OLight:TNG

Back when I was living in Arlington Co., one day the Arlington County Police set up a checkpoint at the exit to our apartment complex garage, checking every car that went by, and handing out county sticker notices to each car that didn't have their little window sticker.

My GF's car was (& is still) registered in Michigan -- it technically belongs to her mother, who still lives there -- but they made her get a county sticker anyway, since it's "garaged" in-county.

So, jokes aside, some jurisdictions DO set up tax-rat patrols. I wish you were kidding, Justin...

OLight:TNG

We were <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/1062163.phtml">discussing</a> them in the B6 forum this summer.

OLight:TNG

Well, doesn't your Virginia City or County jurisdiction do the same?

In California (and, I've determined through conversations with people from elsewhere, similarly in most other states), you pay one fee yearly, usually to the DMV, and it encompasses current value-based property taxes *and* DMV registration fees (including personalized/speciality license plates, etc.). When you pay, you get ONE sticker, and you put it on your rear plate. That's all.

Virginia has this disjointed system where everything's done separately: I get a bill from VA-DMV, then from City of Alexandria, and they're on different schedules, with different stickers. Oh, the stickers. Registration for front AND rear, inspection stickers, and in NoVA (exc. "Country of Fairfax"), a city/county sticker.

And I thought the security clearance system was disjointed and in need of overhaul. Oh, wait, it still is. But this problem, as well, is not insurmountable.

BlueDog

if your primary residence is in VA then you must register here and have your license here. Almost every state is like that. So if her name is on the registration, then I think its completely fair. Otherwise, I would say its hard to enforce if say I borrowed a friends car from out of state and say that I needed to pay the tax on it, if my name is not connected to the car whatsoever.

If everyone in the county skirted around paying the taxes, then there would be no money to cover everyone that dings a wheel on the road and wants it replace, let alone try to keep up with maintaining the roads themselves.

I believe, LEGALLY, the only way you can get around living in VA and not paying the taxes is if you are active duty military.

BlueDog

I thought it was some crazy amount. Compare it to what $35 here?

OLight:TNG

Now that she's in California, I thought for sure they'd hunt her down and make her re-register the car in-state. But nope - nobody in San Diego seems to care. Lots of out-of-staters there, though, so that's probably why.

OLight:TNG

...just the reg fee. But, if you'd like to compare, here's the tool I used to prepare myself for the fees I would have paid for my car in CA:<ul><li><a href="https://mv.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/index.jsp">California Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator</a></li></ul>

NoProblem

LOL, what can you expect from such a handle.

Jretal

and fought against it. Both cars are registered in PA and they still nailed them for the BS tax because they park the car in the NoVA area.

Funny thing is, when he called in to ask about it the guy said that they don't always have rat-patrols out there but citizens that turn people in as well... whether it be out of bitterness or what, I have no idea. Pretty ridiculous in my book.

That to me means that they're just chasing around to earn a revenue, esp if they're stretching it to the point that even if you're a student in the area but live in a different state they can STILL make you pay a VA tax.

I've gotten harassed once about not having a tax sticker, but since I'm a VA Beach resident, I don't have to get one since they're no longer required or offered.

Jretal

registration fee and then city tax fee...

In PA I used to pay one registration fee, which was the same as teh VA fee minus the $25 city tax. Other than that we had no taxes based on the value of the car what so ever on the cars/vehicles.

the more expensive thing to do with the cars was the inspections which amounted to ~$70 after the breath test and regular inspection, which is why it was a moot point for me to keep the car registered in PA since I still had to drive north for an inspectino sticker.