Personal property tax on a car I sold last year? (Arlington: sale, DMV)

[skyfire322]

I sold a car to the local junkyard in Winchester in November of 2012. I signed the title over to them, they cut me a check, I turned the plates in, done deal.

However, I just received something in the mail yesterday from the city of Winchester stating that I owe $58.00 for personal property tax, even though I reported that I sold the car at the DMV when I turned my plates in.

Does anyone know why I received this?

[DenKinVA]

I know that for Loudoun and Fairfax County you have to report the move, sale or disposal of a vehicle to the county. Just reporting it to the DMV doesn't mean that they will push that information down to the local level.

It is probably the same for Winchester. Have a look here:

Personal Property
Commissioner of the Revenue
Personal Property Proration Form (PDF)

Give a call to the Commissioner of the Revenue office at (540) 667-1815 and tell them your situation. I'm sure they will cut you slack especially if you have records of the sale in hand.

Best of luck.

[Pikantari]

Did you already pay January thru November of 2012? If not, that may be what is due.

[michgc]

Just send them a copy of the bill of sale and they should reverse the charge. We got a bill once after we got rid of a car, and that was all it took for them to correct the mistake.

[ChristineVA]

Always remember to go on line and report your change to the county you live in. The DMV does not transmit that info to each county.

[smarterguy]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Always remember to go on line and report your change to the county you live in. The DMV does not transmit that info to each county.

Arlington might be one of the exceptions. When I moved out, they told me I had to change my info on the DMV website before they'd stop billing me. Sigh...

I just moved from Alexandria, and they wanted a fax from the county I just moved to in order to prove I moved out.

Luckily, everyone I've dealt with was very helpful, and more or less nice. Even the lady who faxed the Alexandria office with my info was quick and just needed to be told to send it.

[johnsonkk]

It was new to me that counties in track vehicles. Not for registration, safety, emissions, or any other legit reason except to tax. It would be so much easier to just tack on the additional.bs tax while everyone is a dmv. It could simply be another column with the money going to that county. Having a, separate branch to collect vehicle taxes seems wasteful. The fact that the percentage varies by county is criminal. As a last option, it's a mystery why the state system doesn't talk to each county's office, especially when a private company (dmv select) interfaces just fine with the state system.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by johnsonkk

It was new to me that counties in track vehicles. Not for registration, safety, emissions, or any other legit reason except to tax. It would be so much easier to just tack on the additional.bs tax while everyone is a dmv. It could simply be another column with the money going to that county. Having a, separate branch to collect vehicle taxes seems wasteful. The fact that the percentage varies by county is criminal. As a last option, it's a mystery why the state system doesn't talk to each county's office, especially when a private company (dmv select) interfaces just fine with the state system.

I agree. They probably spend half of the tax revenue administering the collection/monitoring of the tax itself. Seems like if Virginia wants to keep on with the personal property tax nonsense, they should centralize it statewide.

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I agree. They probably spend half of the tax revenue administering the collection/monitoring of the tax itself. Seems like if Virginia wants to keep on with the personal property tax nonsense, they should centralize it statewide.

And they aren't that efficient. The same county tax office requires separate verification for each vehicle. The same owner (me) has to provide the same data for different vehicles. When asked, the tax office said each vehicle is independent and the system is not tracked through individuals. I bet if I paid one vehicle but not the other that the same tax office would track me [the individual] down to demand payment.

Just synch the systems, that's all were asking from our public offices.

[kimlou813]

This happened to me too years ago - Virgina was charging me personal property taxes on a vehicle that was sold 3 years prior - I wasn't even in the country anymore... I had relocated to Germany with Uncle Sam! I just had to prove when I sold the car and they voided the debt.

Good Luck!