Submitted by Worsebetter t3_10nwcog in rva
I moved to a rental house jn henrico for a year. I moved from another state. I have two old cars that are paid for. I just received a letter about personal property tax? What is this? My cars are paid for? Is this yearly?
May be an age thing but it used to be worse. Gov Gilmore, who campaigned on eliminating the car did manage to reduce it by a large percentage but not eliminating it.
And blew a massive hole in the state budget in the process.
Stupid government spending did that.
Actually as I recall the state was having big surpluses similar to now so he campaigned on eliminating it using those funds. Then the Dot Com Bubble popped around 2000 and the recession hit causing a massive drop in revenue. The state ended up having to cap the rebate and it’s never been raised resulting in increasing taxes each year because the amount has to be spread among more people.
Edit to add, the “stupid government spending” you’re referring to is stuff like schools and other local services. The car tax and other property taxes go straight to localities to pay for stuff like that, not to the state.
Not sure why my original comment is being downvoted unless the people doing so aren’t old enough to remember this is what happened.
Coming from outside of virginia - this is the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever heard of. For a car? I was wondering why the economy here is so depressed.
Why did you leave the other state, you know, the one with the booming economy?
Won’t miss ya when you’re gone.
The economy is only depressed if youre not it Nova where all of the laws are written to benefit the elite class who live up there.
It’s not all elite… most of us are just scraping by and grew up lower middle class lol
LOL
Least you don't live in Ashland where you get charged property tax from Ashland AND Hanover County
Or Powhatan where they'll send you a letter about how great the county is for absorbing the bulk of the tax for residents while turning around and billing you for a "license" for owning property that's more than the tax.
I live in Hanover as well and the timing of their taxes always kills me because they arrive in December and are due by Feb. The burden of buying Christmas presents and paying personal property taxes at the same time always makes my wallet hurt.
I’m from New York (Buffalo) and my family LOVES to bitch about the taxes. When I tell them all of the property taxes we pay down here, they stop whining. They get top tier schooling and ballin ass snow removal for their tax dollars. I’m yet to see any personal benefit for mine after 20 years in Virginia.
The total tax burden in NY is the highest in the nation, and over 50% greater than VA (34 nationally).
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494
We have corruption. Richmond, is far worse than Henrico. Those idiots keep electing Morrissey.
Whatever, our streets have less snow on them than Buffalo right now! Hell, I would say our snow removal is way better than Buffalo over the past year.
Remember the state income tax is only 5%.
The state/locality taxes your car so it can find an alternative to a higher income tax.
However, our state income tax is relatively flat and that we tax low value cars at the same rate as high value cars is regressive taxation. If you are poor a greater % of your income goes to taxes.
[deleted]
Exactly this, even if personal property taxes were lower, we would just make up for it being taxed in other ways. The government needs money, and they'll get it one way or another.
Nope, fake news. The state of Virginia has a progressive income tax as low as 2.5% and as high as 5.75%.
The highest tax bracket starts at $17k. When someone under at just 133% poverty level pays the same marginal rate as a hedge fund manager, that's pretty flat.
You're not wrong it's still inequitable and should be expanded, but it was flat out false to claim we have a flat tax rate. We are ideologically aligned on this, but blurring the truth because it is convenient for you isn't how you should go about addressing it.
Until $3k income is taxed at 2%, income over $3k is taxed at 3%, and income above $5 is taxed at 5% until $17k at which income tax is at 5.75%. Given that Virginian median income is $36,895 , that makes our tax essentially flat.
Feel free to argue semantics.
"If I do several sets of mental gymnastics, I can convince myself my lie is the truth!"
You're still hurting your cause.
Bye.
I only regret engaging you. Never again.
I came from a state that also has personal property tax for vehicles so I wasn’t even hip to the fact that not all states have it. Unfortunately I think Virginia’s rate is the highest though.
It used to be much, much worse, but about 20 or so years ago the State legislature slashed the rate that personal property could be taxed at with the goal of eventually getting rid of it. Unfortunately, the latter part of the goal never came to fruition, and with the value of cars outpacing inflation during that time, we're just about where we were before. Thankfully, most localities, like Henrico, got rid of the stupid tax sticker you had to put in your car next to the inspection sticker about a decade, or so, ago...
Fun fact - before doing away with it Henrico redesigned the sticker from the county seal they used for years to a new one of the county flag. The new one was larger and turned out to be too big. They ended up doing away with it entirely because it violated state code on how large decals, etc could be on the windshield.
I've still got mine around here somewhere. I received it and never got around to putting it on my windshield before they did away with them.
Still have mine as well. While I like our county's flag, that thing was obnoxious.
Henrico bills twice a year in May and November at least. It hurts a little less when the you don’t need to pay the full amount all at once.
Edit: additional info
One thing I think about is anyone doing the analysis on how much local business income could be generated by moving to a different tax method? For example I’m hesitant to buy a new car simply because of the taxes on it vs my 10 years old car. So the local car dealer is not getting my business or insurance person that’s I’d buy on said new car. This also promotes a lot of older less environmental friendly cars on the road too. Just my 2 cents.
The difference amount saved on gas in a newer car definitely compensates for the maybe couple hundred more you spend on taxes.
I’m gonna do the math on this this week and get back to you because I’m genuinely curious. My husbands new vehicle 2k per year in taxes. My 10 yr old vehicle 200$ per year in taxes- wondering if cost of said new vehicle can actually save me 1800 per year in gas at 8k miles Year year. Honestly I’m doubtful but want to do the math vs being a subjective skeptic.
Surprised that your husband's is so expensive. My 2019 prius was $500 last year, so for the extra $300 I pay is definitely balanced out by gas saved in a hybrid but not sure with his taxes being so pricey
I wonder if yours are so low because of EV credits?
Welcome to virginia, you’ll pay this every year on your vehicles and house. I could have bought another car with my car tax money by now. One half of the bills comes right after Christmas, and the other half 6 months later. It’s sucks
Get taxed on your previous state income for just moving to the state.
Wait what
I moved here in 2011 and had my last check forwarded to me from out of state. Never worked in VA in 2011 but 2012 I recieved a tax bill. Over the years I was employed by an out of state company and lived on the road and Virginia taxed my income as this is my place of residence. However as my employer is not based in VA I also could not collect unemployment. Virginia hasn't been very friendly with taxation for sure.
If only there were casinos to offset the need for property taxes…
/s
Yup, it’s absolute bull$hit! You get taxed so much here. It’s ridiculous.
Time to move then. Florida has no state tax and I think Washington State doesn't either.
Tennessee has no income tax or stupid personal property tax.
Yeah, there is no way in hell I would live there. I would gladly pay higher taxes to not have that as an option
Tennessee and Washington are both great states. I wouldn’t live in Florida due to the weather.
BikeInWhite t1_j6b95k1 wrote
Welcome to Virginia where you get taxed again and again on property you already own and already paid tax on when you purchased. It's an obnoxious racket. You should be thankful you have older vehicles as the newer the car the more taxes you pay on it.
And yes, the tax happens once a year.