About Car Tax in Several Countries

About Car Tax in Several Countries - Car tax, known by various names around the world, is a tax which has to be paid on a motor vehicle before using it on a public road. In Australia an annual registration fee is payable, the cost of which varies by type of vehicle and state of registration. This is most commonly called rego (pronounced with a soft g). 

Each state requires an annual registration fee which varies from state to state. For example, in Massachusetts, the excise tax is billed separately from registration fees, by the town or city in which the vehicle is registered, and was set at a fixed rate of 2.5% statewide by a 1980 law called Proposition 2½‎. Within some states, the fees may vary from county to county, as some counties have surcharges per vehicle. An example of this is Virginia's personal property tax. The state of New York, on the other hand, charges a tax based on the vehicle's weight, rather than on its value, which is charged at the time of registration renewal.

In California, the registration tax is calculated by the current value of the vehicle. If it is an old and low price vehicle, the registration tax is very low. However, if it is a brand new and expensive vehicle, the registration will cost a few hundred of dollars. This system punishes car makers investing into expensive technology to reduce fuel consumption.

In Brazil, the states may collect an annual Vehicle Licensing Fee (Taxa de Licenciamento Veicular) which has a fixed value for each vehicle category determined by each state. In addition, each state may impose a Vehicle Property Tax (Imposto sobre a Propriedade de Veículos Automotores), with a rate up to 4%.

In France, the vignette was abolished for private vehicles in 2001.

In Hong Kong, the license fee is according to the category (passenger cars, goods vehicles, taxis, etc.) of the vehicle first. Then, for passenger cars (known as private cars), it is calculated by the engine size. The lowest tax band is under 1500cc, then the tax band changes at 2500cc, 3500cc and 4500cc. Due to this system of license fee, most of 1600cc to 1800cc car models cannot sell well. Most people prefer 1500cc for compact cars. Due to this reason, some manufacturers provide only the 1500cc version of their compact cars to Hong Kong market such as Toyota Corolla and Nissan Tiida. Both of these two cars only have 1500cc version available.

In Hungary, since 2009 this tax is based on the vehicle's engine performance and the vehicle's age. Before this so-called performance tax, this tax was based on the vehicle's weight and unofficially it was called a weight tax. A tax is collected under the Local Tax Act of 1950 that is paid every May based on the engine's displacement. The tax is determined by whether the vehicle is for business or personal use, then based on the engine's displacement starting with engines below 1000cc, and increasing at 500cc intervals to the maximum of 6000cc. Personal vehicles pay more than vehicles identified as business use.

The federal government charges an annual Vehicle Tax depending on the brand, value and other vehicle characteristics in models up to 10 years old at the time of payment. This tax was created in 1961 and in 2006 represented about 1.6% of the total tax income (around 13 billion pesos). 

In Norway, a registration fee is applied to all new motor vehicles when sold new. The fee is calculated by several variables such as vehicle classification, engine displacement, CO2 emissions, vehicle weight and engine power and generally rewards vehicles with smaller engines, low emissions and low weight. This fee can be in the hundreds of thousands kroner. In addition, there is a yearly road tax applied to motor vehicles, failure of payment will generally lead to road plates being withdrawn. The road tax varies by vehicle classification, for ordinary passenger cars it is 2840 Norwgian kroner (with a slightly higher amount for older diesels).

In the United Kingdom owners are required to pay Vehicle Excise Duty, commonly known as "car tax", "vehicle tax" or "road tax", which is paid to the government for a vehicle licence, which must be displayed on most motor vehicles used on public roads. Since 1937 there has been no direct relationship between the tax and government expenditure on public roads. The registered keeper of a vehicle that is not used or kept on public roads must complete a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).

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