By Steven Symmes; The Auto Wire
There are some people who make much fanfare about how proud they are to pay their taxes to the point we truly wonder what they’re really doing. After all, any normal person sees the absolute waste like how much government agencies supposedly pay for toilet seats and in turn loathe how much of their money goes to support that nonsense. That alone could help make Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to ditch the dreaded car tax in the state a popular move.
Gearheads are especially sensitive to these sorts of government surcharges since we usually own more vehicle than your average Joe. In states like Virginia where taxes on vehicles are more burdensome, it makes participating in this glorious hobby all the more difficult, especially for those of us who aren’t loaded.
According to local news outlet WBOC, car taxes in Virginia are a personal property tax charged by the county. It’s based on the assessed value of your vehicle, so if you’ve owned your ride for a long time and it suddenly jumps in value, you might be facing a whopper of a bill. That seems like absolute rubbish.
For example, some 80s cars are suddenly climbing in value in the collector market. That’s not shocking since more and more people who grew up in that decade have larger disposable incomes. Enthusiasts often want to buy that car which wowed them as a kid, maybe the first cool car they ever laid eyes on.
That means if you bought something like an IROC-Z back in the late 90s or early 2000s and paid little for the Camaro, you were paying little in taxes for owning it. But you might be shocked at the county’s assessment of the value of your “cheap” ride now as collectors waxing nostalgic about it have pumped up values.
We know this practice is done elsewhere and some people think that means it’s okay or just the way things have to be. But we agree with Governor Youngkin who’s quoted as saying in a recent speech that “the car tax belongs in the trash can, not in your mailbox.”
This article originally appeared in The Auto Wire. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard. Republished with permission.