In NC Now Your Auto Taxes and Tags Will Be Combined On One Bill

The way you pay your vehicle property taxes in NC is on the brink of a big change.   The State of NC is now beginning to phase in a new billing program that will combine your license tag renewal bill with the bill for the property taxes due on your vehicle.

Each county in NC charges a property tax for the licensed vehicles in their county.  Before this change was passed, each county would send a separate property tax bill for each vehicle in the county.  These taxes were generally due on the anniversary date of the day that you first registered your vehicle.   In 2013 this is all changing.

With the passage of General Assembly House Bill 1779, the Tax and Tag Together program was created.  This program combines the renewal bill for your license tag with your property tax bill for your vehicle.  By the time this new program is fully phased in, sometime in mid 2014, everyone will receive a combined bill for both license tag renewals and vehicle property taxes.   Both will be due at the same time, both are payable to the NC Division of Motor Vehicles.

This new Tax and Tag Together program will begin phasing in by mid 2013 as the DMV begins sending out registration renewals that will include the property taxes with each bill.  By mid 2014, all vehicles will be included in this program.  The DMV will disburse the property tax funds of your tax payment to your county tax office.  This means that once your vehicle is phased in to the new program, you will no longer be able to pay your vehicle property tax payments at your county office. 

It has only been a few years now since the NC DMV connected your annual vehicle inspection renewal to your tag renewal and this rule has not changed.  This means that you still must have your vehicle inspected before you pay your tag renewal.  With this new program, your vehicle tax will be due at the same time as well.  So, you will have three things that you must do at the same time every year: Get your vehicle inspected, pay your tag renewal and pay the property taxes on that vehicle.

You should receive a notice with the new tax bill and registration renewal by mail.  But keep in mind, if you have recently moved and have not notified the DMV of your new address, then you will likely miss this notice and could be subject to penalties and interest if you are late paying your property taxes.  In addition, if you have moved to a new county and not notified the DMV, then the tax bill that you receive might be inaccurate so you will have more to work out before you can renew your tags.

Last of all, don’t forget that NC law states that if you have a tag in your possession, then you must have auto liability insurance in force as well.  So if you sell your car, don’t forget to take off the tag and turn it in to the NCDMV office before you call your insurance agent to ask them to remove this car from your insurance policy.

At Clinard Insurance Group, we want all of our customers to be informed insurance buyers.  If you have any questions at all about any of your insurance policies, or if you need help with a new auto insurance  or home insurance policy, please call our office at 877-687-7557 and we will be happy to help you.