Assessed Value of Aircraft for Tax Purposes?

Cogito

Cogito

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Cogito
Pilots,
My 500hr. 2013 Light Sport was assessed for more than I paid for it new. The Aircraft Blue Book and V-Ref don't cover my plane, (TAF Sling LSA.) Do any of you know of a fair way of calculating tax value of an aircraft besides these sources that might influence the Los Angeles County Tax Collector?

Thanks for the help,
-Craig
 
Present the bill of sale. If they still give you grief I would talk to a tax attorney.
 
Goto the tax assessor's office and find out what the tax rate is and re-calculate. If it seems high and their assessment agrees with it, you can normally make an appeal and provide proof of the value. Just a thought, i paid $460 to a certified (NAAP) appraiser and got a nice little report of the actual value of my airplane before i purchased it. $460 might seem steep for the purpose, but if it saves you some money over the years it just might pay for itself. The appeal process info i know to be accrate here in South Carolina. Not sure about in Cali.


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Move to Texas. Problem solved. :D
 
Tell them they can purchase it from you for the amount they want to tax you on.
 
Cogito said:
Pilots,
My 500hr. 2013 Light Sport was assessed for more than I paid for it new. The Aircraft Blue Book and V-Ref don't cover my plane, (TAF Sling LSA.) Do any of you know of a fair way of calculating tax value of an aircraft besides these sources that might influence the Los Angeles County Tax Collector?

Thanks for the help,
-Craig
Click to expand...

My county, also in California, has been very fair about the assessed value of my CTSW. They told me that they would accept an ad from Trade-a-Plane as long as enough of the page was present to see the date.
 
Bring in your bill of sale,ask for the schedule of depreciation they use,file an appeal.
 
I showed my county my bill of sale and they said "we don't use sales price for value, we have our own formula".

Worth a try, but don't expect much from the taxholes.
 
California ! Love the climate - can't stand the POLITICS or the traffic ! I imagine as they approach Illinois level bankruptcy it will only get worse.
 
Cogito said:
Pilots,
My 500hr. 2013 Light Sport was assessed for more than I paid for it new. The Aircraft Blue Book and V-Ref don't cover my plane, (TAF Sling LSA.) Do any of you know of a fair way of calculating tax value of an aircraft besides these sources that might influence the Los Angeles County Tax Collector?

Thanks for the help,
-Craig
Click to expand...


Good luck with California taxing jurisdictions.
 
Thanks for the help gentlemen.

I learned from the county appraiser I spoke with today that since the plane isn't in the aircraft blue book they started with the purchase price, plus sales tax, then deducted 5% for depreciation to determine the current value.

Since sales tax here is 10%, the result is a value higher than the purchase price. I filed an appeal citing a newer version of my plane currently for sale from the dealer for less but I don't expect much.

I'm happy to pay my share of taxes so we will all benefit, but paying tax on the value of the tax I already paid is clever/evil.
 
Cogito said:
Thanks for the help gentlemen.

I learned from the county appraiser I spoke with today that since the plane isn't in the aircraft blue book they started with the purchase price, plus sales tax, then deducted 5% for depreciation to determine the current value.

Since sales tax here is 10%, the result is a value higher than the purchase price. I filed an appeal citing a newer version of my plane currently for sale from the dealer for less but I don't expect much.

I'm happy to pay my share of taxes so we will all benefit, but paying tax on the value of the tax I already paid is clever/evil.
Click to expand...

I would challenge them to cite the basis for adding sales tax to the purchase price for assessment. Last time I checked, buyers don't pay sellers sales tax. That is a new kind of stupid.
 
Art VanDelay said:
California ! Love the climate - can't stand the POLITICS or the traffic ! I imagine as they approach Illinois level bankruptcy it will only get worse.
Click to expand...

California is worse off then Illinois,,, they are just better at "creative" accounting...:rolleyes:
;)
 
Sales tax is not added value. It is simply a cost you had to pay. They should not be taxing that as added value.
 
They're using the "throw it against the wall to see if it will stick" doctrine, relying upon the reality that many simply don't challenge.

Also in play: the "it's an airplane-owner, hence wealthy, so screw 'em" corollary.

Challenge it, aggressively.
 
Cogito said:
Thanks for the help gentlemen.

I learned from the county appraiser I spoke with today that since the plane isn't in the aircraft blue book they started with the purchase price, plus sales tax, then deducted 5% for depreciation to determine the current value.

Since sales tax here is 10%, the result is a value higher than the purchase price. I filed an appeal citing a newer version of my plane currently for sale from the dealer for less but I don't expect much.

I'm happy to pay my share of taxes so we will all benefit, but paying tax on the value of the tax I already paid is clever/evil.
Click to expand...

Total bull**** reasoning by the county. The aircraft should be taxed on it's market value, not it's cost of ownership.
 
Cogito said:
Pilots,
My 500hr. 2013 Light Sport was assessed for more than I paid for it new. The Aircraft Blue Book and V-Ref don't cover my plane, (TAF Sling LSA.) Do any of you know of a fair way of calculating tax value of an aircraft besides these sources that might influence the Los Angeles County Tax Collector?

Thanks for the help,
-Craig
Click to expand...

They really don't care. They assess your value according to how much money they need, not according to how much value you actually have. It's their hidden lever so they can avoid publicly raising the tax rate.
 
Adding sales tax is a bogus charge. But it is apparently required under California law. And you'll pay the tax on the tax every year. The logic is nonsense, IMHO.

Finally, California assessment practices require that sales tax be included with the value because sales tax and other charges such as delivery have to be paid to put an aircraft (or any item of business equipment) into service in California. Because the values for each model and year in the guide are used by jurisdictions across the country, the values do not include sales tax. Aircraft start out with a fresh BAV each year because of market fluctuations unlike a desk or a computer which has an original acquisition cost that includes sales tax and is then factored each year to arrive at the January 1 value. Thus the sales tax must be added to the adjusted BAV each year to arrive at a full cash value under California law.
Click to expand...

http://www.countyofnapa.org/Pages/DepartmentContent.aspx?id=4294969867

All the more reason to not live in California.
 
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