North Carolina puts a value on every vehicle registered in
the state and many people think the valuations are too high.
A higher valuation means someone pays more in taxes.
WRAL 5 On Your Side received a complaint from someone about
their tax bill for a Kia SUV for purchased for $17,000 in March 2024. The
American vehicle valuation and automative research company Kelley Blue Book estimates
the person could now sell the same SUV for $15,610 in a private sale. Kelley
Blue Book estimates the person could get $13,724 in a trade-in.
The state valued the SUV at $20,090. WRAL 5 On Your Side
tried to find out why.
“I totally understand it is something that could be
perplexing to receive a bill and you do not agree with the value,” said Lorna
Majette with the Wake County Tax Administration Department.
Majette said she gets questions about valuations all the
time. She said the North Carolina value comes from a state system that uses
sales data from across North Carolina to estimate cars’ values.
“It is very, very important to keep in mind that by state
law, we do have to value these vehicles at retail market value,” Majette said. “So,
the best example of this would be what that vehicle would sell for at a
dealership.”
It explains why the private sale and trade-in values are so
much lower than the state’s. However, there’s another reason the state’s value
may not match what a dealer would sell the same car for.
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“Tax values at the municipal level are determined once a
year (on Jan. 1), whereas dealers are looking at fair market value weekly,”
said Landon Bentham with Callahan and Rice Insurance.
People can the assessed value of their car through the
county tax office. Here are the links for Wake,
Durham
and Orange
counties.
People who can document that their vehicle has high mileage,
is damaged or is in rough shape may be able to get the valuation lowered.
Source: Paying more in taxes for your car? Here's how NC comes up with its valuation
