The Process of Personal Property Tax in Virginia

All the counties and cities in Virginia charge personal property tax from citizens. The property division of the Commissioner’s office assesses all your individual tangible properties like cars, buses, motorcycles, boats, aircraft, machinery, tools, or any type of vehicle and collects tax on the total amount. 

The department assesses the personal property value in Virginia utilizing various techniques such as collecting data from the taxpayer, motor vehicle division, and department of Taxation.

After getting all the information, they analyze whether your personal property qualifies for tax relief or not. Then, they send all the assessments to the treasury office to prepare and transfer tax statements to the individuals. 

If you are curious about personal property tax in Virginia and want to know the assessment techniques and tax calculation, this article is for you. Keep reading, and we will tell you every critical piece of info about property tax in Virginia.

Contents

What is the Personal Property Tax Relief Act?

The Personal Property Tax Relief act 1998 provides tax relief to all passenger cars, pick-up, motorcycle, or panel trucks with registered gross weight less than 7,501 pounds.

However, it also put several restrictions, such that the vehicle must be leased or owned by the individual and not used for business purposes. They will consider your vehicle for business purposes if it meets the criteria given below:

  • More than 50% of the vehicle mileage is associated with business works or reimbursed by an employer.
  • The person leases the vehicle, and the leasing company is paying the tax without compensating the individual.
  • More than 50% of the tangible cost associated with your car is deducted as a business expense of federal income tax.
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If your vehicle qualifies for tax relief, there will be a reduction in personal property tax. If the assessed value of the eligible vehicle is less than $1000, your tax will be eliminated. However, if your qualified personal property value exceeds $1000, you have to pay a little portion of Tax.

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How is vehicle assessment done?

The Commissioner of Revenue office implements the tax based on the trade-in value listed in National Automobile Dealer Associations (N.A.D.A). It also takes care of the tax relief assumption, makes tax statements, and sends them to the relevant persons.

Vehicles included in personal property have a tax rate of $4.20 per $100. Aircraft and flight simulators have a tax rate of $0.01 per $100.

Vehicles taxed time

Usually, the Commissioner of Revenue assesses all the registered vehicles on January 1 every year. However, if the personal property is not registered but garaged or stored in the Virginia state, it will also be considered for tax.

Further, if you bought a vehicle in Virginia but sell it outside the state, you must send the documents to the local tax office to avoid tax. 

These personal property bills are white with blue boxes, mailed personally to every individual 30 days before the due date. Personal property taxes are usually due on June 5 annually and contain only current year taxes.

Although, if you purchase a vehicle after April 9, you will receive a supplement bill in November and be due until December 5.

Bottom Line

Virginia State charges individuals on personal properties like vehicles and motors. Here, we have thoroughly discussed all the details of personal property tax in Virginia. We have told you tax rates and exemption to the rules above. Further, we have also explored tax dates and due dates above.