Providence Car Tax?

[LMWW]

Apologies if this belongs somewhere else, but we are beyond frustrated and thought some of you guys over here might have some ideas. In a nutshell, our car was assessed at $4500 more than the Kelly Blue Book private party value (and $6500 more than the KBB trade-in value). My husband sent in an appeal, which was sent back to us merely stating that the initial valuation was correct.

This seems completely insane - do we have any other recourse, or was the written appeal our only hope? I'm starting to think that we may have to "Turn to 10" to blow the lid. What a rip off!

(to make matters worse, our car was valued at a higher rate this year than it was last year. what gives?)

[runawayjim]

I think they use the NADA values and not KBB. Also, they wouldn't use the private party, they'd use retail, which is higher (why wouldn't they, it puts more money in their pockets).

Believe it or not, car values can increase (especially in the current market, small car values haven't changed much over the past year, some have increased in value, people are buying old 3 cyl Geo's online for a ridiculous amount). The reason NADA is used is because it takes an average of all the reported sales of that year/make/model. You can contest the value, but it is possible it could increase the assessment.

[Liamlunchtray]

I think they use the NADA values and not KBB. Also, they wouldn't use the private party, they'd use retail, which is higher (why wouldn't they, it puts more money in their pockets).

Believe it or not, car values can increase (especially in the current market, small car values haven't changed much over the past year, some have increased in value, people are buying old 3 cyl Geo's online for a ridiculous amount). The reason NADA is used is because it takes an average of all the reported sales of that year/make/model. You can contest the value, but it is possible it could increase the assessment.

[Recchia]

So if you buy a new car (and didn't have one before) you don't pay the taxes on it until the following year?

[LMWW]

Thanks, all. I checked out the NADA website, and the city's excise value is still $1000 more than the NADA value. But at that point, it probably isn't going to result in much of a difference in total amount owed... and the headache of dealing with the city is completely not worth it! Meh.

As for the last question, my understanding is that you pay the sales tax when you buy a new car, but don't start paying the "property tax" on the car until the following year. I honestly can't remember if it was handled any differently - we've had this car for 2 years, and our other car came with us when we moved here from out of state.

[runawayjim]

Thanks, all. I checked out the NADA website, and the city's excise value is still $1000 more than the NADA value. But at that point, it probably isn't going to result in much of a difference in total amount owed... and the headache of dealing with the city is completely not worth it! Meh.

As for the last question, my understanding is that you pay the sales tax when you buy a new car, but don't start paying the "property tax" on the car until the following year. I honestly can't remember if it was handled any differently - we've had this car for 2 years, and our other car came with us when we moved here from out of state.