Moving to North Carolina and have questions about vehicle property tax (Charlotte: sales, assessors)

[jaysone82]

I have the basic jist of how the property tax in NC works but i am wondering does this need to be paid yearly? Also does it apply to toys such as a boat, ATV, and RV. Can anyone tell me how they calculate the tax? I believe, (as i understand it, that it is based on the value of your vehicle. Is this correct? any idea what it would be on a 2006 ford car worth approximately 6500? ALso if i does apply to "toys" is that also based on the value?

[WaldoKitty]

Originally Posted by jaysone82

I have the basic jist of how the property tax in NC works but i am wondering does this need to be paid yearly? Also does it apply to toys such as a boat, ATV, and RV. Can anyone tell me how they calculate the tax? I believe, (as i understand it, that it is based on the value of your vehicle. Is this correct? any idea what it would be on a 2006 ford car worth approximately 6500? ALso if i does apply to "toys" is that also based on the value?

RVs, boats, ATVs, and any trailer that has a license tag is subject to personal property tax. It's paid yearly. It's the same rate as that charged to residential property. It's based on current value. If you are talking about Charlotte/Mecklenburg, it a mystery how the tax assessors office comes up with these values. For anything new, they normally use the purchase price.

In addition, when you bring that 2006 Ford into the state and register it, you will be required to pay a 3% highway use tax to NC. You pay this once and it's based, I believe, simply on what you paid for it with a $1500 cap on the tax. (though for an old Ford you won't hit the cap) You should check with the NCDOT for specifics.

[CSRSJim]

Thanks for the info. But I couldn't find any limit on the 3% title highway use tax for regular cars.
NCDOT: Highway Use & Property Taxes

Just for comparison, MD charges their full state sales tax of 6%. So 3% is only half as bad as Maryland. But MD doesn't charge property tax every year on cars.

[CSRSJim]

Originally Posted by WaldoKitty

RVs, boats, ATVs, and any trailer that has a license tag is subject to personal property tax. It's paid yearly. It's the same rate as that charged to residential property. It's based on current value.

Can anyone give us a specific example including the county and any town/city rate for their example?
I have been looking at the various govt web sites and it is hard to tell if it is 0.5% or 1.2% on motor vehicles (and it varies by county and city/town). I don't know if this is right, but looking at Iredell county, Moorseville city; and a vehicle value of $10,000:

0.485% Iredell County
0.580% Moorseville city
0.185% MV School
-------
1.250% x $10,000 = $125 yearly personal property/motor vehicle tax
Plus any registration fees

[Lcirelli77]

We just registered our vehicles in NC last week. There is a $150 highway use tax per vehicle, registration fee, title fee and you pay your property tax up front at time of registration. The property tax in union county was approximately $100 per $10,000, my truck valued at $20,000 paid $220. Car worth $12000 paid $120. Our travel trailer only paid the property tax, not highway use tax. Hope that helps. Only good thing they let you pay by credit card. Our total was over $900 for all three.

[CSRSJim]

Thanks Lcirelli77.
IMO, the motor vehicle property tax is fairly small, roughly 1% per year.
People moving to the area should be aware that being in a specific city/town/district can double this and the home property taxes from 0.5% to 1.25% or so. But if you want a certain school district, that might be more important to some people then the property taxes.

I have no kids, and several cars, RV, etc. and saving $2,000 per year on my motor vehicles and home is worth living 1 mile out of town.