[Mgs] So quiet!

[Richard Lindsay]

   Wow Paul! There are always people who find ways to cheat the system.
   Another whole discussion has to do with the 'road tax' that you mention.
Its not a topic worthy of extended discussion here, but it is a concern.
   Ages ago I offered to sell my Mondial QV to an old friend in Porto,
Portugal. He wanted the car and the price was right, about $24k. However,
that Ferrari has a 3.0 liter V8 engine and Portugal's tax structure classes
that engine as 'large'. The tax to import that car into the EU, plus road
tax (or whatever they call it) was to be MORE than the cost of the car! I
could have given him the car and it still wouldn't have been a good deal!
   Here in the States we forget how lucky we are with automobile taxes and
fuel. In Texas we pay a 'sales tax', the equivalent of VAT, each time a car
is transferred. Rounded up, its about 7% of the 'value' of the car. Its a
one time charge, except for annual re-registration for a nominal fee (about
$67).
   As is always the case, 'value' is a poorly defined term. In the case of
the DMV, TXDOT, it appears to be the greater of the actual purchase price
or the DMV's established value of the car. That works fine for a 2017 Ford
but there are no MGAs in their value guide. Therefore, its important to
present a Bill-of-Sale to establish value. And since tax is paid based upon
value, it is common practice here to falsify the Bill-of-Sale. Yea, back to
that cheating the system.
   We don't have a road tax, *per se*., other than that which is added to
the price of fuel. We know that big engines burn more fuel, but otherwise,
that 'road tax' is independent of car type. Then again, our fuel is so
cheap that the topic is barely worthy of discussion. I live where much of
the nation's fuel is refined so prices are even lower, due to minimal
transportation costs.
   Please remember, much of what I have written above pertains to Texas,
not the USA in general. In the States, much of the tax structure is set by
the state, added on to whatever the national government imposes. That's
sometimes confusing for those living outside of the USA.

Rick

On Wed, Apr 24, 2019, 7:04 AM PaulHunt73 via Mgs <mgs at autox.team.net> wrote:

> Much the same in the UK plus various dates, engine number and capacity,
> body style, taxation class (Historic i.e. free yay), minus 'lien'.
>
> Still plenty of 'gotchas' though, one of the more recent being that if a
> seller goes online immediately he swaps the car for money to notify the
> DVLA of the sale (so he isn't liable for the purchasers subsequent speeding
> fines), the existing road tax is cancelled and the buyer has to retax it
> before he can drive it.  Tricky if the process takes place at the sellers
> house.  That and others are supposed to reduce the number of untaxed and
> unregistered cars on the roads but there has been an explosion in them.
> Once a car is off the books they can drive around with impunity, with
> cloned plates applicable to another car, and innocent victims copping for
> their speeding and parking tickets.
>
> PaulH.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
>    Here in Texas the registration and title document includes the VIN, or
> car/chassis number, owner's name and address, previous owner's info, and
> body color - I think. Oh, and there is an area to indicate if there is a
> lean against the car. EasyPeasy if everything is in order. Cumbersome if
> not. Perhaps that is how it should be, for our own protection.
>
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