Mass excise tax on a 2011 458

Wholly smokes...you pay tax on the car after you own it? annually!!! Staying in Delaware thankyou very much!!

 

Haha We do the same in CT.....the politicians need to get paid and pad their pockets somehow!

 

Not if you are non-resident military :-D

 

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2008/07/high-end-car-ow.html

I liked it when they were screwing up values on high end cars. Had no idea why they valued my new Maserati Spyder at $17,000 till a few years later when I read about it.

 

I have a "friend" who has a 355. The state valuation for excise says $1200. "He" says that his excise every year is about $20. Amazing what a decimal point movement will do.....

 

Does anyone know what happens to old vintage cars for excise tax?? I've been asked about the subject, and I advise most folks to not store cars in MA to begin with; It would suck if you own some 60s classic that sold for a few grand new, but then they come a knocking with current valuations? How would that go down with an original owner who bought an exotic say 30-45 years ago??

 

Anything vintage should be registered as an antique vehicle. Depends what state your in as to what year and older is considered an antique. If I remember correctly, CT is 20yrs, and NH is 25yrs., I don't know what MA lists. If you search through their DMV website it will be in there. Sales tax is a different story, I belive its based on what you paid for the vehicle on the bill of sale, but I may be wrong.

 

In RI an antique plate is granted to cars 25 years or older used for exhibitions, parades, or car club activities, etc. It exempts you from inspections. If you want to use the car regularly as I do you have to file a dual registration and have the car inspected. The paperwork process at RI DMV stinks, and the time it takes to register or makes changes is in hours to days. My car carries a normal registration, and I get it inspected every couple of years but it is a simple brakes and lights deal due to the age. I saw no benefit to the antique plate. The value of the car on the tax roles is next to nothing. They do not issue a title for antique cars here, I asked for one, got an argument and no title. Hagerty Insurance doen't care about the plate. Thus, from my limited standpoint an antique plate in RI leaves you with nothing except restrictions on use, although I do not think the police or registry notice anyhow. Maybe you save a bit on the plate, but mine is a custom one by choice so that is no factor for me.

 

If you have a relatively new, high-value car, it is definitely worth your time to check NADA and make sure MA is assessing the right amount. They had my R8 listed as an automatic when it was in fact a manual, meaning they had overcharged me by about $114 in the first year.

 

NH offers the cheap antique plates in the cars 26th year. Costs 8 bucks instead of 40 for newer cars. Combined with cheap/optional insurance, NH is great for most cars and moreso for collector cars. Only downside for exotics is that excise is based on new MSRP, so anything that cost 50-100k new will always cost 200-300 in excise, even after 30 years.

Transferring a valuable antique into MA via a family transfer should be easy, but the excise valuation is where I would be concerned. Until someone chimes in, who knows... If you buy a 1962 GTO for millions and pay sales tax, you would think the excise folks would want to rape you annually as well on that new price basis of the car

 

Yup. That's whats kept me from getting one.

 

Wow that blows. I guess that's 1 of the reasons NH has no sales tax. I pay a whopping $17.50/yr for my $700 valued '85 Tr.

 

MA is 25 years. But the restrictions on an antique plate are onerous:

"An 'antique motor car' is any motor vehicle over twenty-five years old maintained solely for use in exhibitions, club activities, parades, and other functions of public interest. This includes test drives to prepare for such functions and transportation to and from repair facilities, and not used primarily for the transportation of passengers or goods over any way. A motorcycle is eligible for an Antique registration plate."

In other words, you can't actually drive it. People break these restrictions all the time (and make up obvious attempt to get around them, like keeping event flyers in the car to pretend they're advertising an event), but if you're caught and they want to throw the book at you, you'll get a hefty fine, an insurance surcharge, and an impounded car.

Antique plates are not exempt from excise tax anyway. Excise in Massachusetts is not charged on current market valuation. It's charged on percentage of original list price. For vehicles older than five years, it's 10% of the original list price (with a minimum of $5)

 

True, in MA you do not want to daily drive on antique plates since a cop might stop you if he sees you daily. Not a good idea to take it to work, office, or even the grocery store. Collector insurance frowns upon higher risk parking lot claim activity. You can do a dinner out on the town, and valet the car no problem.

Interesting info on the excise, until Deval finds a way to change it $$$$$$$$$$