County property tax on personal airplane?

Rykymus

Rykymus

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Rykymus
I just got a bill from the county in which I reside for a $1246.01. Apparently, they consider my airplane "personal property." They valued my plane at $112k, which is $32k more than I paid for it. (And is definitely more than it's worth if I sold it.) They also say I'm delinquent, which is a surprise since I didn't even know that I was supposed to pay a county tax on my plane. Oh, and this is on top of the $800 I have to pay the state every year.

Is this a common practice, or just another f****ed up thing about the chickens**t state I live in? (CA)

If I could just convince my wife to move to Texas, I'd leave this state and never look back.
 
It's the latter. Welcome to CA. I take it the $800 for the state is because your plane is in an LLC?
 
It is basically propert tax. There is an exception for "antique" planes, but you have to display your plane once a month. My airport has "display day" one Saturday a month for this purpose. Your airport manager is probably required to report planes based at the airport to the county. I believe ours does. I am pretty sure it is not unique to CA.
 
Anchorage AK has a tax on personal airplanes. No state taxes, just municipal.
 
Stewartb said:
Anchorage AK has a tax on personal airplanes. No state taxes, just municipal.
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CA just has sales tax and the use tax (property). I am not familiar with what the $800 to the state would be, but I just had my plane in my own name, no LLC.
 
Nothing like that in Illinois (as surprising as that seems).
Sounds very much like the United People's Socialist Republic of California.

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I'm in CA. We just pay 1 yearly tax (excluding the initial sales tax). We get the paperwork from the county but I believe it's a state tax.


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We have it in GA. I'd appeal the value though. They actually send a form asking us to valuate the plane. One advantage of owning a vintage plane--much lower value. Lol.
 
Heftiger said:
I'm in CA. We just pay 1 yearly tax (excluding the initial sales tax). We get the paperwork from the county but I believe it's a state tax.


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It goes to the county assessor, just like property tax. The county keeps it, I am pretty sure.
 
I assume the 800 is for the LLC.

There is an approx 1% of valuation (varies slightly by county) property tax on aircraft in CA. You should have received a letter from the county asking for specific information on the aircraft, so they could establish a proper valuation. I've never had an issue with the valuation used by Orange County, it has always been well within the realm of a plausible resale value for the plane. Yes, you can contest the valuation, but if it showing you as delinquent, you probably need to sort that out first.
 
The assessor might be looking at FAA registration records. If your airplane is based in a different country than your residence, make sure the bill is from the right county. Property tax is owed to the jurisdiction where the property is located.
 
Rykymus said:
I just got a bill from the county in which I reside for a $1246.01. Apparently, they consider my airplane "personal property." They valued my plane at $112k, which is $32k more than I paid for it. (And is definitely more than it's worth if I sold it.) They also say I'm delinquent, which is a surprise since I didn't even know that I was supposed to pay a county tax on my plane. Oh, and this is on top of the $800 I have to pay the state every year.

Is this a common practice, or just another f****ed up thing about the chickens**t state I live in? (CA)

If I could just convince my wife to move to Texas, I'd leave this state and never look back.
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If your airplane is not personal property, what kind of property is it?
 
Yeah, part of the price (or penalty) for living in California.

I think it's a use tax as the bill you received seems lower than I would have expected. I am in SoCal and the use tax rate is 7.75% on the assessed value of the aircraft. Here's some info from the state:

https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqtrans.htm
 
If the bill is from the county, it is for property tax. The use tax bill comes from the State Board of Equalization (or whatever they just renamed it).
 
In Texas, you could have property tax on aircraft, but only if used as a business asset.
 
Yeah, I'd tell them the aircraft is not on county property and to take you off their mailing list. It's like bums, you keep giving them money they'll just keep asking for more
 
Virginia is county by county depending on where it is hangared. Some counties want planes there and set the tax very low (like zero) others charge a lot more.

We also get the joy of the much-hated car tax on the value of the car every year. It's based on blue-book.
 
How the do it varies by county in Missouri.
 
Rykymus said:
I just got a bill from the county in which I reside for a $1246.01. Apparently, they consider my airplane "personal property." They valued my plane at $112k, which is $32k more than I paid for it. (And is definitely more than it's worth if I sold it.) They also say I'm delinquent, which is a surprise since I didn't even know that I was supposed to pay a county tax on my plane. Oh, and this is on top of the $800 I have to pay the state every year.

Is this a common practice, or just another f****ed up thing about the chickens**t state I live in? (CA)

If I could just convince my wife to move to Texas, I'd leave this state and never look back.
Click to expand...

Based on this being posted a day after the airport manager sent out an email about property tax being charged to hangar tenants, are you based at KWVI?
 
We bought a sailboat in California a couple decades ago and had it moored in Alameda County. Got a bill for property tax based on a valuation twice what I had paid for it. I called and asked if that was an offer to buy as I would have been happy to sell it for the valuation. Nope. And, yes, I could contest the valuation. Would have cost me more in travel and time off than the reduction in taxes. Then, to add insult to injury, I had to pay a "possessory interest" tax on the value of the slip in the municipal marina that I rented for the boat. I don't miss living in California, at all.
 
rbridges said:
We have it in GA. I'd appeal the value though. They actually send a form asking us to valuate the plane. One advantage of owning a vintage plane--much lower value. Lol.
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Both boats and airplanes are subject to county personal property tax in Georgia. You can send in a return estimating the value, or the county will come up with a figure for you. On our boat, the one the county came up with was less than the one I would have.
 
I paid it for a few years in GA, but its dependent on where the plane is based. So when I moved it to Copperhill, TN, I was no longer subject to the tax.

I still get bills periodically, but just send a letter stating the plane is no longer based in GA.
 
Rykymus said:
I just got a bill from the county in which I reside for a $1246.01. Apparently, they consider my airplane "personal property." They valued my plane at $112k, which is $32k more than I paid for it. (And is definitely more than it's worth if I sold it.) They also say I'm delinquent, which is a surprise since I didn't even know that I was supposed to pay a county tax on my plane. Oh, and this is on top of the $800 I have to pay the state every year.

Is this a common practice, or just another f****ed up thing about the chickens**t state I live in? (CA)

If I could just convince my wife to move to Texas, I'd leave this state and never look back.
Click to expand...

If you move to Texas make sure the plane is in your name, not that of a corporation. Or you will owe property tax on the corporate asset in Texas.
 
rbridges said:
We have it in GA. I'd appeal the value though. They actually send a form asking us to valuate the plane. One advantage of owning a vintage plane--much lower value. Lol.
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FormerHangie said:
Both boats and airplanes are subject to county personal property tax in Georgia. You can send in a return estimating the value, or the county will come up with a figure for you. On our boat, the one the county came up with was less than the one I would have.
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FastEddieB said:
I paid it for a few years in GA, but its dependent on where the plane is based. So when I moved it to Copperhill, TN, I was no longer subject to the tax.

I still get bills periodically, but just send a letter stating the plane is no longer based in GA.
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I'm in GA and looking to buy a plane and just read something that said that on a 'casual transaction' in GA between 2 individuals (not a dealer) there is no sales tax (and use tax I assume) on aircraft. Is this so and where does it fit in with the county tax?
 
BrianNC said:
I'm in GA and looking to buy a plane and just read something that said that on a 'casual transaction' in GA between 2 individuals (not a dealer) there is no sales tax (and use tax I assume) on aircraft. Is this so and where does it fit in with the county tax?
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In 2005 when I moved up and for a time thereafter that was the case.

I went to register a sidecar rig I paid $20k for from a private seller out of state, fully expecting to pay $1,400 in sales tax (7%). I was thrilled to find that there was no sales tax on private transactions back then.

I'm virtually sure that's no longer the case in GA, though I'm not sure when it changed.

The county tax is a completely different matter, and seems to apply to all aircraft based in GA.
 
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BrianNC said:
I'm in GA and looking to buy a plane and just read something that said that on a 'casual transaction' in GA between 2 individuals (not a dealer) there is no sales tax (and use tax I assume) on aircraft. Is this so and where does it fit in with the county tax?
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I bought my mooney ~6-7 years ago from another individual. No sales tax, but I did pay property tax through the state and county since day 1. My friend just bought a Cirrus, and he had to pay sales tax. I think a lot of these changes took place around the same time the car ad valorem changes were made.
 
BrianNC said:
I'm in GA and looking to buy a plane and just read something that said that on a 'casual transaction' in GA between 2 individuals (not a dealer) there is no sales tax (and use tax I assume) on aircraft. Is this so and where does it fit in with the county tax?
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The law was changed a few years ago regarding cars and motorcycles, but still applies to aircraft and boats. Casual sales are exempt from sales tax. From the Georgia Dept of Revenue:

Can the sale of an aircraft or watercraft be excluded from the tax when the transaction meets the requirements of a casual sale?
Yes. The sale of aircraft or watercraft is not subject to sales tax when the sales transaction meets the requirements of a casual sale. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-1-.07.
 
Every taxing authority has an assessment appeals process - follow it.

Though they may claim market value is not the same as purchase price.
 
BrianNC said:
I'm in GA and looking to buy a plane and just read something that said that on a 'casual transaction' in GA between 2 individuals (not a dealer) there is no sales tax (and use tax I assume) on aircraft. Is this so and where does it fit in with the county tax?
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Also, the county tax is an annual personal property tax on the value of the airplane. It has nothing to do with sales or use tax.
 
FormerHangie said:
The law was changed a few years ago regarding cars and motorcycles, but still applies to aircraft and boats. Casual sales are exempt from sales tax. From the Georgia Dept of Revenue:

Can the sale of an aircraft or watercraft be excluded from the tax when the transaction meets the requirements of a casual sale?
Yes. The sale of aircraft or watercraft is not subject to sales tax when the sales transaction meets the requirements of a casual sale. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-1-.07.
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a friend of mine bought two planes over the last 18 months. both were private party sales with out of state owners. The second used a broker. He ended up having to pay sales tax on both planes. Maybe for some reason they weren't considered casual sales? He bought them with an LLC, so maybe that affected it?
 
rbridges said:
a friend of mine bought two planes over the last 18 months. both were private party sales with out of state owners. The second used a broker. He ended up having to pay sales tax on both planes. Maybe for some reason they weren't considered casual sales? He bought them with an LLC, so maybe that affected it?
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It may be that the LLC made it not a casual sale, I'm not sure. A casual sale is usually between two individuals.
 
ateamer said:
Based on this being posted a day after the airport manager sent out an email about property tax being charged to hangar tenants, are you based at KWVI?
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Holy crap, that's the first place I've actually heard of doing that. Our county came around and talked about assessing a tax to the lessees in our hangars, but thankfully it never materialized. I just can't see how that's right.
 
BGF_Yankee said:
Holy crap, that's the first place I've actually heard of doing that. Our county came around and talked about assessing a tax to the lessees in our hangars, but thankfully it never materialized. I just can't see how that's right.
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I pay property tax on my city owned hangar rental (Lincoln, CA). There was another thread on this a while ago (hangar property tax).
 
We all know that there would be no roads, if counties couldn't tax airplanes. :) MUH ROADS!
 
Rykymus said:
I just got a bill from the county in which I reside for a $1246.01. Apparently, they consider my airplane "personal property." They valued my plane at $112k, which is $32k more than I paid for it. (And is definitely more than it's worth if I sold it.) They also say I'm delinquent, which is a surprise since I didn't even know that I was supposed to pay a county tax on my plane. Oh, and this is on top of the $800 I have to pay the state every year.

Is this a common practice, or just another f****ed up thing about the chickens**t state I live in? (CA)

If I could just convince my wife to move to Texas, I'd leave this state and never look back.
Click to expand...
Did you pay Sales Tax to the State when you purchased the plane? I believe the state sales tax is based upon what County the plane will be kept.
 
Hi Datadriver and everyone.
It may make you feel better if you knew that you are contributing to paying for the private attorneys to defend the Oxama illegal dreamers?

If you fly / land in CA you are likely to get some / tax bill. People tried to keep the Xponders off and many other tricks and they still will be found.
If you buy an acft. out of CA state and never touch the CA land / airports for 1 year you may get away with it, but it's going to take a lot of proof.
The only way to save something is to display your acft. one day a month, if you have an older / classic acft.
 
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