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Tesla and Town Hall -- $50K too high on excise tax

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I don't know what's going on.....I got a letter from MassDOT yesterday that they'd sent to my town's Board of Assessors with the "correct" MSRP for the car, saying that the Registry's records were in error previously............guess I'm about to get billed for more?!?

Tslagrl - I'm the "other" MS in Dover and I too got the same letter. Do you know if we were overchanged or undercharged? I can't find my last two bills so can't compare the valuations originally provided to the town. I was thinking of call the Town House to ask but hate to raise questions that might cost me more taxes.
 
I just got my tax bill, and it looks like they valued it incorrectly as a P85 (at 88k). I called them and they said there was a mistake, that the actual valuation is 69,900. That's the base price of the model S 65 and seems (sorta) fair to me. I asked them about the $54900 valuation last year, and they insisted it was the 50% valuation that you get if you buy a car for the model year coming up (e.g. buy a 2014 Tesla and take dellivery in 2013). That seems an extremely unlikely case. However they wouldn't budge, unless I could give them plate numbers. So if anyone actually get a valuation of $54900 on their 2013 Tesla for the year 2013, and is willing to pm me I'd be happy to fight the battle again.
 
Tslagrl - I'm the "other" MS in Dover and I too got the same letter. Do you know if we were overchanged or undercharged? I can't find my last two bills so can't compare the valuations originally provided to the town. I was thinking of call the Town House to ask but hate to raise questions that might cost me more taxes.

Hi there Jack
I think we were slightly undercharged but I've been struggling to find my bills too. I am lying low and hoping Karen doesn't catch up with us LOL.
 
I just got my tax bill, and it looks like they valued it incorrectly as a P85 (at 88k). I called them and they said there was a mistake, that the actual valuation is 69,900. That's the base price of the model S 65 and seems (sorta) fair to me. I asked them about the $54900 valuation last year, and they insisted it was the 50% valuation that you get if you buy a car for the model year coming up (e.g. buy a 2014 Tesla and take dellivery in 2013). That seems an extremely unlikely case. However they wouldn't budge, unless I could give them plate numbers. So if anyone actually get a valuation of $54900 on their 2013 Tesla for the year 2013, and is willing to pm me I'd be happy to fight the battle again.

If the car was valued at $90k new by the state the bills should be:

The year the car was purchased (2013): $90k x 90% = $81k x .025 = $2,025 (multiplied by the % of the year you owned the car)
Year 2 (2014): $90k x 60% = $54k x .025 = $1,350
Year 3 (2015): $90k x 40% = $36k x .025 = $900

If your year 2 bill says the valuation is $88k, they are saying the new value was $146k
If your year 2 bill says the valuation is $69k, they are saying the new value was $115k
If your year 1 bill says the valuation is $55k, they are saying the new value was $61k
If your year 1 bill says the valuation is $80k, they are saying the new value was $89k
 
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It seems the registry is clueless about Model S variants. Some are coming out ahead, some not so much. My 2012 was among the first production models delivered in the PRM (12-12-12). Having looked back, they had me classified as a 'signature' with a $130K MSRP - I have a plain old 85. It was a brutal process to get it adjusted back to what I paid. Not sure how they got to $54K, but seems that it's random among the models. Looks like someone figured out that they undershot some and are correcting.
 
The year the car was purchased (2013): $90k x 90% = $81k x .025 = $2,025 (multiplied by the % of the year you owned the car)
Year 2 (2014): $90k x 60% = $54k x .025 = $1,350
Year 3 (2015): $90k x 40% = $36k x .025 = $900

I see room for confusion, whether at the registry or here, surrounding how excise ordinarly goes up, then down on new cars. It's sort of unique to Tesla, when you consider their "designated year" of construction:

"In the year preceding the designated year of manufacture 50%
In the year of manufacture 90%
In the second year 60%
In the third year 40%
In the fourth year 25%
In the fifth and succeeding years 10%"

MA residents are better off with Tesla as they designate model years consistent with production. The full brunt of the 50%, then 90% over a full year, then 60, 40, 25, to 10%, is something we avoid, as nobody will be able to buy a 2015 before 2015 actually arrives. I calculate it being about $1,200 more, over time, if Tesla merely designated its current sales as 2015 model year cars. By being '14's, there's only about a quarter of the year left to be exposed to the higher 90% excise. That's pretty substantial.

I hope this makes sense.
 
I just got the excise tax bill on my 2013 P85+ and it was valued at $36200, which traslated to a $300 cost for the rest of the year. I'm expecting that my valuation for the next year would drop and it won't exceed over $1000 for the entire year (Wilmington charges $25 per $1000 of valuation for the year).
 
I see room for confusion, whether at the registry or here, surrounding how excise ordinarly goes up, then down on new cars. It's sort of unique to Tesla, when you consider their "designated year" of construction:

"In the year preceding the designated year of manufacture 50%
In the year of manufacture 90%
In the second year 60%
In the third year 40%
In the fourth year 25%
In the fifth and succeeding years 10%"

MA residents are better off with Tesla as they designate model years consistent with production. The full brunt of the 50%, then 90% over a full year, then 60, 40, 25, to 10%, is something we avoid, as nobody will be able to buy a 2015 before 2015 actually arrives. I calculate it being about $1,200 more, over time, if Tesla merely designated its current sales as 2015 model year cars. By being '14's, there's only about a quarter of the year left to be exposed to the higher 90% excise. That's pretty substantial.

I hope this makes sense.

Can someone comfirm that this is how MA actually billed them?

That's how I read it. I'm about to put my order in for a December delivery. It would be a HUGE bonus to only have to pay 1/12th of that 90% valuation, since this is a 2014 car.
 
Can't confirm, but suspect that MA depreciates the cars on schedule (or should, anyway) when they provide "value". Even this makes it tough to see how a P85+ could be $36,200, when 36.2k/60%= only $60,333 when new?? Now, I wish they sold cars.
 
Can't confirm, but suspect that MA depreciates the cars on schedule (or should, anyway) when they provide "value". Even this makes it tough to see how a P85+ could be $36,200, when 36.2k/60%= only $60,333 when new?? Now, I wish they sold cars.

Well, just placed my order. Provided Tesla gets it to me by December, I'll be sure to let you know!
 
Another season of excise. 1st full year bill, for 2014 MS 85, for 2015 tax year "#2". This means valuation would be at 60% of MSRP. Taking their "55,800"/.6 = $93,000. My other excise bills back into the base MSRP, w/o options. This value is several thousand higher, even than the car optioned out.

Just giving a heads up, that it is still fishy how MA is handling Tesla vehicles. I think it should be 79,900?
 
Another season of excise. 1st full year bill, for 2014 MS 85, for 2015 tax year "#2". This means valuation would be at 60% of MSRP. Taking their "55,800"/.6 = $93,000. My other excise bills back into the base MSRP, w/o options. This value is several thousand higher, even than the car optioned out.

Just giving a heads up, that it is still fishy how MA is handling Tesla vehicles. I think it should be 79,900?

Why are you dividing by 0.6? For 60%, shouldn't you be multiplying?

My math:
$55,800 * 0.6 = $33,480.
$33,480/1000*25 = $837.
 
Another season of excise. 1st full year bill, for 2014 MS 85, for 2015 tax year "#2". This means valuation would be at 60% of MSRP. Taking their "55,800"/.6 = $93,000. My other excise bills back into the base MSRP, w/o options. This value is several thousand higher, even than the car optioned out.

Just giving a heads up, that it is still fishy how MA is handling Tesla vehicles. I think it should be 79,900?

So I got my excise bill for 1 month of owning my P85D in 2014: $175.38

Valuation is listed at $83,700 which I suspect is 0.9*$93,000...maybe they're using a single value for all Teslas
 
Another season of excise. 1st full year bill, for 2014 MS 85, for 2015 tax year "#2". This means valuation would be at 60% of MSRP. Taking their "55,800"/.6 = $93,000. My other excise bills back into the base MSRP, w/o options. This value is several thousand higher, even than the car optioned out.

Just giving a heads up, that it is still fishy how MA is handling Tesla vehicles. I think it should be 79,900?

Just got mine for a P85. Valuation is 66,000, or 110,000 * 0.60. According to http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisexc/excidx.htm, the base price is supposed to be as quoted by NADA. However, according to the NADA website, a 2014 Tesla Model S Performance model has a base price of 93,400 which matches the base price that I paid. For a 2014 Model S 85, NADA has 79,900 as a base.

The web site above has a number of contact points. I'm not sure which, if any, can help change any of this.
 
I filed locally, which was forwarded to massDOT. Got this back, direct from massDOT:

"The registry records were in error...for plate XXXXXX......MSRP 79.9k" The petition was against 93k, and they put it back to where other cars have been valued, for me (base, no options). I haven't seen a local response, yet.

They state didn't acknowledge they would be adjusting whatever this database is. So, it looks like we are each on our own, if you want yours rectified.
 
I filed locally, which was forwarded to massDOT. Got this back, direct from massDOT:

"The registry records were in error...for plate XXXXXX......MSRP 79.9k" The petition was against 93k, and they put it back to where other cars have been valued, for me (base, no options). I haven't seen a local response, yet.

They state didn't acknowledge they would be adjusting whatever this database is. So, it looks like we are each on our own, if you want yours rectified.

Like I mentioned last Sept, MassDOT knows full well their database is whacked, and they don't have any interest in fixing the problem (since the errors seem to be in their favor).

Take a good long look at your bill, and don't expect the problem to "fix itself" - you need to be proactive. Caveat Emptor, and all that jazz.

WHDH (channel 7) did an expose on this last week. Apparently, overcharging MA drivers on excise bills is pretty common due to errors in the registry's price database, it's been going on for years, they know about it, and they have no real interest in correcting the problem. What a surprise... :rolleyes:

Hank Investigates: Excise Tax Bill Errors - 7News Boston WHDH-TV