Virginia Personal Property Tax

[A-AY-RON]

I'm curious to hear from other Cybertruck owners around Virginia how much your new trucks are being "assessed" at for the purposes of Virginia's annual personal property tax. I am in Loudoun County and ended up with a "Taxable Value" of $91,787. This will lead to a tax bill of $3,576.76 for 2024 (it will be reduced/prorated since I didn't get the car until May). They arrived at this taxable value by charging 90% of the new vehicle purchase price. The issue I have with this is that means I end up paying taxes on portions of the Foundation package which aren't even part of a car (Mobile connector), and Full Self Driving does not actually exist on the truck. My understanding of the Virginia Code is the Taxable Value of a new vehicle is supposed to be based on the MSRP and not include upgrades (like wheel packages which could easily be purchased after the initial sale to avoid having the new car price elevated). The MRSP is supposed to be listed in the NADA New Car Price Guide (maybe an organization that has an anti-Tesla bias). I also wonder how other new non-Tesla vehicles and handled in terms of using a percent of their purchase price verses a percent of their MSRP price. I'm all for paying my fair share but paying extra tax on a non-existent but expensive feature (like FSD) seems wrong. There is an appeal process and having additional data points from around the state would be helpful if there are inconsistent practices out there.

Beast delivery in May, in Loudoun as well. They got me for a smooth $4000 and change. Didn't check the assessed value. Just took it in the cheeks and it still hurts.

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[FarAway]

The car tax in VA. is very regressive and onerous.

Personally, I hate it.... the only good things I can see is that keeps auto registration fee's lower, and it (at least theoretically) keeps real estate taxes lower since everyone who owns a car pays, even people with "no income" and no real estate pay up. I will note, I do see a lot of "out of state" plates on the cars parked at Northern VA. apartment buildings.

That said, I do wish the Commonwealth of VA. could wean themselves from this revenue stream. Maybe they should increase annual registration and vehicle tag fees, making them uniform and not based on "assessed" car values. I have seen car owners refuse to junk older cars that are marginally safe simply because of this tax. I think VA. car dealers would sell more new cars and the Commonwealth would collect more in sales taxes if the car tax was scrapped.

Just know, the only way this will EVER change is if we (Va. residents), send this message loud and clear to our delegates in Richmond and then vote accordingly. The later part doesn't happen often enough, especially in Loudon County.

 

[L3it3R]

Maryland here... following with great interest.

Why? All we have to deal with is registration renewal based on weight and an EV road tax of $250

 

[CybertruckCovers]

I'm curious to hear from other Cybertruck owners around Virginia how much your new trucks are being "assessed" at for the purposes of Virginia's annual personal property tax. I am in Loudoun County and ended up with a "Taxable Value" of $91,787. This will lead to a tax bill of $3,576.76 for 2024 (it will be reduced/prorated since I didn't get the car until May). They arrived at this taxable value by charging 90% of the new vehicle purchase price. The issue I have with this is that means I end up paying taxes on portions of the Foundation package which aren't even part of a car (Mobile connector), and Full Self Driving does not actually exist on the truck. My understanding of the Virginia Code is the Taxable Value of a new vehicle is supposed to be based on the MSRP and not include upgrades (like wheel packages which could easily be purchased after the initial sale to avoid having the new car price elevated). The MRSP is supposed to be listed in the NADA New Car Price Guide (maybe an organization that has an anti-Tesla bias). I also wonder how other new non-Tesla vehicles and handled in terms of using a percent of their purchase price verses a percent of their MSRP price. I'm all for paying my fair share but paying extra tax on a non-existent but expensive feature (like FSD) seems wrong. There is an appeal process and having additional data points from around the state would be helpful if there are inconsistent practices out there.

Perhaps you should consider creating an LLC in Montana and register your Cybertruck there. Many “luxury” car owners are doing it.

 

[SlegMD]

Time to deflate the value of the CT, have your buddy rear end you a few times

 

[REM]

The car tax in VA. is very regressive and onerous.

Property taxes are objectively evil. We are given the illusion of ownership, but you cannot legally own anything in this nation anymore. You just only rent from our overlords.

 

[TyPope]

Why? All we have to deal with is registration renewal based on weight and an EV road tax of $250

Well, that's good... I'm pretty new here and assumed the DMV kept things similar with each other.

 

[Speednet]

That personal property tax on cars in Virginia is so awful. I remember living there many years ago, dirt poor, every year trying to come up with the hundreds of dollars needed for the car tax. Truly asinine.

 

[franky66]

I'm in Fairfax County, VA. I just got my property tax bill and they assess the value of my 2024 Foundation Series AWD at $104, 325.00. I pointed out that this was more than I paid for it, that FSD was not transferable, and that the J.D. Power current value is $63,975.

Here's their response to my appeal:

Our normal assessment methodology uses the Clean Trade-in Value for the 2024 TESL CEH 7G2CEHED7RA033949 as listed in the January edition of the JD Power Used Car Guide. Fairfax County is not the only jurisdiction to rely on JD Power’s values; all the Virginia Jurisdictions also use JD Power. We cannot deviate from these requirements. We cannot retrieve values or compare values from other sources, such as Kelly’s Blue Book, Carvana, Edmunds, the sale price, or the current J.D. Power value for your vehicle. By law, we must use the J.D. Power value for your vehicle as of January 1st of the tax year.

As previously mentioned, the assessed value of $104,325 is accurate to our requirements and JD Power. If you wish to contact JD Power, you can contact them directly at Contact Us | JDPowerValues.

This clearly makes no sense. Your taxable value is $91,787. Please let me know if Loudoun County also uses J.D. Power. If they do, then their numbers are BS. If there are enough of us getting screwed in VA, there might be grounds for a class action suit. Any VA lawyers in the Cybertruck club?

 

[Cybergskr]

OP, you are a bit luckier than me. My trucks value was estimated ove $93K in Loudoun county. Looks like they go by JD power data even though I sent them the actual invoice of $79900. How did they come up with a lower number for you?

 

[Gundo]

State of Connecticut is similar, with a specific annual property tax assessment on vehicles.
The tax dates to when there wasn't a State income tax.
Here though, it's a Town specific mil rate and we pay the assessment based on Blue Book value
If you don't like it, I guess you need to leave the State of Virginia, as the personal property tax assessment has been around forever and wouldn't seem to be going anywhere. That or get yourself a Montana LLC

 

[Fausto]

Can you not "sell" it to a relative/partner for some lowball number, take a hit on the sales tax and then they have it recorded as being at that number for tax evaluation?

 

[DfibRL8R]

OP, you are a bit luckier than me. My trucks value was estimated ove $93K in Loudoun county. Looks like they go by JD power data even though I sent them the actual invoice of $79900. How did they come up with a lower number for you?

The original estimate was a straight 90% of the price paid for the new vehicle. That is how Loudoun does it for new vehicles. My issue with that process is I am being taxed on things like FSD, something that if added on after the purchase would never get taxed.

This year, my assessment went up from $91,787 to $93,900. That is because the NADA used car guide now listed that value AS OF JANUARY 1, 2025. By County policy, if that guide wasn't available the second year value would have been 75% of purchase price (something I experienced with my 2013 Model S). Unfortunately, sine the NADA value exists, they use that.

My personal suspicion is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) hates Tesla. They have actively lobbied against direct to consumer sales since Tesla's inception. The fact that this Tesla-hating organization sets the value of Teslas that impacts how owners are taxed seems highly inappropriate. JD Power also has strong ties to the auto industry and may have similar bias.

That said, I think as of Jan 1, Cybertruck values were still pretty high and only really plummeted in Feb/March when Elon went hyper-political and the demand for the trucks seemed to plummet. M<aybe our assessments for next year will more accurately reflect present value.

When I reached out to the Commissioner of Revenue regarding my assessment this year, I was provided the following information:

"The Code of Virginia requires that the value of tangible personal property be fixed as of “Tax Day”, which is January 1, regardless of when the property is purchased or located in Loudoun County. This is the reason for using the January Editions of J.D. Power car valuation guides. Unfortunately, the values from KBB/NADA and others currently online are not indicative of a January 1, 2025 value nor are they determinative factors in assessing vehicles in an equitable and uniform manner. For tax year 2025, the Cybertruck was assessed using the clean loan value listed in the January Eastern Edition of J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide which is $93,900."

 

[FarAway]

The original estimate was a straight 90% of the price paid for the new vehicle. That is how Loudoun does it for new vehicles. My issue with that process is I am being taxed on things like FSD, something that if added on after the purchase would never get taxed.

This year, my assessment went up from $91,787 to $93,900. That is because the NADA used car guide now listed that value AS OF JANUARY 1, 2025. By County policy, if that guide wasn't available the second year value would have been 75% of purchase price (something I experienced with my 2013 Model S). Unfortunately, sine the NADA value exists, they use that.

My personal suspicion is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) hates Tesla. They have actively lobbied against direct to consumer sales since Tesla's inception. The fact that this Tesla-hating organization sets the value of Teslas that impacts how owners are taxed seems highly inappropriate. JD Power also has strong ties to the auto industry and may have similar bias.

That said, I think as of Jan 1, Cybertruck values were still pretty high and only really plummeted in Feb/March when Elon went hyper-political and the demand for the trucks seemed to plummet. M<aybe our assessments for next year will more accurately reflect present value.

When I reached out to the Commissioner of Revenue regarding my assessment this year, I was provided the following information:

"The Code of Virginia requires that the value of tangible personal property be fixed as of “Tax Day”, which is January 1, regardless of when the property is purchased or located in Loudoun County. This is the reason for using the January Editions of J.D. Power car valuation guides. Unfortunately, the values from KBB/NADA and others currently online are not indicative of a January 1, 2025 value nor are they determinative factors in assessing vehicles in an equitable and uniform manner. For tax year 2025, the Cybertruck was assessed using the clean loan value listed in the January Eastern Edition of J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide which is $93,900."

Yeah, I am in Culpeper and had a long talk last year with my Comm. of Revenue last year. Unless someone has some pull in Richmond, then Virginia CT owners are all F*$#ed.

 

[Cybergskr]

The original estimate was a straight 90% of the price paid for the new vehicle. That is how Loudoun does it for new vehicles. My issue with that process is I am being taxed on things like FSD, something that if added on after the purchase would never get taxed.

This year, my assessment went up from $91,787 to $93,900. That is because the NADA used car guide now listed that value AS OF JANUARY 1, 2025. By County policy, if that guide wasn't available the second year value would have been 75% of purchase price (something I experienced with my 2013 Model S). Unfortunately, sine the NADA value exists, they use that.

My personal suspicion is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) hates Tesla. They have actively lobbied against direct to consumer sales since Tesla's inception. The fact that this Tesla-hating organization sets the value of Teslas that impacts how owners are taxed seems highly inappropriate. JD Power also has strong ties to the auto industry and may have similar bias.

That said, I think as of Jan 1, Cybertruck values were still pretty high and only really plummeted in Feb/March when Elon went hyper-political and the demand for the trucks seemed to plummet. M<aybe our assessments for next year will more accurately reflect present value.

When I reached out to the Commissioner of Revenue regarding my assessment this year, I was provided the following information:

"The Code of Virginia requires that the value of tangible personal property be fixed as of “Tax Day”, which is January 1, regardless of when the property is purchased or located in Loudoun County. This is the reason for using the January Editions of J.D. Power car valuation guides. Unfortunately, the values from KBB/NADA and others currently online are not indicative of a January 1, 2025 value nor are they determinative factors in assessing vehicles in an equitable and uniform manner. For tax year 2025, the Cybertruck was assessed using the clean loan value listed in the January Eastern Edition of J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide which is $93,900."

The part where you say, as of Jan 1st cybertruck values were still pretty high is not accurate. I ordered my truck from the Tesla dealership in October last year for $79900 and was delivered on Dec 7 2024. Considering overall around 20-25k foundation series trucks were sold at inflated price and my Vin is close to 50k and a lot of trucks were delivered even after that at standard prices, it doesn't make sense to say the cost was above 104k based on 93.9k as assessed value on Jan 1.

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