Maine taxes (Washington: homes, unemployment, buy)
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???? I lived in California for over two decades and never have I heard of anyone paying 'property tax' on a vehicle. Aside form simply repeating how happy you are to be enjoying Maine's low taxes, can you please show me some links to this "property tax" in the state of California. Seriously. I would like to show my mom-who has lived in California everyday of her life since the early Sixties this 'property tax' that you speak of. I am sure that she is waiting in anticipation to pay it.
California State Senate Republican Caucus (broken link)
???? I lived in California for over two decades and never have I heard of anyone paying 'property tax' on a vehicle. ...
Ooops you are right.
In California they do not call it "Property tax"
They call it 'Vehicle License Fee"
Quote:
The VLF was established by the Legislature in 1935 in lieu of a property tax on vehicles. The formula for VLF assessment established by the Legislature is based upon the purchase price of the vehicle or the value of the vehicle when acquired. The VLF decreases with each renewal for the first 11 years. The DMV returns almost all vehicle license fee revenue to the cities and counties
There is a really good summary of this issue on the National Conference of State Legislature web site. There are twenty states that do not have state value based taxes on vehicles and two...Ohio and Illinois exempt all personal property from taxation. According to the website, most vehicle are taxed in some way...either by weight, or different registration fees.
Of the states that have a value based tax program for vehicle, Rhode Island is the worst, and that is determined by the local taxation agency. The vehicle tax there can be as high as 5.4% compared with Maine, which begins at 2.4% of the MSRP and decreases to .4% in the sixth year and thereafter.
In Maine the motor vehicle excise tax is a local tax that remains in the local community, and is one of the few methods by which the local community has to raise revenues other than the residential and commercial real property tax. In many states vehicle taxes are returned to the local communities when collected by states.
Excise taxes such as are collected in Maine are deductible from the Federal Income Tax Return for those who itemize deductions when filing.
Of the states that have a value based tax program for vehicle, Rhode Island is the worst, and that is determined by the local taxation agency. The vehicle tax there can be as high as 5.4% compared with Maine, which begins at 2.4% of the MSRP and decreases to .4% in the sixth year and thereafter.
I think this is the reference you are referring to. The actual wording is as follows:
Quote:
States with uniform tax rates reported effective rates ranging from a low of 0.5 percent in Michigan to a high of 2.4 percent in Arizona and Maine. The median rate in the 16 states with uniform state or local rates is 1.8 percent.
In states with rates determined locally, there were enormous disparities among and within the states. The highest reported rate was in Rhode Island, where one local jurisdiction levied a tax at 5.4 percent of value. The lowest reported rate was in Alabama, where one jurisdiction levied a property tax at only 0.3 percent of market value. Using reported statewide average rates and the midpoint of reported averages, the range is from 0.6 percent in Arkansas to 3.6 percent in Virginia. The state median average or midpoint rate in local personal property taxes is 1.9 percent, close to the median rate of 1.8 percent in states with uniform in lieu rates.
Taken from: State and Local Value-Based Taxes on Motor Vehicles (http://www.ncsl.org/programs/fiscal/autotaxs.htm - broken link)
And the way it is worded I was wrong earlier when I said I had not lived in a state that charged a property tax on vehicles. Michigan does charge a tax on vehicles, but it is administered as a license plate fee, all payable at the DMV under one fee.
And don't forget the latest out of Augusta. Increase in license fee by $15. Apparently it costs that much to ask someone if they're a legal citizen.
I just renewed mine. I lucked into an eight year license for $40. Who knows what it will cost eight years from now. A new photo is optional now. If I'd kept my old picture I'd have a photo of me at age 38 when my current license expires when I'm 52. I didn't think it was a great idea.
I have a book "just published" called "Americas best low-taxed towns. It is a state by state guide that gives specific tax information for each state.
So ASK AWAY. ..I'll find out anything you want????
What I do not like about Maine vehicle excise tax is how they base the mil rate on the origional "new" value" of the car and then lower the mil rate. .040 After 6 years your mil rate is locked and you pay the same amount for the life of the car....no matter how old it gets.
I was looking at williamsburg va and their personal property tax rate on vehicle's is .035 (less than maines lowest rate) and is based on the actual NADA value of the car which means the rate continually declines. ALSO exempt 65% of the first 20,000 value of the vehicle.
But after reading through this book carefully I have learned, as I think we have all concluded", that taxes are largley subjective. You really need to look at your situaion and see what is going to best fit you.
What I do not like about Maine vehicle excise tax is how they base the mil rate on the origional "new" value" of the car and then lower the mil rate. .040 After 6 years your mil rate is locked and you pay the same amount for the life of the car....no matter how old it gets.
I completely agree here. While I dislike the idea of paying taxes, I realize that there must be a mechanism in place to fund the maint. and repair of the roadways. However, Maine's method is unfair.
Taxation should be based on the current value of the vehicle, and in some cases the weight of the vehicle (heavier vehicles do more damage to roadways while lighter vehicles such as motorcycles barely affect it at all...and have fewer wheels).
(I have the same problem with the tolls as well, MC riders should get a break.)
If you want to see how the hungry Maine tax vulcher works, do a google search for "Maine airplane use tax" and you will see that the powers that be have decided that if you are from anywhere in the US that doesn't require you to pay a sales tax on your aircraft (and there are multiple states where that applies)..and you are silly enough to fly to Maine within the first year of owning your plane, and spend 20 consecutive days here, then the tax man will send you a bill for 5% of the purchase price of the aircraft. Now you don't have to be a Maine resident, you didn't purchase the aircraft in Maine, your only mistake was spending 20 consecutive days in Maine within one year of purchasing the plane.
Maryland does the exact same thing with Sailboats. Doesn't even have to be in the first year of owning it. We've owned our sailboat for over 5 years. Didn't pay sales tax in NH. Maryland wants to collect 5% (I think, maybe it was 6%) of the price if you spend more than 30 days there, no matter how long ago you bought your boat. It's why some cruisers avoid the Chesapeake, at least for very long.
At least Maine doesn't do that after the first year. Most places have the "first year" rule on stuff like that.
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