Georgia Auto Tax - Registration (buying, maintenance, sales tax)

[ronricks]

Originally Posted by qwerty3214

Hello all - I moved to Atlanta, GA in April 2019 from NJ. I had purchased a car in NJ in March 2019 and had the car registered there. After a month for some personal reasons, I had to move to GA. I tried to register the car in GA within 30 days of moving but they asked me to pay the TAVT tax which was a huge amount, therefore, I decided to postpone the registration till my NJ registration expired. Now, the NJ registration is set to expire in April 2021. I realize GA mandates you to transfer registration within 30 days of moving, but paying the tax twice made no sense to me at the time.

I tried to look up how much I would be paying now if I registered the car to GA and it shows some penalty of $3000. Could anyone explain if there's any way around this penalty if I need to register the car in GA?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

There is no way around it and you screwed yourself by waiting. You will owe a TAVT at 3% of the assessment value of the car on top of any late fees/fines.

[markjames68]

Move back to NJ...or at the DMV tell them you had to for covid reasons. They may waive the fine in person. Be prepared to pay the TAVT and be glad it’s not the full % amount I had to pay in 2018.

But 2 years is a long time to be driving here without registering.

[Atlotta]

I had a similar situation moving from VA to here. First, if you are using the online calculator it is most likely inaccurate and the cost will not be the same at the DMV. For example mines said my expenses were about 2000 but I ended up paying 400. This is for a 2014 Mercedes. I told them I left it in a garage in VA because I wasn't traveling during covid.

[qwerty3214]

Thanks everyone for the response! I still don't get how it's fair to be double taxed. I am going to try renew registration in NJ, if it works out, great. Otherwise, it is what it is, and I'll need to pay the fine and TAVT. Hopefully, the penalty amount will be lower as compared to what it shows on the website or I can convince them to waive off the fine as I had to move back to NJ due to Covid. The fair market value for the car on the TAVT calculator website seems bloated and wrong.

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by qwerty3214

Thanks everyone for the response! I still don't get how it's fair to be double taxed. I am going to try renew registration in NJ, if it works out, great. Otherwise, it is what it is, and I'll need to pay the fine and TAVT. Hopefully, the penalty amount will be lower as compared to what it shows on the website or I can convince them to waive off the fine as I had to move back to NJ due to Covid. The fair market value for the car on the TAVT calculator website seems bloated and wrong.

Your not being taxed but are paying a registration fee.

This was straight from my state representatives mouth when I lived in Savannah. Also a diehard republican & anti-tax person. People tried arguing with him on fees being the same as taxes but he shut it down. There was a big push to get this law through at the time, in order to plug budget issues related to tax cuts.

sorry about this.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by qwerty3214

Thanks everyone for the response! I still don't get how it's fair to be double taxed. I am going to try renew registration in NJ, if it works out, great. Otherwise, it is what it is, and I'll need to pay the fine and TAVT. Hopefully, the penalty amount will be lower as compared to what it shows on the website or I can convince them to waive off the fine as I had to move back to NJ due to Covid. The fair market value for the car on the TAVT calculator website seems bloated and wrong.

You’re paying a one time fee for registration. So instead of paying a higher amount each year you pay once. If anything it encourages you to hold onto your vehicle longer.

If you knew in March 2019 you were moving to Atlanta the next month then it’s on you to learn the system.

[qwerty3214]

@markjames68: Sorry, but I disagree. The system should be flexible enough so that a person who has rightfully paid his taxes and fees is one state is not expected to shell out their hard-earned money again as a hefty amount of double tax/fee. TAVT totally makes sense if a person lives in GA and registers their vehicle here, not denying that.

How do you expect a person to know something like a TAVT would exist? From all the states I have lived in before, none had a rule similar to this. It's like asking someone to predict what injuries you're going to get if they meet with an accident. Well, how do you know that someone is going to meet with an accident?

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by qwerty3214

@markjames68: Sorry, but I disagree. The system should be flexible enough so that a person who has rightfully paid his taxes and fees is one state is not expected to shell out their hard-earned money again as a hefty amount of double tax/fee. TAVT totally makes sense if a person lives in GA and registers their vehicle here, not denying that.

How do you expect a person to know something like a TAVT would exist? From all the states I have lived in before, none had a rule similar to this. It's like asking someone to predict what injuries you're going to get if they meet with an accident. Well, how do you know that someone is going to meet with an accident?

No offense, but as someone who has moved multiple times between not only states but countries I’ve always experienced differences. States don’t care what you’ve paid elsewhere.

The GA DMV site is very clear and lays it out.

You’ve driven illegally in Georgia for 2 years now. Pay up and be glad you don’t have to pay the full % I had to pay on a leased vehicle.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by markjames68

No offense, but as someone who has moved multiple times between not only states but countries I’ve always experienced differences. States don’t care what you’ve paid elsewhere.

The GA DMV site is very clear and lays it out.

You’ve driven illegally in Georgia for 2 years now. Pay up and be glad you don’t have to pay the full % I had to pay on a leased vehicle.

Yea I had to pay the fee when I leased in TX. Then GA's fee when I moved here. They at least revised it by the time I moved back to GA and only had to pay the smaller amount. But then my lease ended and I had to pay even more TAVT half a year later...

[midgeorgiaman]

Originally Posted by cittic10

That's great. What if you're moving in from another state and have already paid sales tax?

You still pay 7% to register in Georgia. It is ridiculous, but the law. The background is that the auto lobby pushed this because if you bought a used car from a dealer you paid sales tax while buying from an individual meant no sales tax. The auto dealer lobbyists won. Now, everyone pays a 7% registration fee regardless.

For current GA residents, it typically works out better than the old yearly ad valorem system as long as you don't get a new car every year.

For those moving to Georgia though....you get hammered especially if you have multiple vehicles. The worst thing you can do is buy a car in another state and pay sales tax there then move to GA...get here and have to pay another 7% registration fee.

Politics at its best.