Model X + Personal Property Tax = Expensive

[EarlyAdopter]

Well, now I don't feel as bad about our vehicle tax going up from 0.3% to 1.1% here in King County, WA.

 

[XHokie]

*I know a lot of you already know about personal property taxes, my wife and I have had to learn all of this stuff on our own.

Just thought I'd throw this out there as people moving to VA with a Tesla (or any expensive car) might want to know about the personal property tax situation here. In short, you must pay $ per year to own your car. The more your car is worth, the more $ you pay per year.

Currently, I'm unaware of any EV tax relief.

My wife and I just moved to Leesburg, VA from Fairfax County, VA. We are already aware of the county property tax that Virginia counties have. Each county in VA uses the Eastern Edition of NADA’s Official Used Car Guide. Specifically, the Department of Tax Administration (DTA) uses the clean trade-in value published in the January edition of the pricing guide. Anyway, each county has a % that differs from others that you must pay either bi-annually or annually. There is a tax relief so the owner pays a % of the tax up to the value of $20k and then pays 100% of the tax up to the value of the vehicle after.

We used to live in Fairfax County and not in a town or city so we've only had to pay just the county property tax there on our vehicles. Now that we moved to Leesburg, VA we not only have to pay the Loudoun County property tax, but we also have to pay a Leesburg, VA property tax... lol.

Just to recap when purchasing a vehicle here in VA:
VA Initial Sales Tax - 4.15%
County Personal Property Tax - Differs
Town Personal Property Tax - Differs

Our old location:
Fairfax County tax - 4.57%

Our new location:
Loudown County tax - 4.2% | tax relief is 60.5% on the first $20k
Leesburg, VA tax - 1% | tax relief 52% on the first $20k

For a $100,000 car in Loudoun County it would cost:
$100,000 * .042 = $4200
Relief calculation:
$20,000 * .042 = $840
$840 * .605 = $508.2
Total with relief:
$4200 - $508.2 = $3,691.80

Now to calculate same car value in Leesburg, VA:
$100,000 * .01 = $1000
Relief calculation:
$20,000 * .01 = $200
$200 * .38 = $104
Total with relief:
$1000 - $200 = $800

Now to add both taxes...
Loudoun County + Leesburg:
$3,691.80 + $800 = $4,491.80

That comes out to $374.32 per month just to pay personal property taxes on a $100k electric car. Now, I know this will go down slightly each year as the car devalues, but it's still quite a hard pill to swallow considering it's money out of your pocket. I was able to rationalize moving up to a more expensive car (Model X 75d) that doesn't have the gas costs of an ICE, but after we found out that we have to pay both the county and town personal property tax (we thought we would only have to pay the town tax), it bumps the Model X out of rationalization for us.

I feel your pain, also living in Loudoun County, VA. I'm actually looking into if personal property taxes are considered a deduction when filing your federal taxes. I believe they are...so, maybe some relief there.

 

[Lysol]

I feel your pain, also living in Loudoun County, VA. I'm actually looking into if personal property taxes are considered a deduction when filing your federal taxes. I believe they are...so, maybe some relief there.

You can itemize your Virginia personal property taxes (not the registration cost) on your federal deductions. Though, this only gets you back a little more on your state taxes.

 

[NerdDoc]

to the OP, ouch! I feel lucky that in NJ, no sales tax on EVs and no personal property tax on cars.

 

[jimmyjohn]

When I lived in Virginia, many of my co-workers --- who also lived in Virginia (full-fledged VA residents) --- had their cars registered in Pennsylvania (for some unknown reason ).

 

[andrewket]

I hate Virginia personal property tax. I don't think it's fair to charge sales tax and a recurring value tax.

 

[Hitman007]

That is insane. You should set up an LLC in Georgia and put Georgia plates on it. $20 a year for passenger vehicles.

 

[BigD0g]

That is insane. You should set up an LLC in Georgia and put Georgia plates on it. $20 a year for passenger vehicles.

I wonder how hard this would be...

 

[XHokie]

I wonder how hard this would be...

Let me take this a step further...how hard would this be!!?? #Genius

 

[Redmiata98]

Get real, guys. You live in the state and get their services, pay the tax. If you REALLY have heartburn, contact your legislatirs to change it. A few mooches in the area register their vehicles in DC but eventually get caught. Look at the total picture of taxes and benefits, you can always move to another state.

 

[Hitman007]

Not hard at all. An attorney there might charge $1k to set it up. Some time just for fun when you see one of those 45' diesel pusher motorhomes that cost from $300k to $3 million take a look at the plates. 75% will have Montana plates. Because in Montana it is a flat $300 per year licenses plate for a motorhome regardless of if its $100k or $3 million. There is an attorney in Missoula that advertises in all the RV magazines that he will set up your Montana LLC for $1,000.Its all legal. I agree that paying your fair share of taxes is fine but when it is ridiculous such as Virginia you have to draw the line.

 

[Hitman007]

Get real, guys. You live in the state and get their services, pay the tax. If you REALLY have heartburn, contact your legislatirs to change it. A few mooches in the area register their vehicles in DC but eventually get caught. Look at the total picture of taxes and benefits, you can always move to another state.

Or you can drive a $2,000 beater car. That would be good for the Virginia air quality.

 

[Roamer]

In Arizona Tesla can't sell you a car but you can buy as many as you want.
&
you can register a Tesla for five years for around $150.00 total cost.
The registration includes a blue sky plate that allows 24/7 carpool lane use.

Car dealers want to block Tesla sales but the state wants the clean air. Makes things interesting.

 

[mjeagent]

Ha. I live in Loudoun County and I agree personal property sucks. Last year I paid right around $40k for all my cars. What a waste of money.

 

[Lysol]

Ha. I live in Loudoun County and I agree personal property sucks. Last year I paid right around $40k for all my cars. What a waste of money.

Ouch... I bet that stings...

 

[Lysol]

Get real, guys. You live in the state and get their services, pay the tax. If you REALLY have heartburn, contact your legislatirs to change it. A few mooches in the area register their vehicles in DC but eventually get caught. Look at the total picture of taxes and benefits, you can always move to another state.

I don't have heartburn at all, though I don't think this was directed at me. I'm just simply stating the numbers as they can be surprising to some who didn't thoroughly plan their vehicle purchase (us included).

 

[XHokie]

Let me take this a step further...how hard would this be!!?? #Genius

Get real, guys. You live in the state and get their services, pay the tax. If you REALLY have heartburn, contact your legislatirs to change it. A few mooches in the area register their vehicles in DC but eventually get caught. Look at the total picture of taxes and benefits, you can always move to another state.

I don't have heartburn at all, though I don't think this was directed at me. I'm just simply stating the numbers as they can be surprising to some who didn't thoroughly plan their vehicle purchase (us included).

Yep, I apparently should have put an <insert sarcasm here> marker to my comment above...thought the big smiley face would have indicated that.

Definitely agree with the fact that the taxes we pay, while probably on the high side compared to other states/counties in the U.S., goes to cover a lot of good things/services, such as into the school system and building of new schools, recreational facilities, local parks, etc. Hopefully this thread not only gets future Loudoun Co., VA Tesla owners to take personal property taxes into account, but future Tesla owners, no matter where they live, to know their local tax rates/costs so they are not unpleasantly surprised.

 

[SpudLime]

Hopefully this thread not only gets future Loudoun Co., VA Tesla owners to take personal property taxes into account, but future Tesla owners, no matter where they live, to know their local tax rates/costs so they are not unpleasantly surprised.

New member looking at old threads. Model S comes in July. FAK! Ya gotta pay to play..

P.S. My wife is going to kill me once she sees this bill.

 

[P85_DA]

The op could always move to Montana - where vehicle cost - no matter how pricey - isn't even part of the equation ;

• Vehicles 4 years old and under: $217.
• Vehicles 5 to 10 years old: $87.
• Vehicles over 11 years old: $28 (if vehicle is not permanently registered).

+ no sales tax

.....did this and didn’t pay CAli taxes thanks Montana!

Montana LLC | Incorporate | $49 Montana Registered Agent

 

[AMPUP]

I think it works out that including sales tax and personal property tax in Virginia you pay anywhere upwards of $15k for 5 years of use. Taxation at its finest.

Also we get screwed on tesla as the tax is supposed to be on a base model. So for my wife’s Lincoln they tax based on KBB fair market on the lowest optioned model. For the Tesla when I registered in 2014 I didn’t get taxed on the S40 version, I was taxed on the black book price of a P85+ as Tesla were not in the KBB. I appealed and lost.