Motor Vehicle Taxes
Section 14-163 of the Connecticut General Statutes, requires the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to furnish assessors lists of registered motor vehicles. The assessors use this list to create a motor vehicle assessment for every registered car owner in the town.
Any other motor vehicles that are located in a town and are not registered, are taxable as personal
property, Code 09 and must be declared as such, pursuant to §12-42.
Car taxes are based on 70% retail value multiplied by the Town and District’s mill rate, and are mailed in July of every year. Motor vehicle taxes are due in one installment, regardless of the amount, with a due date noted on the bill.
Taxes that are not paid by the due date accrue interest of 1.5% ( or $2.00 minimum, whichever is higher) on both the Town and District portion of their bill.
All delinquent motor vehicle taxes are reported to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, leaving taxpayers unable to register any motor vehicle until all tax balances in their name are paid. In order to release your name at the DMV payment must be in the form of cash, money order, or cashier’s check. A personal check may be used to pay a delinquent car tax, but an immediate release will not be given, but will be held for ten (10) business days. If you are paying online through Invoice Cloud, be aware that it may take as much as seven (7) days for the payment to be received by the Town from Invoice Cloud and released at the DMV.
If you no longer have the car or you have moved out of state, you may be due an adjustment on your car tax. Please provide proof to the Assessor’s office, so that they may review your assessment.
Supplemental Motor Vehicle Taxes
Supplemental motor vehicle bills are sent out in January of every year for any car registered during the preceding period of October 2 and July 31. These bills have a prorated assessment for the period of time in which it is registered. Any supplemental motor vehicle tax bill on which a credit is due for taxes paid on a replaced October 1st grand list vehicle must be issued by the town which billed the October 1st vehicle regardless of the taxpayer's current address. This is necessary because only the municipality that received the taxes on the October 1st vehicle can give credit for taxes received.
Any supplemental motor vehicle bill for a vehicle that does not replace a vehicle registered on October 1st for which a credit is due, will be billed in the town in which the vehicle was last registered prior to August 1st.
If a car is stolen, replaced, totaled or sold any time during the period of October 2 through September 31 of the previous year, contact the assessor’s office to discuss a possible adjustment to the supplemental car tax.
All supplemental taxes are due in one installment, regardless of the amount due. Taxes that are not paid by the due date accrue interest of 1.5% ( or $2.00 minimum, whichever is higher) on both the Town and District portion of their bill.
All delinquent motor vehicle taxes are reported to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, leaving taxpayers unable to register any motor vehicle until all taxes on the names, associated names, or cars are paid. In order to release your name at the DMV payment must be in the form of cash, money order, or cashier’s check. A personal check may be used to pay a delinquent car tax, but an immediate release will not be given, but will be held for ten (10) business days.
If there is any questions regarding the prorated assessment, please contact the Assessor’s office for additional information.