We just moved from D.C. to VA and bought our Prius used about 8 months ago. DC has a policy that you are exempt from an excise tax if buying a hybrid that gets more than 40 mpg. Yay. But when we moved to VA the DMV said that we would have to pay the sales tax bc we bought the car less than a year ago, unless we paid the tax to the D.C. DMV. Has anyone else experience some this? A surprise extra bill for $800 is not what I was expecting when registering the car in VA.
Welcome to Prius Chat. That sounds bad, but as I'm in UK I'm unable to advise. Just wait a while and other Americans will come along to comment.
Have not heard that one before! Worth some study to make sure. Perhaps contact rep. Don Beyers office, as he was a auto dealer so he might have some interest. This could be an exception case that the law did not comprehend. You could argue you did pay, but it was covered by DC. Also state senators Adam Ebbin and Scott Surovell were instrumental in getting rid of Virginia's short-lived hybrid tax. DC is the only "state" with a hybrid incentive, giving you 6% savings (no sales tax). Va. has ~4% sales tax, with add'l annual car tax (as you may know). Arlington is the only locality in Va. with a hybrid reduction on annual car tax. So you are ahead, just not as much as hoped. Taxes on cars when moving can be painful. Louisiana for example charges full sales taxes 11% on all vehicles value coming in via new residents. Thankfully I was down to older cars when I moved there once.
