[sactown024]

I need some clarification on the personal car tax. I basically moved to CT in 2013 and by my surprise I got this crazy tax unexpectedly. 2 years of CT has been more than enough for me and I am finally getting out of here.

I Just paid about $750 in car tax in July. When I move, I would like to get the most out of my money and not pay for registration in NH until I have to, since I just paid this huge tax in CT. I know the CT tax is paid annually on cars registered on October 1st, but is this being paid for the year ahead or are we paying for the past year?

for instance - I paid my tax in July of 2014. Was I paying for the term of July 2013-July 2014 or did I pay for the term of July 2014 to July2015?

Basically I am wondering, in order to avoid the tax again, should I register my car in NH before October 1st of 2014 or would I still avoid it if I waited until the end of June (since they bill you in July).

I hope this makes sense....

[Raider111]

yes, turn in your plates before Oct 1st so it's off the towns grand list, and keep the receipt handy, in case they try to ********* which they probably will.

[sactown024]

LOL, thanks Raider111

[reed303]

Here is what the Farmington says on it's website at Town of Farmington

"
I recently returned my license plates to DMV and was told to contact my local Town Assessor. What do I have to do now?

• If the vehicle was sold, stolen, totaled, junked, donated, repossessed or registered in another state, you may be entitled to an assessment adjustment on the vehicle in question. Please see the required documentation for motor vehicle assessment changes for further information. Please note: DMV does NOT notify the towns each time a registration is cancelled."

IOW, you will be billed for the partial year 2013/2014 that car is registered in CT. July is only the payment due date. The Oct date is the assessment date. You must show the Town the receipt from DMV to get the pro-rated bill.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by reed303

"DMV does NOT notify the towns each time a registration is cancelled."

You get a paper receipt in the mail from the DMV when you return the plates. You then have to copy that receipt and mail it to your town's tax office to get the vehicle off the list.

Then (in our case, your mileage may vary) you have call the town tax office to make sure it actually happened.

Seems like a simple process like this would be possible to automate. But it's manual all the way.

[sezzam]

Originally Posted by sactown024

...
Basically I am wondering, in order to avoid the tax again, should I register my car in NH before October 1st of 2014 or would I still avoid it if I waited until the end of June (since they bill you in July).
...

Most NH towns require vehicle inspection and registration to coincide with the birth month of the first owner listed on the title. So, if you move to NH before your birth month, you will get a complete vehicle inspection but you will pay only part-year taxes. You will then repeat this exercise in your birth month, and then every year after that.

(I believe most towns waive the second inspection if the first one is within a month or two of the birth month.)

You might already know that NH towns charge a "property tax" on cars although the tax rate for cars is less than the rate for real property.

[Sigequinox]

Register the car in another state as soon as you can. Get out of here sooner than that. NH is gorgeous, their laws and taxes are reasonable, salaries are adequate and QOL is good. Smaller industries, but depending on your line of work you can do quite well for yourself. By far my favorite of the New England states.

Best of luck. Send a post card, will ya...

[Lalalally]

To answer part of your question - the car taxes you just paid last month (July 1st) were based on the vehicle(s) you owned as of October 1st LAST year. So you pay behind, not forward. That said, you would be wise to transfer your registration as soon as possible, and definitely before October 1 this year. Note: be prepared to receive a CT tax bill next year to cover the taxes from 10/2/13 through whatever date you "unregister" in CT. For example, if you were to transfer your plates today, next year you will receive a CT tax bill for the period 10/2/13 through 8/19/14 -- 10 1/2 months as opposed to a full year. You're so close to the cutoff though that I can't imagine it will really matter much...sorry

[ctwhitechin]

I jut went through the same thing. Moved to Florida in April and registered my vehicles the same week we moved here. That was a big expense but a one time expense because going forward Florida only charges about $40 annually for our vehicles, no car tax.

Got a bill in July from Ct for both trucks, since the DMV doesn't communicate with the individual towns in regards to cancelling of registrations. I mailed back the plates obviously that wasn't enough, so I called Middletown tax office, they mailed me a revised bill covering from October 2013 to the day they receieved our cancellation notices in The beginning of May. They wanted a copy of our new registration for both vehicles as well as the copy of the cancellations from the CT DMV. So yes they will hunt you down lol.