My dad paid my car tax from Mecklenburg County for 2007 when the bill came to my home address last May.

My registration was due in June so I went online to pay it and changed my mailing address to my Raleigh Residence. I decided to go ahead and changed my vehicle to be registered for Wake County since i spend 98% of my time here anyway. Sure enough I get a bill yesterday to pay my Wake County car tax.

What should I do about this situation. Car tax has already been paid on my vehicle for 2007 and now Wake county wants me to pay Car tax again??

9/19/2007 11:14:37 AM

call them and ask them.

9/19/2007 11:18:08 AM

Quote :

"My registration was due in June "

http://www.wakegov.com/tax/vehicles/default.htm

Quote :

"Approximately three months after registration takes place, a tax bill will be issued by the Wake County Revenue Department for each vehicle registered. Motor vehicle bills are due on the first day of the fourth month following registration and become delinquent on the first day of the fifth month following registration."

9/19/2007 11:27:36 AM

They're going to get money out of you any way they can.

I bought a car that had a good 4 or 5 month lapse on the inspection (I've also heard that you can't sell a car that has a lapsed inspection, but go figure). IIRC the sticker said it was due in May and it was getting inspected in September. I fully expected them to slap a September stick on the car but they put another May sticker on it.

I always thought that the vehicle inspection meant that your car was good for another year, so I got short changed a good 4 months. I don't know if the inspectors screwed up or if it's policy. If it's policy it's a stupid one. What if it lapsed 5 years ago? Keep inspecting it 5 times until it's current?

Meh.

EDIT: Oh, and because of your experience I'll never register a vehicle in another county until the registration runs completely out.

[Edited on September 19, 2007 at 11:55 AM. Reason : -]

9/19/2007 11:53:44 AM

of course that's the policy - otherwise people would wait an extra month or two every time to get their inspection done....

if you want to whine about a few months then you are an idiot for not ripping the inspection sticker off though before going to get it inspected

9/19/2007 12:01:00 PM

that's what any city does.

they could care very little about who you paid tax to.

i made that mistake a couple of years ago.

9/19/2007 12:06:28 PM

A september inspection sticker would have rewarded the owner for letting the inspection lapse. That you weren't responsible for the lapse is your misfortune.

As to the original post, if you own property in two counties, you pay tax to each respective county. Congratulations, you have owned a car in two counties during this year.

9/19/2007 12:06:54 PM

If you let it lapse more than a year then they will just issue it for that month

9/19/2007 12:09:53 PM

Quote :

"of course that's the policy - otherwise people would wait an extra month or two every time to get their inspection done.... if you want to whine about a few months then you are an idiot for not ripping the inspection sticker off though before going to get it inspected"

Well in my opinion there's a difference between someone sneaking a month or two in and a person inspecting after half a year. So I guess they just inspect your car once and charge you for 5 inspections in the case of a 5 year lapse?

If you ripped the inspection sticker off they would just look it up, since everything is on computers nowadays. Now (for Wake county at least) they will send you a reminder with threat of a fee (over $200 IIRC) if you let your inspection lapse more than a month or two.

[Edited on September 19, 2007 at 12:23 PM. Reason : -]

9/19/2007 12:13:04 PM

You should have just paid him for eight months.

9/19/2007 12:14:12 PM

Quote :

"of course that's the policy - otherwise people would wait an extra month or two every time to get their inspection done...."

I have let me inspection lapse at least 2 months the last 3 inspections. Last year I got lucky and they gave me a "May" inspection eventhough it was due in Feb. This year when i went in July they still gave me a May and the year before I still got a Feb. eventhough I got inspected in April.

btw i talked to Wake Country Revenue and they said they would take care of it somehow; so that I am not having to overlap paying Mecklenburg and Wake country car tax since the tax is paid at the beginning of the period.

[Edited on September 19, 2007 at 1:03 PM. Reason : l]

9/19/2007 1:01:37 PM

On the bright side vehicle tax in Wake County is less than Mecklenburg County.

9/19/2007 1:44:33 PM

yeah that is one reason i switched it up. I should have just communicated to my dad sooner not to pay mecklenburg car tax sicne i was switching it up.

I think it is like $15 cheaper in Wake Co. The funny thing is Raleigh has better roads anywya

9/19/2007 2:18:05 PM

Quote :

"I don't know if the inspectors screwed up or if it's policy"

it is now the police to do that. used to they'd give you a year..now they give you the same month everytime

9/19/2007 2:36:08 PM

^^if you look at your vehicle tax bill, you'll notice most of it goes to schools, the police debt and the fire station.

car tax doesn't pay for roads.

9/19/2007 5:20:53 PM

I did some looking into the car tax stuff when I moved to VA last year. In NC, whatever county you pay your taxes to for the year gets to keep them for the entire year, and the new county is SOL. All you should have to do is prove that the taxes were paid in another NC municipality. In VA, they have this nice little policy that makes you go pay in person for a prorated amount, get a refund from the other county, and then scrape a decal off of your window. Despite everything being computerized, they tend not know you moved if you don't tell them.

9/19/2007 9:12:37 PM

I always let my inspection lapse by a month or two...expired inspection has always gotten me outta a ticket.

"Well you were going 20 over, but your inspection is past due..I'll give you a warning on the speeding, but heres a ticket on the inspection"

Spend 15 min in court after getting it inspected, problem solved.

9/19/2007 10:15:32 PM