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

[In3briatedPanda]

GA pays sales tax at time of sale. No annual tax on vehicles that im aware of. my annual registration is $25 dollars a year after one time sales tax at time of purchase.

SC was different. i had to pay a percentage of the value of the vehicle. my 13k dollar jeep was 350-360 dollars. my 1982 datson 720 was 13 dollars the same year which was 2014. i dont recall if that was taxes or just registration fees.

Sponsored

 

[Mr Miami]

That's a real crap having to pay sales tax up front AND a tax on the value of vehicle. That's like double taxation.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Property taxes on homes aren’t bad

2.5 acres, 950 square foot house if you don't count a mostly finished basement (which is still a basement), built in 1980 (45 years old), TINY bedrooms (no room for a king size bed, one is barely nursery size), aging well and septic system, no access to "rural water" system, have to spend a grand a year shocking the well and using bottled water -
$4,000/year property taxes.

 

[bluemoon110]

That is exactly what I am saying.

South Carolina - you pay 7% sales tax on the cost of the vehicle, $500 cap, then county and city personal property tax each year, based on the assessed value of anything with a motor (car, trucks, boats, RVs). My Gladiator, new in '22 was about $900, '23 about $850, last year about $750, and this year was $647.

 

[Mr Miami]

South Carolina - you pay 7% sales tax on the cost of the vehicle, $500 cap, then county and city personal property tax each year, based on the assessed value of anything with a motor (car, trucks, boats, RVs). My Gladiator, new in '22 was about $900, '23 about $850, last year about $750, and this year was $647.

Sounds like a fee structure that was created by the car repair mechanics lobby. Keep your older cars running and pay less for taxes.

 

[Pismo61]

California sounds pretty good now.

 

[Rusty PW]

Pa. school tax and property tax on a corner lot, 120ft x 80ft. Brick ranch, 4 bedroom, 2 bath. full basement. 4,000 sq ft combine. Covered patio, plus a open patio with firepit, above ground pool. $3,000 per year. If I was closer to Pittsburgh. The taxes would be at least $9,000 per year.

Yearly registration plates per year. JT $111 (based on weight, class 2). Cars and suv's is $48. Motorcycle is $25.

When you buy a vehicle. There is a 6% sales tax unless you live in Pittsburgh or Philly. Then it's 7%.

 

[Andy29847]

Tax Burden by State in 2025

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Tax Burden by State in 2025

What is left out of such things is the salary differences. I could live like a king in Iowa on NY wages.

 

[Pismo61]

Yep,I could move to Idaho,but I choose not to.They probably don't want me there either.

 

[Andy29847]

Yep,I could move to Idaho,but I choose not to.They probably don't want me there either.

The numbers can be churned out to make for endless discussion. Comparing NY, CA, and Idaho confuses me to the point I am going outside. .

NY TAX rate = 13.5% vs Idaho Tax rate =7.5% (Idaho tax is 58% of NY)
CA tax rate = 11% vs Idaho tax rate = 7.5% (idaho is 68% of CA)

NY mean income = 80,630 vs Idaho mean income = 58,440 (Idaho is 72% of NY)
CA mean income = 96,036 vs Idaho mean income 58,440 (Idaho is 60% of CA)

NY taxes paid = 10,885 vs Idaho taxes paid = 4383 (Idaho is 40% of NY)
CA taxes paid = 10,563 vs Idaho taxes paid = 4383 (Idaho is 41% of CA)

 

[Chasm]

Vehicle tax is about the one place Illinois shines (for now).
Of course there's the one time sales tax and a one time registration fee, but after that the tags are currently ~$150 per year no matter the age or vehicle value.
They get it via gas tax instead, unless you live close enough to a border to buy elsewhere.
I'm next to Iowa. Local Iowegians want our tag fees, we want their house taxes.

 

[Andy29847]

I thought of one more thing before going outside. What about the cost of living?

Cost of living (index) Idaho = 102 /mean income Idaho - 58,440 =7924 (effective value)
Cost of living (index) CA = 144 / mean income CA - 96,036 = 66,692 (effective value)
Cost of living (index) NY = 123 / mean income NY - 80,630 = 65,553 (effective value)

effective value Idaho -57,924 minus taxes paid - 4383 = 52,911 (actual dollars for you)
effective value CA - 66,692 minus taxes paid CA - 10,263 = 56,129 (actual dollars for you)
effective value NY - 65,553 minus taxes paid NY - 10,885 = 54,668 (actual dollars for you)
(Note - corrected Idaho number because of math error.)

Hey! We are virtually the same. Of course, this means nothing if you want to live on the beach in Malibu.

 

[Chasm]

Hey! We are virtually the same. Of course, this means nothing if you want to live on the beach in Malibu.

Excellent example of why everyone should be skeptical when comparing cost/value. I had some people visit from LA when I had a tiny house on a postage stamp sized lot. They estimated it would be 400-500K in their area. It was 50k in mine. They made 80k in the same field I made 30k in at the time, so we were at ~3X income, but 10X price

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Vehicle tax is about the one place Illinois shines (for now).
Of course there's the one time sales tax and a one time registration fee, but after that the tags are currently ~$150 per year no matter the age or vehicle value.
They get it via gas tax instead, unless you live close enough to a border to buy elsewhere.
I'm next to Iowa. Local Iowegians want our tag fees, we want their house taxes.

When traveling or going to events in IL, I make sure I top off the tank on the west side of the river. Don't even think about gas prices around Chicago.
Luckily, IL is pretty darned flat so I get great mpg going through that state! I can make it all the way through on one tank, and that's how I pan it - no offense..... just saying..............

There's give and take, pros and cons, good and bad, no matter where you go. In many cases, it sort of washes out in the end. We might gripe about property taxes, but then - our roads are pretty darned good compared to some others, too.

Sponsored