Aloha,
Appreciate any insight Arkies may have about Auto Registration procedures for the State of Arkansas. I purchased a new auto for my UA daughter in August 2020. She went to renew her auto tags this week and was informed she will be charged a 10% penalty of the purchase price of the auto because she didn’t have her auto “accessed” between Jan-March of 2021. She was never informed of the requirement.
Can any of y’all enlighten me on how my daughter (that means me) can avoid paying this heavy penalty?
UA…Campus of Champions
She has to have the car assessed, not accessed. That means she has to submit her personal property, including the car, with the county assessors office and pay taxes on it.
https://www.washingtoncountyar.gov/government/departments-a-e/assessor
Aloha and mahalo for the prompt response. How I love this Forum!
UA…Campus of Champions
I believe there may have been a misunderstanding somewhere. Personal property taxes are based on the assessed value of the vehicle (which are going to be a lot less than purchase price). And every county I’ve ever lived in this state gives you until May 31 to assess, not March. If you don’t assess by that date, they’ll penalize you 10% of the property tax due (not the purchase price of the vehicle). But for reference, I’ve got 2 fairly nice SUVs both less than 4 years old and my yearly property tax bill is about $700. If I don’t assess by May 31, I owe an additional $70.
I’m assuming that you/she paid the sales tax on the vehicle when it was bought. Hopefully you didn’t just swap the plates. Sales tax is due within 45 days (I believe) of purchase date. Not sure what the penalty on that would be if not paid on the vehicle purchased in November 2020.
Well it is after May 31, so it’s a late assessment regardless. Normally the county assessor sends out a reminder.
Since she has tags, and they were not expired, assume the sales tax was paid. She has to go to courthouse to access and pay property tax. Property tax normally due year later. I bet it’s just gonna be a late assessment fee. Not sure her property tax is due yet.
Guy, I’m NOT telling you to do anything “underhanded” because it’s not.
However,your UA daughter(you?) can pay a percentage on that auto if it was a $300,000 dollar car OR a percentage of that$1,500 dollar car that she has.
If you purchased the auto and transferred the title over to her you can put how much it’s worth on paper and pay only a percentage of that price. It’s none of the assessor’s office business how much you put down as monetary worth after it leaves you, the original owner.
I hope you understand what I’m trying to convey and I hope it helps if it is applicable.
Sales tax and property tax not the same. And the property tax is going to be way cheaper. You can’t keep getting tags unless you assess and then pay that assessment the next fall.
Again, don’t think this will be too expensive or difficult.
Property taxes are based on book value, not what you paid for the vehicle.
Okay guys, in Arkansas you are required to assess your personal property (usually just automobiles for individuals) by end of May. The assessed value is 20% of the fair market value. So, the penalty for missing the date for assessing is not going to be huge unless you bought her a $100,000 car.
I should say 20% of the “tax on the fair market value”.
Aloha,
II love y’all like brothers. Thank y’all so very much for the wisdom and advice Yes, the dates for assessment are indeed Jan-May. My bad. I purchased the car. It’s in my daughter’s name. Paid the sales tax last year. Renewed the tags this week. Hopefully the late penalty fee will be minor. Didn’t know the State requirements and didn’t get a reminder. But we are much wiser going forward.
UA…Campus of Champions
In several counties (Sebastian was one and I think Washington as well) there’s an assessor desk in the revenue department office and you can assess at the same time you go in to renew your tags. Or just go there to assess without doing the other stuff. I never went to the courthouse to assess in eight years in Fort Smith.
In Washington County, the first time you assess has to be done in person, after that, you can assess over the phone. You don’t want to have to wait in that line for 30 minutes +, to do that. RE and personal property taxes are due Oct. 15th.
I had problems with the Pulaski County assessment on my 02 Tacoma with 250,000+ miles a few years ago. They were trying to charge me more tax for that old truck than everyone I know who had newer more expensive vehicles.
I appreciate that Tacoma’s hold their book value but their method of calculating property tax was nonsense to me. The book value they quoted was insanely high. I have no idea what “book” they were referencing. I would have taken 50% of their mystery book value on the spot if anyone had offered.
I don’t know what you bought your daughter but I hope it’s not a Tacoma.
Note: my Tacoma has 284,000+ miles now. Never paid their ridiculous assessment either.
In Washington county I would assume that you can Assess online, just wait until like late January or February and you should be able to log into the Assessor’s Website and take care of. I do it every year in Pulaski. The address associated with the vehicle should also get a Renewal Notice a couple of months in Advance and it will show if you have Assessed and Paid your property taxes, if so then you can renew your tags online and they will send you a new sticker.
You can, after you do it in person the first time.
Aloha Sir,
LOL. My daughter loves trucks…but I got her a Honda Accord instead. HA!
Appreciate the insight!
UA…Campus of Champions
Yup, you can do it online in Washington County. Just have her put a calendar reminder to do it sometime during that time period.
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