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Personal Property Tax - Freaking Government Scam!!!

Some bad news for you, the amount taxed for this is going to be collected one way or another. Personally, I don't see much wrong with a use tax on a non-necessity that is weighted based on the value of the widget
I get it, but I disagree with it being a "non-necessity". I still have to drive anywhere - work, home depot, etc. There's not really a feasible public transportation option.

Although, technically, I could walk down to take a bus to get to another bus to get to the metro, but I'd have to plan like 3 hours to get to work.
 
I get it, but I disagree with it being a "non-necessity". I still have to drive anywhere - work, home depot, etc. There's not really a feasible public transportation option.

Although, technically, I could walk down to take a bus to get to another bus to get to the metro, but I'd have to plan like 3 hours to get to work.

These seem like choices to me unless you're a contractor and actually need to go to home depot or your job site changes regularly. Even still, those are choices
 
So when the taxman says, "Your vehicle is worth $50,000" can you say, "SOLD! YOU CAN HAVE IT FOR THAT PRICE!"
I thought about that. I'd love for that to be the case - they have to be willing to buy the car for that amount if they're going to assess it at that price.
 
These seem like choices to me unless you're a contractor and actually need to go to home depot or your job site changes regularly. Even still, those are choices
Ultimately, I guess everything in our lives is a choice.

I'd still say that unless you live somewhere like NYC or Boston, having a car is a necessity - as a practical matter.
 
I live in South Dakota. What you are describing is foreign to me. No F'ing way would I continue to pay an annual tax in personal property tax on something I've already paid sales tax on. This is literally a wealth tax.

OP, move to SoDak. It's a great state and I'd love to have you here. Vote with your feet.
 
I live in South Dakota. What you are describing is foreign to me. No F'ing way would I continue to pay an annual tax in personal property tax on something I've already paid sales tax on. This is literally a wealth tax.

OP, move to SoDak. It's a great state and I'd love to have you here. Vote with your feet.
Poser
 
Doesn’t VA require all sorts of stickers on your windshield? Safety sticker, county sticker? It’s been 25 years since I owned a car there so my memory is spotty.
 
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Doesn’t VA require all sorts of stickers on your windshield? Safety sticker, county sticker? It’s been 25 years since I owned a car there so my memory is spotty.
Virginia? Lol idk but f their cops. Got me speeding and I sent a local attorney their way. Dropped better than Skrillex could have envisioned.

Fight everything. Accept nothing.
 
I live in South Dakota. What you are describing is foreign to me. No F'ing way would I continue to pay an annual tax in personal property tax on something I've already paid sales tax on. This is literally a wealth tax.

OP, move to SoDak. It's a great state and I'd love to have you here. Vote with your feet.
I actually got a headhunter call to be noehm’s chief counsel. Boy would that have been a misfit. But sd was an attractive proposition
 
Plus my town tacks on another 1.05% and a $25 annual "vehicle license fee".

My son just moved to Fairfax - 4.5%. It does appear to cap at $20,000 valuation, but stil…

When we moved to Delaware I was pissed because we had to pay a “transfer fee” of about 4% to register our cars. But damn, at least we don’t pay it every year!
 
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My father-in-Law moved from Iow to Arkansas years ago. On a visit with him one day he mentioned “how much cheaper it was to register and license a car in Arkansas than it was in Iowa”....
A couple of years lTer in a similar conversation he mentioned how expensive Arkansas was as they taxed his car similarly as you mention....as someone said....the government is going to extract their tax money from you one way or another. It’s gonna work our about the same regardless of how “cheap” you think your taxes are.
The only alternative the government has is to reduce services. Everybody needs roads to drive on.
 
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You could cut that in half by moving over to Jefferson Co. But I assume those taxes are also why teachers that live in WV commute to Loudon to double their salary. I've known many that have done that.
 
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Unfamiliar with this "personal" property tax of which OP speaks,.. In Iowa we pay an annual property tax on the current value of your residence, a one time sales tax on the purchase of any vehicles, and an annual vehicle registration fee to license each of those vehicles,.. In addition to the normal Federal/State income, sales and capital gains taxes.
 
Unfamiliar with this "personal" property tax of which OP speaks,.. In Iowa we pay an annual property tax on the current value of your residence, a one time sales tax on the purchase of any vehicles, and an annual vehicle registration fee to license each of those vehicles,.. In addition to the normal Federal/State income, sales and capital gains taxes.

I don’t think many states tax PP. Some districts in Texas did, when I was there. But it was very small. They also taxed business PP - office supplies, inventory, etc. Which was crazy because they taxes gas and oil wells at their market value, which brought in TONS of money.
 
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Very few cities have both affordable housing and convenient mass transit. We have built a country that requires a vehicle for almost everyone.
Well, yeah, but we're a country that is essentially continental in size, and there aren't that many of them out there.

But as to the relationship between cities and housing costs, well, yes. If you're going to concentrate population, jobs, and economic growth in a finite area, demand for close in housing where you don't have to spend your life on a commute is going to up, and in a fixed supply environment, when money is cheap, price goes up too.

Personally, I think it's an incredibly unhealthy sign when a society's wealth is concentrated near its seat of government, as it has now become in the DC Metro area. We've become no better than the concept of "The Center" of the Soviet Union. And I say that as someone who lives here.
 
Have a buddy that worked in DC, not sure what state he lived in though. Might have been VA.

Anyways, he said he had to take his car to get inspected for emissions. Sounds like everyone does.

If you failed you needed to pay for any fix.

I'm like, "We don't have that crap in Iowa."

He did live in a good neighborhood, uncle had a >$1m house.
 
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I don’t think many states tax PP. Some districts in Texas did, when I was there. But it was very small. They also taxed business PP - office supplies, inventory, etc. Which was crazy because they taxes gas and oil wells at their market value, which brought in TONS of money.

Bottom line is they all need to collect a certain level of tax dollars to accommodate the budget,.. Multiple ways to skin a cat.
 
So glad Georgia scrapped the annual car tax several years ago. Still get taxed when the vehicle is bought but at least annually I only have to pay a small registration fee.
 
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So glad Georgia scrapped the annual car tax several years ago. Still get taxed when the vehicle is bought but at least annually I only have to pay a small registration fee.
Interestingly, VA used to be much worse -- no cap on the tax. I believe it was Gilmore who saw the political genius of running for governor on cutting the car tax, and won pretty quickly.
 
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Interestingly, VA used to be much worse -- no cap on the tax. I believe it was Gilmore who saw the political genius of running for governor on cutting the car tax, and won pretty quickly.
I learned today that he was able to get a 20% credit for the personal property tax. So there's an assessed value, and then a taxed value that's 20% less - for the first $20k of assessed value. So if you have a $100k car, you're getting a break on $20k, and full fare on the remaining $80k.
 
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Have a buddy that worked in DC, not sure what state he lived in though. Might have been VA.

Anyways, he said he had to take his car to get inspected for emissions. Sounds like everyone does.

If you failed you needed to pay for any fix.

I'm like, "We don't have that crap in Iowa."

He did live in a good neighborhood, uncle had a >$1m house.
Yeah, the counties each decide if they have an emissions requirement. It's generally the closer in suburb counties that do, and the further out, more rural counties that don't have it. I think the test is only $20 or $25, but if you fail you have to fix the problem and pass before you can renew your registration.
 
I learned today that he was able to get a 20% credit for the personal property tax. So there's an assessed value, and then a taxed value that's 20% less - for the first $20k of assessed value. So if you have a $100k car, you're getting a break on $20k, and full fare on the remaining $80k.
This is why I pretty much always buy a gently used car. First year depreciation is crazy, and the reality is, cars are incredibly reliable these days. It's also a reason I'd be unlikely to go electric.
 
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Bottom line is they all need to collect a certain level of tax dollars to accommodate the budget,.. Multiple ways to skin a cat.
I get that a) I chose to live here, and b) there are worse places for taxes, but it still feels like they're skinning the same cat a whole lot of different ways. I've got:
Fed income tax
State income tax
County personal property tax
County real estate tax
Local personal property tax
Sales tax
Restaurant tax
Fuel tax

And of course I recognize that there are services being provided with that money. The schools are good (even if they're in the national news too often), the roads are good, plenty of police and fire/rescue, good fireworks shows every 4th of July, etc. I just wish they didn't have to get into my pockets in so many different ways!
 
I get that a) I chose to live here, and b) there are worse places for taxes, but it still feels like they're skinning the same cat a whole lot of different ways. I've got:
Fed income tax
State income tax
County personal property tax
County real estate tax
Local personal property tax
Sales tax
Restaurant tax
Fuel tax

And of course I recognize that there are services being provided with that money. The schools are good (even if they're in the national news too often), the roads are good, plenty of police and fire/rescue, good fireworks shows every 4th of July, etc. I just wish they didn't have to get into my pockets in so many different ways!
Do you also get to pay tolls on the Greenway?
 
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You could cut that in half by moving over to Jefferson Co. But I assume those taxes are also why teachers that live in WV commute to Loudon to double their salary. I've known many that have done that.
I think every teacher that my daughter had in school commuted in from WV. A LOT of people that drive into Tyson's do too. I'm ~40 minutes from work and an hour from DC - that's about the right distance for me. I'm close to the mountains and the wineries and Harper's Ferry, etc. but not too far from where I need to go. Moving across the border adds another 30 minutes each way.

Do you live in Jefferson County?
 
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Do you also get to pay tolls on the Greenway?
Oh yeah, that's a whole other thing! When I drive into work or that direction I usually take the greenway/tollway. Pre-covid when it was every day I was spending ~$30/day in tolls and gas commuting to/from work.

Again, that's a choice. I could take Rt7 and add another 30 minutes each way, but I opt to pay for the quicker trip. Now that I only go in Tuesdays and some Thursdays, it's a lot more tolerable.
 
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