Here in Georgia, the so-called "birthday tax" on our motor vehicles may be a thing of the past.

What is this thing we call the "birthday tax"? It's the annual ad valorem (property) taxes that Georgians must pay as part of their annual motor vehicle registration (tag) renewals.

Currently, Georgia's standard license plates cost is $20.00 plus a county-imposed property tax which varies according to the county where the vehicle's owner legally resides. Each county assesses the tax on motor vehicles in the same way they do on houses and land, and depending on your vehicle and your county of residence, it can be a fairly good "chunk of change".

This week, the Georgia House of Representatives passed House Bill 480. It is now in the hands of the Georgia Senate.

In its current form, all vehicles purchased or sold on or after January 1, 2010, would be assessed a one-time title fee of 7% of the vehicle's value or $2000 (whichever is less) plus pay no sales tax whatsoever. Any vehicle you currently own or purchase during the remainder of this year would still be assessed a property tax. If you sell said vehicle, then the new owner would simply pay the title fee in lieu of annual property taxes.

The title fee would be split between the state and the county, with the county getting a greater share. The state's share would help fund a statewide trauma care network.

Moneywise, the counties could possibly see a decrease in revenue since any vehicles covered by this proposal would not be subject to either sales or property taxation. Motor vehicle owners, however, would possibly stand to come out better in the long term since the annual tag fee would be simply the flat $20.00 tag fee ($45.00 for "prestige" plates).

For now, Mary and I are content with the vehicles we currently own, and perhaps its a good thing that motor vehicles tend to lose value over time, which means that we pay less and less property tax on them. Less tax means cheaper tag renewal bills.

Remember my blog about a proposed transportation sales tax? The Georgia House and Senate have passed their respective versions (Senate Bill 39 advocating a regional sales tax approach and House Bill 277 advocating a statewide sales tax approach). At this time, it's a matter of the House and Senate to get together and draft a bill that will pass both chambers. Again, I'm pulling for the regional approach so that monies collected would "stay put". Either way, however, I hope that some form of transportation sales tax legislation passes and gets signed into law so that we, Georgia's voters, may ultimately decide its fate at the polls next November.

What are your thoughts on the tag taxes and transportation sales tax? Please feel free to share them via the comments.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please come back again.

 

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