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A friend asked me this question.. and I know this is the best place to get answers.. so am here
My friend moved here from NJ. He needs to register his vehicle (2006 ML-350) in NC. How much would the registration of an out of state vehicle cost? also..
After he has registered the car here.. (he lives in Mecklenburg county), what would be the ball park personal property tax that he would be looking at? (car value about $25,000)
Also.. the reason for these questioning is.. He may not stay here for more than 2 months.. (may.. maynot.. job is like that) and his NJ registration is due for renewal.. does it make sense to renew at NJ and not bother about NC registration for now.. or (he can analyze better with the $) about to move everything to NC even if its only for a few months if it would work out cheaper and eazier..
Registering a car in NC will cost the 3% of purchase value highway use tax. (capped at $1500) I believe however they will give you credit if you paid a similar tax in another state, you have to provide proof. I am pretty sure this is based on what he paid for it originally, not what it is worth now. Could be that he hits the cap on that Mercedes truck.
If you live in Charlotte, then property tax will be assessed by the county for the county and municipality it is registered in and is based on current worth. (they will tell you this) This works out to 0.8387/$100 in Meck + 0.4586 for Charlotte. Total is 1.2973/$100. So for a $25,000 vehicle the property tax will be ~ $324. The other towns are slightly less than this. There are also a few tax zones, like downtown, where there is an additional amount added on. No discounts for this unless you are a senior citizen.
Registering a car in NC will cost the 3% of purchase value highway use tax. (capped at $1500) I believe however they will give you credit if you paid a similar tax in another state, you have to provide proof. I am pretty sure this is based on what he paid for it originally, not what it is worth now. Could be that he hits the cap on that Mercedes truck.
If you live in Charlotte, then property tax will be assessed by the county for the county and municipality it is registered in and is based on current worth. (they will tell you this) This works out to 0.8387/$100 in Meck + 0.4586 for Charlotte. Total is 1.2973/$100. So for a $25,000 vehicle the property tax will be ~ $324. The other towns are slightly less than this. There are also a few tax zones, like downtown, where there is an additional amount added on. No discounts for this unless you are a senior citizen.
Thats Excellent info. Thanks.
so.. it looks like even if he pays the $70 registration renewal in NJ now and two months later moves everything down to Charlotte, he may not pay much for registration in CLT since he already paid similar in NJ.
Now in NJ, I think there is no personal property tax.. so he is looking at about $325 for the next year.. but he may save some but not so much in auto insurance cost.. So, I'll recommend him to renew in NJ and continue for 2 more months and move the registration only if he takes the permanent offer in NC and plans to settle down. IMO, its less hazzle that way..
I moved to NC from NJ last year. If he is not staying, then continue the registration in NJ. I paid about $450 to register 2 cars in Lincoln county (including the DMV fees and the lincoln county tax). NJ registration fees are a much cheaper way to go for the next couple of months until he makes a decision.
A word of caution...the NJ fees are non-refundable. So if he decides to stay after he renews his NJ registration, then he may be out of that $$ unless he waits for another year to register in NC.
We had an issue where we needed to be in-state residents (college tuition) so we registered our vehicles quickly.
Also...we didnt pay our county tax bill until a couple of months after we registered our cars. When I registered the cars, I paid the registration fees and the highway use tax. The county sent a separate bill later. Not sure how this works outside Lincoln County.
Thats Excellent info. Thanks.
so.. it looks like even if he pays the $70 registration renewal in NJ now and two months later moves everything down to Charlotte, he may not pay much for registration in CLT since he already paid similar in NJ.....
No. They only give credit for any sales tax at purchase time, not registration fees. This is what the law says. Looks as if they got rid of the $1500 cap.
All transactions involving a vehicle already titled in the customer's name from another state 90 days prior to registering in North Carolina will be taxed on vehicle value, with a maximum of $150.00 being assessed. If owned less than 90 days before applying for North Carolina Title, tax credit against the highway use tax due will be allowed for the amount of tax paid to the other state upon submission of proof of payment. If the vehicle was titled in North Carolina after 90 days of purchase from a dealer, no credit would be allowed. Full highway use tax would be due on the purchase price, less any trade-in credit.
It's ambiguous but if taken literally, if he purchased the vehicle used from someone else, a casual sale, then the most he will have to pay in the HUT is $150.00. If he bought it from a dealer however, and has owned it more than 90 days, then he is going to have to pay the full tax. He only gets tax credit if the sale from the dealer happened in the last 90 days.
Can it be more confusing? Tell him to be prepared to pay but since he owns a Merc, he already knows this.
Yea owns a Merc.. lost job.. bills & payments all over..LOL
I told him to just pay the $72 renewal at NJ and worry bout things later.. coz this will actually involve more smaller things.. like getting NC Drivers License.. (cost), change registration/title, nc inspection/emission cost,, even if its only for 2 months, the property tax (~325) kicking in.. all such things... the only adv of tranferring to NC immdly is a cheaper Auto Insurance price.. but for two more months staying with NJ plates is ideal..IMO..
Yea owns a Merc.. lost job.. bills & payments all over..LOL
I told him to just pay the $72 renewal at NJ and worry bout things later.. coz this will actually involve more smaller things.. like getting NC Drivers License.. (cost), change registration/title, nc inspection/emission cost,, even if its only for 2 months, the property tax (~325) kicking in.. all such things... the only adv of tranferring to NC immdly is a cheaper Auto Insurance price.. but for two more months staying with NJ plates is ideal..IMO..
If worse comes to worse just have him keep his NJ plates!!!! Its no big deal to have his Drivers License and Plates for say 2 years.
If worse comes to worse just have him keep his NJ plates!!!! Its no big deal to have his Drivers License and Plates for say 2 years.
unless there a cop watching.. or he starts getting too many tickets in charlotte and they know he is not commuting but permanently settled here.. coz AFAIK you have to change your registration and license *ideally* within 30 (or maybe 60) days from the time you moved in.
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