Expensive license plates in Minnesota

[cottylowry]

Yikes, I just got my license tab notice from the State of MN. They have valued my 2013, SN4531 car -- an oldie -- at $88,000 with a bill of $720.00 for the tabs. I paid $66,000 a year ago, being the very first used Tesla to be registered in MN. It was not in the state database as a make or model at all. I accurately reported the purchase of my car from a private party to the State, at what I actually paid.

Comps on TMC are in the mid 50's to $60K, at least 32% lower than their opinion of value. Any ideas on getting a state agency to reduce their estimate of value? Curious if this is happening in other parts of the country.

 

[MsElectric]

Yikes, I just got my license tab notice from the State of MN. They have valued my 2013, SN4531 car -- an oldie -- at $88,000 with a bill of $720.00 for the tabs. I paid $66,000 a year ago, being the very first used Tesla to be registered in MN. It was not in the state database as a make or model at all. I accurately reported the purchase of my car from a private party to the State, at what I actually paid.

Comps on TMC are in the mid 50's to $60K, at least 32% lower than their opinion of value. Any ideas on getting a state agency to reduce their estimate of value? Curious if this is happening in other parts of the country.

Let them know you will gladly sell your car to them for $88K if they think that's what it is worth.

Just show them a CPO comp.

 

[CHG-ON]

Do you have a receipt for purchase? Would that work?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Here in Colorado, they base the registration fees on the taxable value of the car. If I got lucky and bought one at auction for $100, they would still charge based on a formulated value based on the original (when new) price.

Registration fees are comprised of both LICENSE FEES and OWNERSHIP TAX.*

License Fees: These fees are based upon the age and weight of the vehicle. They can range from fifty (50) to several hundred dollars. The average LICENSE FEE for passenger vehicles and light trucks is approximately $125.00.*

Ownership Tax: Ownership tax is based on the age and TAXABLE VALUE of the vehicle. TAXABLE VALUE is a percentage of the MSRP (Manufacture Suggested Retail Price) or list price when new. See the percentages in the chart below. Take the TAXABLE VALUE times the percentage based on the age of the vehicle.*

Example: I purchase a passenger vehicle and the original list price was $85,000. To estimate my fees, I take the list price x 85% x 2.1% and then add the license fee: $85000 x 85% = $72250 x 2.1%=$1517.25 + $125.00 = $1642.25

$720 isn't cheap but still cheaper than what I'll have to pay. When I buy my Tesla, I've calculated the first year registration fees to be over $1600. The next four years after that will gradually decrease.

Year 1 = $1642.25
Year 2 = $1208.75
Year 3 = $992
Year 4 = $775.25
Year 5-9 = $450.13
Year 10+ = $128
(Above assumes $125 per year license fees.)

Note that they based the taxable on the MSRP of the base price car (hopefully not including the options).

I've had my current vehicle for nearly 19 years and while the owner's tax is only $3 a year, the other license fees amount to about $50 so I pay about $53 a year now. While the total price of the car when new was $25,000, the taxable value was based on the MSRP of the base vehicle price which was around $19,000.

 

[hockeythug]

Yeah, they do it like that so everyone is paying their "fair" share of taxes in case someone sold you the car for a $1 or something like that(extreme example). Minnesota is 1.25% of the value of the car. Since they have limited data they are going to use MSRP. The calculated value drops by 10% each year so you are looking at either 90% or 80% of the original value.

 

[Mike K]

This is how it is in California too. I thought it was just California being California and trying to find another way to reach into your pocket for money but Colorado... I mean wow.

I lucked out and had my old Illinois plates hanging around. It was a flat $1500 in taxes and $121 registration fee and I was good to go. Every year you're simply paying for new stickers to the tune of $121, nothing else.

Since they're grabbing this much from you guys, do you also pay full sales tax at purchase?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

This is how it is in California too. I thought it was just California being California and trying to find another way to reach into your pocket for money but Colorado... I mean wow.

I lucked out and had my old Illinois plates hanging around. It was a flat $1500 in taxes and $121 registration fee and I was good to go. Every year you're simply paying for new stickers to the tune of $121, nothing else.

Since they're grabbing this much from you guys, do you also pay full sales tax at purchase?

Yes, unfortunately. I estimate my sales taxes (first year only) will be close to $7000. Fortunately we do have a $6000 tax credit for alternative vehicles which can even be applied to used cars. That will cancel out most of the sales tax.

At one time, my annual fees were as low as $28 ($25 fee + $3 owner taxes) ...but they started adding new fees for road and bridge maintenance so now I'm running about $53 a year. A new car will really bump that number up!

 

[hockeythug]

Since they're grabbing this much from you guys, do you also pay full sales tax at purchase?

Yep. 6.5% on the total sale price of the vehicle.

 

[Parnoren]

15% sales tax on luxury cars here in British Columbia, Canada. Normally 12% on cars, but an added 3% for expensive vehicles.

 

[eloder]

Other state laws are insane. My plates and registration cost just over $50 a year. $100 if I decide to go with a personalized plate

 

[Caligula]

Could be worse...

The Most Expensive Place In The World To Buy A Car | John Chow dot Com

Just when I thought I was getting over the sticker shock of prices in Singapore ($19.99 for a pound of BC Cherries!), I got completely knocked to the floor when I found out my Jaguar F Type cost $550,000 here! Even if I was willing to pay $550K, I still wouldn’t be able to buy it. Before I can buy a car, I must first buy a piece of paper call the “Certificate of Entitlement” or COE. The COE grants the legal right of the holder to register, own and use a vehicle in Singapore for a period of Ten years. When demand is high, the cost of a COE can exceed the value of the car itself. Currently, the price of a COE is up to $70,000.

Also this:

http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-expensive-places-to-buy-a-car-1256855393

 

[hockeythug]

Jesse Ventura was upset how much is was for his Hummer so when he was governor his administration instituted $99 and $189 caps on registration fees. Those were repealed in 2008 though.

 

[Caligula]

Jesse Ventura was upset how much is was for his Hummer so when he was governor his administration instituted $99 and $189 caps on registration fees. Those were repealed in 2008 though.

Cutting through that red tape like:

:biggrin:

 

[brucet999]

This is how it is in California too. I thought it was just California being California and trying to find another way to reach into your pocket for money but Colorado... I mean wow.

I lucked out and had my old Illinois plates hanging around. It was a flat $1500 in taxes and $121 registration fee and I was good to go. Every year you're simply paying for new stickers to the tune of $121, nothing else.

Since they're grabbing this much from you guys, do you also pay full sales tax at purchase?

CA tacks on 7.5% to 9% (depending on county) onto the sale price. Registration is an additional cost. Now they are proposing a per mile tax to replace the highway fuel taxes that electric cars don't pay. That one actually seems fair if the money were truly reserved for highway maintenance, but they regularly steal highway funds for other uses.

 

[jeffro01]

Registration is an Now they are proposing a per mile tax to replace the highway fuel taxes that electric cars don't pay. That one actually seems fair if the money were truly reserved for highway maintenance, but they regularly steal highway funds for other uses.

Agreed, I have no problems with the per mile tax to replace the gas tax under the following conditions. There is a mechanism to accurately record that data without "tracking" my car, and two, the money is locked away only for CalTrans. Given that this is CA we can certainly get a proposition that does the second part. It's the mileage reporting that's the trickier part...

Jeff

 

[Quantum`]

Serves them right for living in Singapore.

I had to pay WA an extra annual flat fee of $210 when I converted my Jeep to propane. (LPG has no road tax, so this made up for it, assuming 13k miles/year) I thought that leading 'P' in my title number would get me some privilege or other as this is liberal WA, but SURPRISE!