Sales/Use tax on planes in Georgia

WannFly

WannFly

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anyone knows the process of paying sales/use tax or what tax georgia wants for owning a plane? I already paid sales tax here in ND when i bought her, but i am sure Georgia wants a share too. and what am i hearing about this use tax? sigh...

PS: i sent an email to dept of aviation, GA, not sure when / if i will hear back
 
Why would you pay sales tax on a plane you already own?
 
Annually, you pay a property tax on an airplane in Georgia. The bill is based on the municipality where the airplane is based. The tax is the assessed value x 40% x the millage rate.

For a $100K airplane, that ends up being $100K x 40% x .03 = $1200/yr or thereabouts.

The millage rate varies slightly between municipalities and within a municipality it will vary from year to year.

The key point is to make sure your airplane is assessed correctly. That's the one real variable in the equation. You generally get a survey in Aprilish every year to report the aircraft's equipment level, hours, etc. And value. Then the municipality comes up with its appraisal and you get to accept or challenge the value they set.

Some owners rent tiedown space in Tennessee on an annual basis and reposition their aircraft there for a week or two spanning the year end into the new year. That allows them to legally report that the aircraft was based in Tennessee on the date of record (January 1) and they pay a tie-down fee for the period (might be $25/month x 12 month = $300/yr) as opposed to paying the tax.

Sales and use tax is generally waived if you own the airplane (car, boat, etc) when you move to the state.

https://dor.georgia.gov/taxes/business-taxes/sales-use-tax/what-subject-sales-and-use-tax#:~:text=In general, Georgia imposes tax,personal property and certain services.&text=Service providers are, in most,§ 48-8-63.
 
Salty said:
Why would you pay sales tax on a plane you already own?
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Some states want their fare share. I know MN has a law around it, based on what Kyle just posted, GA might have one too and they might wave it or collect the difference. Yet to review the link posted above
 
WannFly said:
Some states want their fare share. I know MN has a law around it, based on what Kyle just posted, GA might have one too and they might wave it or collect the difference. Yet to review the link posted above
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Don’t think that’s sales tax.
 
Salty said:
Why would you pay sales tax on a plane you already own?
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It's called a USE TAX and if you owe it in GA, it's of the same form and magnitude as the sales tax.

You don't owe GA USE TAX if you buy it while you reside elsewhere and then move to the state (provided it's not a business use). But if you are a Georgia resident and buy out of state, you owe use tax as soon as it is brought into the state. Unlike some other states, there's no credit for sales tax paid to another state.
 
kyleb said:
Annually, you pay a property tax on an airplane in Georgia. The bill is based on the municipality where the airplane is based. The tax is the assessed value x 40% x the millage rate.

For a $100K airplane, that ends up being $100K x 40% x .03 = $1200/yr or thereabouts.

The millage rate varies slightly between municipalities and within a municipality it will vary from year to year.

The key point is to make sure your airplane is assessed correctly. That's the one real variable in the equation. You generally get a survey in Aprilish every year to report the aircraft's equipment level, hours, etc. And value. Then the municipality comes up with its appraisal and you get to accept or challenge the value they set.

Some owners rent tiedown space in Tennessee on an annual basis and reposition their aircraft there for a week or two spanning the year end into the new year. That allows them to legally report that the aircraft was based in Tennessee on the date of record (January 1) and they pay a tie-down fee for the period (might be $25/month x 12 month = $300/yr) as opposed to paying the tax.

Sales and use tax is generally waived if you own the airplane (car, boat, etc) when you move to the state.

https://dor.georgia.gov/taxes/business-taxes/sales-use-tax/what-subject-sales-and-use-tax#:~:text=In general, Georgia imposes tax,personal property and certain services.&text=Service providers are, in most,§ 48-8-63.
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Thanks Kyle. Much appreciated
 
You'll pay personal property tax to Cobb County as long as you are based at RYY, it's based on the airplane's location, not the owner's. I live in Fulton County, I pay personal property tax on our boat to Forsyth county, which is where it is stored. You should not have to pay sales or use tax since you bought the airplane while living in another state.
 
FormerHangie said:
Property tax is a pretty common thing in this country.
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Which doesn’t make it any less absurd. Only property tax we pay in Tennessee is on our actual real estate. Cars, boats, airplanes etc., are not included in annual property taxes.

Did someone say legalized thievery? :eek:
 
There might be a 3% TAVT tax on my vehicle as well, some law passed in 2019. I hope I am wrong on that…. But sigh
 
The municipalities have to get there money somehow. When one kind of tax is restricted, they look elsewhere.
 
I pay about $1,500 a year in personal property taxes in North GA. Some people will say put like $1 on the estimated worth of your plane but that doesn’t work. They research how much your plane is worth and are pretty accurate. Doesn’t mean I don’t try and undervalue my planes slightly every year though. :cool:

I don’t mind paying taxes to use their facilities but I wish they’d actually go for some improvements around the airfield. Taxiways need to be swept and our runway is in fair condition at best. I fear my taxes and hangar fees are just going to improve other projects around the county. That and to keep someone employed at the county courthouse…whose sole purpose is to collect PP taxes.:(
 
Velocity173 said:
I pay about $1,500 a year in personal property taxes in North GA. Some people will say put like $1 on the estimated worth of your plane but that doesn’t work. They research how much your plane is worth and are pretty accurate. Doesn’t mean I don’t try and undervalue my planes slightly every year though. :cool:.
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The research is done at the local level. 20 years ago, when my RV-6 came up for taxes the first time, the county had it valued at what was essentially the asking price of the highest priced RV-6's listed in Trade-A-Plane. The only differences between their numbers and mine were that TAP numbers are asking prices, the expensive planes were IFR, had factory new engines and constant speed props, fancy paint jobs, etc.

I politely went in and walked them through all of that and we came to an amicable agreement.

Point is, pay attention so you don't get hosed.
 
Personal property tax practices in GA are really inconsistent with its otherwise low tax image. When we moved here from New York, we were granted the privilege of paying the use tax (or whatever) as a condition to registering our vehicles. Showed up to the Fulton County tag office and paid almost $2k to get plates for the two Jeeps we owned at the time - basically, it was more or less the "sales tax" on the then-current value (as determined by the government) of our cars. Just. So. Nice. On a positive note, both real estate property taxes and income taxes are less than they were in New York - plus, the City of Atlanta doesn't have its own income tax.
 
Bought my 1966 Cessna172 for $42k out of state and got a nice Tax Bill from Georgia for $2,975 (sales tax). Gordon County Property tax this year is $481...just got the assessment last month.
 
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scarcherpilot said:
Bought my 1966 Cessna172 for $42k out of state and got a nice Tax Bill from Georgia for $2,975 (sales tax). Bartow County Property tax this year is $481...just got the assessment last month.
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I thought your plane was based in Gordon County?
 
86Aviator said:
Personal property tax practices in GA are really inconsistent with its otherwise low tax image. When we moved here from New York, we were granted the privilege of paying the use tax (or whatever) as a condition to registering our vehicles. Showed up to the Fulton County tag office and paid almost $2k to get plates for the two Jeeps we owned at the time - basically, it was more or less the "sales tax" on the then-current value (as determined by the government) of our cars. Just. So. Nice. On a positive note, both real estate property taxes and income taxes are less than they were in New York - plus, the City of Atlanta doesn't have its own income tax.
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I saw a ranking of states by total taxes, Georgia was right in the middle, it's not actually a low tax state.
 
EdFred said:
*scratches Georgia off the places to retire*
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It's rated well for retiring. My parents moved here and cost-wise it is doing well for them. Typically no state income tax for them.

Gotta look at how the taxes, thresholds and deductions work for your situation. Georgia is probably not the place to move with a car collection and fleet of planes.



Wayne
 
You can't make a location decision on one facet of taxes. You have to look at fuel taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, school tax relief (at a certain age), age related (or grandfathered) property tax relief, etc. There are a ton of tax scenarios, and if you want to live in a place with decent services, clean streets, etc., the overall tax burden will be roughly the same in most (not all) places. The only question is whether you can pick a decent place where your portfolio of assets, income, and spend is taxed less than other places.
 
Yeah, but I only paid a 1 shot tax on a plane in MI, which according to math in the thread, if I lived in GA would have paid that another 6 times and in retirement I plan to have tangible personal property. (Planes, boats, cars, ATVs, motorcycles...) **** if I'm paying sales tax and continued tax on it every year.
 
WannFly said:
anyone knows the process of paying sales/use tax or what tax georgia wants for owning a plane? I already paid sales tax here in ND when i bought her, but i am sure Georgia wants a share too. and what am i hearing about this use tax? sigh...

PS: i sent an email to dept of aviation, GA, not sure when / if i will hear back
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You were a ND resident when you bought it weren't you? You should only have to pay the difference between what ND collected from you and what Georgia's rate is. Like if ND's rate was 5% and Georgia's is 8%, you gonna owe 3%. No refunds though if it is vice versa. This has been settled in the US Supreme Court. Guess which State got their greedy lil' azz hauled up to SCOTUS over this?
 
luvflyin said:
You were a ND resident when you bought it weren't you? You should only have to pay the difference between what ND collected from you and what Georgia's rate is. Like if ND's rate was 5% and Georgia's is 8%, you gonna owe 3%. No refunds though if it is vice versa. This has been settled in the US Supreme Court. Guess which State got their greedy lil' azz hauled up to SCOTUS over this?
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Yeah that’s the same case in MN. Guess I wasn’t prepared for the annual property tax. With the plane prices soaring for these 40 year old models, that’s ain’t gonna be pretty, and from what I gathered, they pretty much fo by listed price, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun having that discussion - no my plane is not worth 250k , yes I see that listing that someone did on trade a plane cuz their spouse asked them to list it….
 
WannFly said:
Yeah that’s the same case in MN. Guess I wasn’t prepared for the annual property tax. With the plane prices soaring for these 40 year old models, that’s ain’t gonna be pretty, and from what I gathered, they pretty much fo by listed price, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun having that discussion - no my plane is not worth 250k , yes I see that listing that someone did on trade a plane cuz their spouse asked them to list it….
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Yeah, property tax be property tax. I was talkin bout the use/sales tax. Sounds like you're moving to GA. You and your plane are now their property.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Today I would likely want to retire in Tennessee. By the time I retire it will probably be screwed up by all the people from crappy expensive places flocking to the area now.
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Yeah, and Chattanooga has grown substantially just in the last 10-15 years. I’m afraid to see what it’ll be like in the next 40 or so. Oh well, it’s home for me anyway, so I doubt I’ll move.
 
Clip4 said:
Tennessee taxing a loaf of bread is absurd to me.
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Taxing near everything. Buy a new car? Pay 9.25% tax on it...

But on the flip side, no property tax other than homes, and no income tax. I can deal with 9.25% tax on everything and no income tax, as by controlling spending one can control taxation to a degree. Also, it means those paid under the table still have to participate in funding the government resources they use and enjoy. I'd go for a national sales tax vs income tax as well.
 
RyanB said:
Yeah, and Chattanooga has grown substantially just in the last 10-15 years. I’m afraid to see what it’ll be like in the next 40 or so. Oh well, it’s home for me anyway, so I doubt I’ll move.
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Not going anywhere as well, but huge influx of outsiders, especially outdoors sports people as our city is near tops in the nation for outdoor activities and opportunities.

https://livability.com/tn/chattanoo...ttanooga-tn-is-one-of-the-best-places-to-live

https://realestate.usnews.com/places/tennessee/chattanooga
 
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