I'm getting hosed by the DMV

[FlyingJ 0]

I just took ownership of my dad's company car.

When his company last renewed his registration in March they paid this year's taxes.

In May he purchased the car from his company and at the time registered it in his name and had to pay THIS YEAR'S taxes.

Today I just went to the DMV to put the car in my name, and had to pay THIS YEAR'S taxes.

My birthday is in January, so in about two months I will be getting a bill to pay taxes again! I know that this next bill will be for NEXT year's taxes, but come on, we just paid this year's full tax bill 3 times!!!

I really don't understand how this works, but I feel like I just got bent over by the state of Georgia! That said, I was in and out of the tag office in less than 10 minutes, so while it might have been painful, at least it was a quickie.

Killing threads since 2004.

[DShiznit 0]

We got hosed, Tommy. We got hosed.....

[RevJim 0]

Move to Wisconsin, problem solved.

One low, yearly fee for vehicle registration. Period.

Edited to add:
registration fees
and
Driver fees

From what I've seen, the one of the cheapest in the nation.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Actually, you will likely only pay the prorated amount for the rest of the year.

[kinney29 0]

NY better. Or it was when I lived there.

Payed $60 for 3 year registration. Had to get inspected every year but it was only $20 or so. Gave my old car to a friend sold it to him for $1 he paid 7 cents tax.

[FlyingJ 0]

Quote

Move to Wisconsin, problem solved.

I guess that is one option. I just moved back south from New York though, so I'm really looking forward to that Southern winter this year!

Killing threads since 2004.

[RevJim 0]

Quote

NY better. Or it was when I lived there.

Payed $60 for 3 year registration. Had to get inspected every year but it was only $20 or so. Gave my old car to a friend sold it to him for $1 he paid 7 cents tax.

For the most part, that's not up here. Around Milwaukee there are smog checks, and maybe Madison, but that would be about it. No mandatory smog checks were I live. In fact, not even mandatory insurance...

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[FlyingJ 0]

Quote

Actually, you will likely only pay the prorated amount for the rest of the year.

That was kind of what I was hoping, but I checked when I got home. Paid the same amount based on the value of the car each time it was paid.

My dad's bday is Nov. 1, and the amount that I paid today, w/ 3 months left, was the amount listed on his renewal bill. Ugh!

I asked if I would pay less in January and she said that it would probably be a little bit less because the car will be devalued a bit with the change of the calendar year, but that would be it.

I think it's obscene, but at the same time his company sold me the car for 1/4 of the blue book price so I'm still coming out ahead.

Killing threads since 2004.

[FlyingJ 0]

Quote

NY better. Or it was when I lived there.

I don't know about NY's car registrations because I didn't own a car for the last 5 years I lived there, but their license fees can't be beat. I had to renew just a few months before I left and a $30 or $40 license fee was good through 2012. I just got my GA license yesterday, paid almost half that and it expires 4 years sooner.

Killing threads since 2004.

[RevJim 0]

Click driver fees up there. heh

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[FlyingJ 0]

Still only good for 3 or 3 years though. For $30 or 40 in NY you don't have to renew again for 8 years!

Killing threads since 2004.

[RevJim 0]

Read it again, bub. That's the original. The renewal is for 8, and it's cheaper.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[FlyingJ 0]

Dang! Ok, well not ready to move right away, but maybe Wisconsin will be on the list for the next one.

Killing threads since 2004.

[RevJim 0]

Quote

Dang! Ok, well not ready to move right away, but maybe Wisconsin will be on the list for the next one.

Buy a snowmobile. Trust me, when you're snowed in and can't get to the DZ, it mukes it worth it. (Besides, it can get you to the dz too.)

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[FlyingJ 0]

I would love to own a snowmobile. Used to have family in the Poconos that ran a ski school and we'd go up there every winter. Snowmobiling was the best part about it.

For now though, I'll opt for the threat of a lite dusting of snow shutting down Atlanta and leaving my heavy boots and jackets in the closet.

Killing threads since 2004.

[Keith 0]

If Georgia is anything like Cali, your Dad should have gifted it to you. You wouldn't have had to pay the taxes. The tax you paid was sales tax, not registration fees.

Keith

Don't Fuck with me Keith - J. Mandeville

[FlyingJ 0]

Nope, not sales tax. Doesn't have anything to do with the amount paid, the tax is on the value of the car. They don't even ask how much the car was sold for!

Killing threads since 2004.

[Guest]

Quote

Nope, not sales tax. Doesn't have anything to do with the amount paid, the tax is on the value of the car. They don't even ask how much the car was sold for!

That's another reason I don't live on the East Coast anymore...

At least here in WA one (recently) pays only for plates, and they're a flat rate not based on the value of the car...

...and did I mention, no property tax, either.

mh

.

[FlyingJ 0]

When I got in the car and saw the receipt I relized that I forgot one of the most obnoxious pieces of the whole ordeal - emissions!!!

Emissions was done in May when the car was purchased from the company and tax was paid the first time. They made me get another emissions test today when I paid the taxes, and I was told that when I pay taxes again come January I'll need ANOTHER emissions inspection.

Making someone pay taxes with each change of ownership can at least somehow be justified, but how in the world can they justify making us get the car tested 3 times when the test is good for a year!

I understand that it keeps it on schedule to be renewed with the car, but come on!

Killing threads since 2004.

[base311 0]

You're not the first to be victimized by this, and certainly won't be the last.

Several years ago Georgia changed its method of registering vehicles to speed the process because everyone always waited until the last possible minute to register their vehicles in the past (same as tax day). Now we use a by-birthdate registration scheme. It worked, because you even commented on how quickly it went

As I understand it, the plate stays with THE OWNER... not the vehicle. So, in other words, your father should have kept his license plate (that he already paid for) and placed it on his new vehicle (if he has replaced the one he gave to you). If you owned a vehicle PRIOR to his giving you HIS vehicle, then you should have pulled the plate off of your old vehicle and put it on the new one. The way all of this is handled is in the form of a tag TRANSFER. Basically, you pay the transfer fee and (I think... I'm not really a tag professional) perhaps a prorated ad valorem tax (if the new vehicle is worth more than your old vehicle) to get you through to your birthday, at which time you'll have to pay again. THis is only a half-hearted attempt at explanation.... YMMV.

THe following site should help you sort out the details:

http://www.dmvs.state.ga.us/motor/registration/

As for the emissions test, I can tell you that an emissions test is good for one year and they should have had that vehicle on record by VIN# and it should have shown that it was recently tested. You got screwed because the people running the tag offices at the local level still don't know what is going on. I realize it's a pain in the ass, but at least there's a process for being refunded your (erroneously paid) fee if you (and the tag offices) screwed up.

check out:

http://www.dmvs.state.ga.us/motor/registration/tagrefund.asp

I'd check out the whole DMVS site and try to figure out which situation applies to you. Basically it boils down to this: once you buy a tag for a vehicle in georgia, the TAG IS YOURS. It stays with you if you sell the vehicle (as long as it is the same class of vehicle - in other words you cannot buy a tag for a volkswagen beetle and then put it on a mack truck). The person buying your vehicle either buys himself a new tag or puts his old one on it and pays a xfer fee.

Good luck and if you need any help somewhere in the food chain lemme know.

Gardner

P.S. In my limited recollection, it is possible that an emissions test must be performed within 30 days prior to registration and is also the responsibility of THE SELLER, not the purchaser. In your case you may have to eat this $25

[FlyingJ 0]

Wow, thanks for checking all of that out.

Yes, I am familiar with the "tag/owner" relationship. I just moved here, so I was paying regardless, and my dad's former tags were applied to his new company car. He got screwed in the mix here because he did me the favor of registering the car in his own name until I arrived in GA to take ownership.

It wasn't just the tag office regarding emissions. When I got home and thought it was fishy I called the Emissions office (whatever the state agency is called) and they confirmed that things had been handled properly. I thought the emissions would follow the car for the full year, but apparently not. Her best reasoning was that they always want the emissions test date to be the same as the registration date, hence the reason it has to be done each time.

While I was in the mood to complain on dz.com, I really wasn't in the mood to put up an argument on the phone when I knew that nothing was going to come of it, so I just accepted the answer.

Oh how I'm loving being back in the world of car ownership! I had forgotten how much I left behind when I moved to Manhattan and sold my car.

Killing threads since 2004.

[CSpenceFLY 1]

It would have taken longer than 10 min. for me to stop raising HELL.

[FlyingJ 0]

I had talked to them enough on the phone to figure everything out and new I was screwed. By the time I actually went to the office I knew there was nothing I could do.

Killing threads since 2004.

[wingnut 0]

one of the reasons i love ohio.... no damn taxes besides like a road use tax and such... value of your car has nothing to do with it... regster a bently or an ford escort inthe same county andit all costs the same........

______________________________________
"i have no reader's digest version"

[FlyingJ 0]

Another thing that was great when I lived in Ohio (Cincinnati for school) was that they had been so incompetent with the emissions testing for a couple years in a row that they canceled them all to overhaul the system and during the four years I was there I never had to get an emissions test.

Killing threads since 2004.