robarsan

I'm curious what people are paying to register their RL's. They're charging me about $650 to register an '06, which is about $400 more than I paid to register my Audi. I think they go by vehicle book value, but the Audi was listed in the low 40's brand new, so the inflated cost seems extreme.
Is what I'm paying in the ballpark for what most people are paying?
Thanks in advance...

lumpulus

My excise fee in Taxachusetts last year was ~$500, so I think I got off easy.

dwboston

Same here. A little over $500. At least you can deduct it on your federal income taxes if you itemize.

robarsan

I thought for sure Massachusetts would be higher than New Hampshire.

I tried for the deduction and didn't qualify; according to Turbo Tax anyway.

dwboston

Is it an annual fee in NH or one-time? In MA we pay excise taxes yearly based on the value of the car.

A registration fee that is assessed based on the value of the car is deductible, regardless of the state that you live in. TurboTax doesn't have MA listed as one of the states but MA excise taxes are deductible.

neuronbob

I'm so glad I live in Ohio. My registration is $53 a year.

robarsan

Is is a once a year fee. When I did my taxes the program walked me through every possible deduction and when I entered the info on the car the program came back saying I didn't qualify for that particular deduction.
My mortgage is paid off so I use the short form now. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Hey Bob — $53 a Year?

black label

Are we talking about registering a vehicle or excise tax?

In MA the registry charges you $15 to transfer a plate $36 for a new plate (regular plates) or $76 for "special plate" (Bruins/ Red Sox/Right Whale). If you are registering a vehicle that you just bought, they also charge you $50 for "titling" of the vehicle.

Excise tax is a different story and depends on the age of your vehicle.

robarsan

The fee I'm complaining about is the City Permit Fee which gets paid to the city tax collector. The additional fee which goes to the DMV is relatively cheap in comparison to the City Permit Fee.

dwboston

That's an excise tax in MA. It's paid to the town or city that you live in. If you weren't itemizing deductions then it doesn't apply.

johnnykuz

Glad to live in PA. $36 a year.

TampaRLX-SH

$65 / year here,,,,and that is with a specialty tag, which we have dozens to choose from here in Florida.

black label

I have a lot of customers from NH. Basically what I hear from them is, "yeah we don't have to pay sales tax, but they find other ways to get our money." Where did you get the car?

plastikman

I think I paid about $130, which isnt so bad if you think about it. A few years ago in Washington State I would have paid somewhere around $1000 for my 06 RL, good thing they changed that!

acurafox

Mine were around $320 this year (bought in 2005). The Governator slashed our reg fees in CA (one of the centerpieces of his recall campaign against Gray Davis) just in advance of the meltdown in the RE market, so now there's talk of reinstating it because of the multi-billion dollar budget deficit and the massive losses in the property tax base, which I think was one reason it was established in the first place (as a reaction to Prop 13). Deja vu all over again.

VOdoc

Precisement, mon ami.

It is going to suck big time when the legislature raises the car tax to where the Demo-rats had it rigged prior to the Schwarzenegger blitzkrieg. Many hundreds of dollars additional per car. We, being foolish Californians, just pay and pay and pay to support the less productive, er, less fortunate members of society.

[End of sermon.]

robarsan

I finally found the NH Municipal rates ...Chapter 216 - Section yada yada
From model year 2006 and up the rates are $18 per thousand book value.
The rates reduce by 3 for subsequent years, $15 for 2005, $12 for 2004 ..etc

While that seems like a ripoff, I guess you have to consider all the other costs pertaining to car ownership (especially insurance) and it more than likely averages out regardless of where you live.

lumpulus

Interesting, because every time I buy a car in MA, the dealer tries to stick me for $200-$300 for "documentation", and when I ask why, they say it's to register and title the car.

black label

That's the short answer which isn't exactly true unless you have some special circumstances which require a runner to be sent to the DMV.

For the most part Doc fees pay for administrative costs of running a dealership, maintaining ADP for document prep, maintaining the CVR/Drive Program (essentially in house registry).

The thing I find funny in MA is that most Honda dealers have a higher doc fee than the Acura dealers. The most ridiculous one I've seen was $549 at a Chevy dealer.

Chas2

Isn't this very dependent on the locality? For example, in California, your DMV fees are pretty high, but you do not have property taxes. In Virginia, the fees are pretty low each year, like about $30, but then there is a separate annual property tax, that runs about 3% of currently assessed value EACH year.

TampaRLX-SH

Indeed state revenue streams vary greatly. Throw in state income taxes, state / local fuel taxes, enviromental impact & disposal fees, and even state mandated regulations on some industries (auto insurance) and they utlimately get the $$$ from us one way or another.

Interesting to see the array as how any one fee is assessed.

robarsan

You are correct. I have always purchased cars used or slightly used to avoid taking the depreciation hit you get as you proudly leave the dealership in your new car. This time I bought 'almost new' and was taken back when I got the bill for my registration the other day. As I said in one of my later posts, no matter where you live, they will find some way to separate you from your money.

acurafox

I assume you mean personal property tax, not real estate property tax, which we definitely do have. I think there might be a personal tax in some CA localities (possibly SF), and there also may be tax on some personal property like motor homes, but I don't have any of those myself.

Professor

$12 a year for registration and a tag from the DMV
$1200 a year for county property taxes to get a receipt to pay $12 a year to the DMV.
$300 one-time sales tax when you buy the car.

black label

No matter what the car cost? If so that seems to favor the guy who buys a $50000 RL over the guy who buys a $1000 shit box.

GoHawks

In Illinois I was spoiled with $95 registration fee per car. I move to Michigan and I call the DMV to get a price on both my Land Cruiser and the RL. I almost fell out of my chair when I was quoted $650 for both.

I think the RL was $350 of that.