Remember last year when I called on the DMV to stop overcharging taxes on private party car sales? In case you don’t, here’s the letter I wrote to the DMV.
Under a new contract with Department of Motor Vehicle, the Board of Equalization will now have more oversight of motor vehicle use tax collection.
The new contract helps DMV counter staff to determine the correct rate for car buyers who live in zip codes with more than one tax rate. The agreement also creates a pilot program to explore and evaluate alternative methods to reduce reliance on five digit zip codes used to determine tax jurisdiction.
An internal review found that the DMV had used zip codes to charge taxes, even though zip codes are often split between cities and counties that employ different tax rates.
There were roughly 7,000 cases where taxpayers had been overcharged by the DMV. The Board will refund these overcharges to taxpayers.
Taxpayers should have confidence that their government isn’t charging tax that isn’t owed. You can easily find the correct tax rate for your address at boe.ca.gov/taxrate.
For further assistance, consumers may contact the BOE’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-400-7115.