maybe $25K.

I had a used Grand Cherokee Laredo that I bought when it was 3 years old and for the first two years I had it, my excise tax was like $140 then it dropped by half and would remain that for as long as the vehicle was registered in MA. That's the main reason I always bought used in MA because to buy new, that tax would have been over $400 for the first two or three years then it'd drop by more than half, and this was the very late 90s, early 00's. Used vehicles were (seemingly) valued differently based on age of vehicle.

Property taxes? I get raped where I live. I pay over $10K/year in township, county, and school district taxes. My school taxes are so high because the district is in the top 50 in the country and top 10 in the state of PA so they know people want to move into the district and will pay the high taxes. When I graduated from this HS back in 1981, it wasn't all that great and I felt it did nothing to prep me for higher education or life. It's come a long way since then...

 

[keithcroshaw]

That's an odd concept, I mean I don't think I pay that in NJ, lord knows I probably pay more overall to the government but that's odd indeed. I would never expect to pay property tax on something that isn't nailed down to my house. I mean yes it's my property, but so is my soda sitting on my desk, why should I pay more than sales tax on that item? (Hopefully this doesn't get me admin'd but as I say that out loud in my brain I'm of the mindset that the government should take care of itself without sapping it's citizens because money is fake, but I'm no economist.)

I always dream of leaving this debt trap of a state but some of the more "free" states have really funny laws and taxes that make me scratch my head. Also they lack some of the services my son needs so here I stay not paying that tax at least. I think...

 

[Casique]

In Fairfax County North Virginia I pay about $3700 a year, every year, on my three vehicles an one 11 year old Harley! Yes, Highway robbery!

 

[AustinKalb]

Texas = no personal property taxes…..
but $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in property tax

Same as California. All taxes are HIGH but luckily there is no personal property tax.

 

[Gvsukids]

That's fairly inexpensive, IMO - of course, I'm used to much higher rates.
Federal taxes allow for your primary vehicle license/registration to be deducted if you itemize. We do.

What some may forget is that like Hootbro has said - every state is collecting money, it's how they do it that varies. FL has all the tourists and retirees and so on. Think of the people who fly there, spend a week or so, visit all of the attractions and stay at hotels. I've never paid so much for hotels in my life as I did down there. They make up for lack of state income tax during spring break, I'm sure LOL.
And some states it must be crazy expensive to make and maintain roads. Tunnels, chopping into the side of a mountain - not cheap. Heavy trucks on the interstates, hot and cold - heaving in the winter and summer.
In Iowa, it's the farm to market roads. In some parts of the state where it's more easily done, there's a road every mile east and west, and one every mile north and south. Every-other road is to be hard surface in some areas - "farm to market" roads. So you drive along a highway, that road is gravel, a mile later the next is paved, then the next gravel, the next paved and so on. Not cheap to do. Summer heat buckles roads, winter frosts - and this last winter was a road killer - constant freezing and thawing. The topsoil moves around.
I can imagine some states are worse - not suggesting we have it bad here as there's always worse cases by far. Roads in parts of FL must be tough, same for LA. Marsh and swamp, moving ground, sand, peat, whatever.
We have no tourism here, about the only reasons to come here and stay in a hotel is the Iowa State Fair. So we don't get that hotel tax or tourists spending money.
TX gets our snow birds each winter - people, many of them farmers, go down there and spend spend spend and come back up here to make the money. So a lot of our money leave and goes south to TX or FL.

2.5 acres, 3 if you count the public right-of-way (*the road out front that you own part of but can't dig up and use)
1,000-1,100 sq ft house (depends on if you count any basement space, etc.), older home from 1980, detached uninsulated unheated garage, my shop is a pole building on the south edge of the lot. Just about $4,000/year property taxes and they sent us all letters jacking up valuations by HUGE amounts, some 20% or so.
A lot of it is the SE Polk school district that spends money like it was water. Fancy new HS that beats most college buildings. Some corporations don't have a building that nice and fancy, with a big glass atrium, it's something like you'd see at a really fancy mall. Then roughly 23 million on a new football stadium that some have written about showing how it beat the heck out of what many colleges have.
Waukee is out-doing them, though. Sunken football stadium so people in the upper tiers are at ground level and simply walk to their seats.
Their school is 3 stories on 90 acres of land.

(No wonder there's no money for school supplies)

Michigan depends a lot on tourism.

 

[Minty JL]

Maryland - paid $51,220
Taxes/title/tags = $1300+

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You can only deduct the portion that is based on value.

And that's why our tax forms say "you may be able to........." (the ones we supply the CPA)
I'm sure the software figures out what that part is.
It's still a license fee deduction. We take it. A $450 fee for example is still going to be a nice deduction on the "portion" that can be taken.
The CPA asks for all registration information for our vehicles.
I skip giving him the registration info for my 73 - piddling amount not worth writing a number down. I suspect the "value" part is nothing or next to it.

Iowa used to be $35/pickup truck then after a certain age it went down to $25. The problem is all the young women in Iowa started driving pickups because the license was dirt cheap. So Iowa got rid of that. It was originally cheap because they were considered necessary for the farm. Susie or Johnny graduated from HS and got a used truck as a graduation gift - because Pop saw it would be cheap to license.

Nice thing I'm looking forward to for next spring - Iowa has dropped state income tax on all retirement income. We got notices from IPERS this spring that they will no longer withhold state income tax.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

And that's why our tax forms say "you may be able to........." (the ones we supply the CPA)
I'm sure the software figures out what that part is.
It's still a license fee deduction. We take it. A $450 fee for example is still going to be a nice deduction on the "portion" that can be taken.
The CPA asks for all registration information for our vehicles.
I skip giving him the registration info for my 73 - piddling amount not worth writing a number down. I suspect the "value" part is nothing or next to it.

Iowa used to be $35/pickup truck then after a certain age it went down to $25. The problem is all the young women in Iowa started driving pickups because the license was dirt cheap. So Iowa got rid of that. It was originally cheap because they were considered necessary for the farm. Susie or Johnny graduated from HS and got a used truck as a graduation gift - because Pop saw it would be cheap to license.

Nice thing I'm looking forward to for next spring - Iowa has dropped state income tax on all retirement income. We got notices from IPERS this spring that they will no longer withhold state income tax.

I wanted to clarify because your original statement was a little misleading.

"Federal taxes allow for your primary vehicle license/registration to be deducted if you itemize."

The only license plate fees that are deductible for Federal purposes are value based fees.

We do not get any tax forms relating to Michigan license plates. There is no "you may be able to........." because there is no tax form.

Many tax software programs simply ask for your personal property tax. If you enter the entire amount paid for plates including an amount that is based on weight, you have overstated your personal property tax deduction. All CPAs should be aware of this though, so if you have a competent CPA doing your taxes, no worries.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I wanted to clarify because your original statement was a little misleading.

"Federal taxes allow for your primary vehicle license/registration to be deducted if you itemize."

The only license plate fees that are deductible for Federal purposes are value based fees.

We do not get any tax forms relating to Michigan license plates. There is no "you may be able to........." because there is no tax form.

Many tax software programs simply ask for your personal property tax. If you enter the entire amount paid for plates including an amount that is based on weight, you have overstated your personal property tax deduction. All CPAs should be aware of this though, so if you have a competent CPA doing your taxes, no worries.

He's good. He does businesses is why we go through him. We had him doing our S Corp and personal taxes (and maybe you already know how the S corp works so won't bore you)
Then when we sold our store, my wife decided to keep doing quilting for others and we set that up with a sales tax permit, etc. and handle it like a proper business.
He sends us a packet, which I fill out, and I list our vehicle licenses there. He asks who drives what and has said the two cars are not "primary vehicles" - but even at that, is 25 or 40 bucks worth messing with? Not for me. So I might get $1 deduction. Whoop-whoop.
Anyway, he must do the calculations because he asks each year what the year of the vehicle was, etc. and since Iowa has the formulas I posted prior, he needs to know not just what we paid, but what make, model and year they are.

He asked if I could change some of the income I'm getting for 2023 to increase my federal tax load as otherwise I'll miss out on $500 of that 7500 for the 4xe (bought before the rules changed so we get the full amount). He suggested switching to tax deferred income for a while.

Anyway, yeah, I "generalized" - a thing I often dislike. Iowa has a tiered, multiple-base license fee system. Value/MSRP, weight, age, and so on. So while you can deduct Iowa license fees on federal taxes if you itemize - ONLY part of it, not all. Still, for a license that's 400-500, it's worth doing, IMO.
Iowa's fees are clearly published and explained. Iowa tax and tags site lays it all out so anyone could determine what's what, or let the software do it.

 

[Outback_Joe]

Oregon, one time tax when you buy, about $650.00 between the two State give-me's. License renewal at this time, $130.00 for a two year sticker.

This will be changing soon to reflect gas mileage, the more gas / diesel, your rig uses the less you pay for renewal. How does that make any since? But I don't have a electric car, they are going to get charged the most "hosed"! But they pay no gas tax per fill up, they will get a bi-yearly surcharge. The State giveth and the State taketh away.... Kind of gives you a warm feeling all over!

 

[Orange01z28]

I'm not sure, because Arizona does a thing where the sales tax is forgiven if you do a trade in

My yearly registration started at $700ish and goes down logarithmically every year

 

[dajudge]

New Mexico
3% sales tax at time of purchase and around $120.00 every two years for registration renewal.

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