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Taxpayer's Information - Motor
Vehicle Excise
Motor
Vehicle Excise
Chapter 60A imposes an excise on the privilege of registering a motor
vehicle or a trailer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The excise
is levied annually in lieu of a tangible personal property tax. Non-registered
vehicles, however, remain subject to the taxation as personal property.
Valuation
The amount of the excise is based on the value of the motor vehicle. That
value is based upon the manufacturer's suggested list price when it was
new.
Various percentages
of the manufacturer's list price are applied as follows:
In the year
preceding the designated year of manufacture 50%.
In the year of manufacture 90% ; in the second year 60%; in the third
year 40%; in the fourth year 25%; in the fifth and succeeding years 10%.
Calculating the Excise
Once the value of the vehicle is determined, an excise at the rate of
$25.00 per thousand is assessed. The assessors of the municipality in
which the vehicle is customarily garaged assess excises annually, on a
calendar year basis. The information required to generate these bills
(owner, vehicle, registration, and value) is provided by the Registry
of Motor Vehicles.
If a motor
vehicle is registered after January 31, it is taxed for the period extending
from the first day of the month in which it is registered to the end of
the calendar year. For example, if a vehicle is registered on April 30,
it will be taxable as of April 1, for the nine remaining months of the
year (April through December) and the excise due, therefore, will be 9/12
of the full excise. In no event shall an excise be assessed for less than
$5.00, nor shall an abatement or refund under Section 1 of Chapter 60A
reduce an excise to less than $5.00.
Motor Vehicle Excise Exemptions
Motor vehicles owned and registered by the following groups are exempt
from the motor vehicle excise.
The Commonwealth
or any political subdivision thereof;
Charitable corporations or trusts and religious corporations whose personal
property is exempt under the provisions of Chapter 59, Section 5, Clauses
3 and 10;
Lessors engaged
in the business of leasing motor vehicles registered in their name and
leased for a full calendar year to a charitable organization, other than
a degree granting or diploma awarding institution, whose personal property
is exempt from taxation under Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 3;
Manufacturers of motor vehicles, farmers, or repairmen, who have been
issued a special numberplate, so long as the motor vehicle is not operated
for the personal use of the owner or his family. This last exemption is
granted only upon the filing of an abatement application on Form 126A.
The application must contain a sworn statement as to the vehicle's use.
A single
motor vehicle owned and registered for the personal, non-commercial use
of the following persons is exempt from the motor vehicle excise:
World War I, World War II, Korean, or Vietnam veterans who have a service
connected
disability as certified by the Veteran's Administration, of permanent
loss of use of one or both feet, or one or both hands, or permanent impairment
of vision of one or both eyes;
Persons who have suffered loss or permanent loss of use of both legs or
both arms, or, permanent impairment of vision of both eyes;
Vehicles
registered by former prisoners of any war, in which the U.S. has been
engaged. Proof must be furnished from the Veterans Administration or it
should appear on the veteran's discharge papers.
Motor Vehicle Excise Abatements
A partial abatement of the excise (and refund for an excise already paid)
is appropriate in any of the following circumstances:
Transfer
of a person and his vehicle to another state or country with proof of
registration in that state or country and cancellation of a registration
in Massachusetts;
Overvaluation of a motor vehicle;
Subsequent registration of the same vehicle in the same year by the same
person
Notification
to the police within 48 hours of discovery of a theft of the vehicle,
surrender of the certificate of registration not less than 30 days after
the theft, and presentation of a certificate from the Registrar of Motor
Vehicles verifying that the car has been stolen and plate return receipt.
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