Vinnyvagus

OK so this was not something I expected. So I have been in the US for over 7 months now, here in Raleigh, NC. Anyway in January we got a new vehicle which is a 3 year leased vehicle. Paid all the usual taxes at the time. The leasing company (Enterprise) dealt with a lot of it for as (being all new to this.)

This week though I received my usual monthly lease statement from the lease company but this month included a $311 Personal property Tax (WAKE COUNTY) bill?

OK this was not expected but then reading about personal property tax on the net it appears this included vehicles (not just property)

My question is how do they work out the $311? Its a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe. I just feel this is too high. I found an example on the net about a car worth $8,500 and works it out as followed:

$85,000 / 100 = $85
$85 x .534 = $45.39 tax amount

The Hyundai which was valued at $25,000
So in the example i work it out to be:

$25,000 / 100 = $250
$250 x .534 (Wake county) = $133.50 tax due?

So as you can see I am not sure why I have a $311 Personal Proprty Tax from Wake County invoice attached to my usualy lease vehicle statement this month?

Hope someone can explain as this is all new to me (and unexpected as "assumed" this kinda tax was for home only...)

AmerLisa

Wow! I thought road tax covered cars? Now someone has come up with a way to add another tax on to it? Seriously?

md95065

I think that you are being confused by the terminology.

If by "property" you mean things like your house, then that is normally referred to as "real property" in the US - other things such as cars are "personal property" so, yes, it makes sense that cars could be subject to a personal property tax (if you are unlucky enough to live somewhere that has such a tax ...)

Vinnyvagus

OK so if thats the case, and it does seem the case, I just wanted to figure out how this kind of tax works?

How the figure is worked out? (my example above is from a site I found but would assume my bill to be $133 not $311?)

Is this an annual fee?

Just ANOTHER Tax it seems we have to pay here!

meauxna

Personal property tax is a county issued thing. Talk to your local government to find out what it is funding.
It was a done click google search to get there: http://www.wakegov.com/tax/personalproperty/default.htm

Duncan Roberts

Was it included on your lease statement or was it completely separate and issues by the county? Maybe the lease company jacked on a fee or miss-calculated it or the county was provided incorrect information. Call up and see, it does seem like it should be $133 though.

Bluegrass Lass

Have you verified your tax rate for your county? You need to know what value was used for your car (i.e. did they value it at $10k, $20k, etc). Also, here in KY there are multiple categories we are taxed for, and each category has its own tax rate. Is the .534 your total tax rate, or just the tax rate for one specific category?

Just to give you an example, when we bought our brand new 2008 Civic, valued at around $18k, we paid out approx $350 in taxes. BTW, this is in KY, so won't directly apply to the tax rates that you may pay in NC, but should give you an idea.

When we receive our yearly tax bill, not only does it include the property tax, it also includes our yearly registration fee. What is your registration fee? Perhaps that has also been included.

Vinnyvagus

Some helpful tips there on TRYING to understand this all. I will call Enterprise on Tuesday to try and find out what this is all about. I am just getting overwhelmed with all these taxes. Filing taxes coming from the UK is all new to me aswell but I paid for advice and help with that back in March. Now I have this bill land on me! jeez!

As for the way this figure arrived to me. It was my standard letter/invoice from Enterprise leasing. Mentioned.... Monthly fee for June = X amount. Additional Sum = Personal property Tax (Wake Count) = $311. Total charge for June = X amount. Money will be taken on 20th June.

Gee thanks!!

Duncan Roberts

And people from the UK still think that the US has lower taxes than the UK! It's almost certainly a data entry error considering if you swap the 3 for a 1 and the 1's for 3's you get the amount of tax you figured you owe.

Orangepants

In SC we also pay personal property tax on the cars in the same way. This is how ours is done:

Value of car $12,000 x 6%(assessment) X millage .304 = $218.88.

Is your assessment at only 1%?

In SC domiciled property is assessed at 4% and everything else at 6%.

I paid it online and 2 weeks later received the sticker to put on the licence plate for 2012.

NB Our millage rate is low but we dont get much for it in Lake Wylie!

Bob

Separate tax...sometimes called a town excise tax, that's what it is in MA....it's $25 for every $1000 value of the car, that the state thinks it is worth.

Our 11 year old car hasn't dropped in value since the day we bought it

It's annual....if you don't pay it within a couple of months, they add on a whole bunch of extras...perhaps that is what is happening here?

Bluegrass Lass

All of our property taxes, which includes cars, boats, RVs, etc, go to pay for the public schools. Very little goes to the roads, as I understand it. Property taxes on homes are assessed separately.

Orangepants

I just looked at the breakdown of where our tax is allocated:
About 60% to schools, 15% to county operations, 10% to repaying some bonds and $2 towards culture, oh and they also throw $2 at the library!! More than I would have thought having been to several libraries in the area

Brit3964

$311 for a car valued at $25,000 is not bad compared to here in SC. My then new 2005 Honda Accord Coupe was worth $25k and the first year property tax was $435. Of course here in SC they make you pay it up front, not at the end of the year.

Brit3964

Most of it is for the schools and yet the public schools are still starved of cash. Supposedly the state lotto helps to make up the shortfall.