Car tax deadline extended
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has extended the personal property tax deadline from Oct. 6 to Wednesday, Nov. 5.
The extension gives residents additional time to submit their payments without incurring any interest or late fees.
“We understand the financial challenges many residents are facing this year, particularly our federal workforce impacted by the recent government shutdown,” said Board Chair Jeffrey McKay. “While state law strictly limits the ability to waive interest and late fees, the board has the authority to adjust the due date, and this extension is intended to ease stress for those affected.”
Related story: Resources available for workers affected by the shutdown
The Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration can also help county residents experiencing financial challenges, including those due to furloughs and job loss, develop a payment plan. Staff can help craft a plan on an individual basis to spread out tax payments over time to avoid increased costs.
To discuss payment options, call the Department of Tax Administration, 703-222-8234 weekdays 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. or email [email protected].
A better solution would be for the county to stop over-assessing cars. Many residents don’t realize they’re paying taxes based on inflated car values. When you compare the book value or Bill of Sale to the assessed value, you’ll be surprised at how much more you’re paying than you should be.
In my case, the county valued my brand-new car several thousand dollars more than what I paid, which led to hundreds of extra dollars in taxes. I sent the actual Bill of Sale to the tax administrator, and was told that the county’s policy is to assess vehicles at 5% of MSRP. However, very few people actually pay 5% off MSRP. In today’s market, the average discount is closer to 10-13% below MSRP.
What’s especially frustrating is that Northern Virginia has some of the worst roads and poorly maintained median strips. Our elected officials seem to be prioritizing everything but what directly impacts our daily lives. They’re wasting our hard-earned money on programs that don’t make a tangible difference to our quality of life.
It’s time for the county to reassess their approach and ensure that we’re not paying more than we should be for the privilege of owning a car.
While I appreciate that the Board of Supervisors recognizes that the shutdown is impacting a large number of people who live in Fairfax County, and believe that moving the car tax due date is an appropriate “band-aid.” Unfortunately the Board of Supervisors refuses to deal with the real issues that face us. As others have pointed out, the assessment rate for car taxes is one. Another is the “phantom” real estate tax rate cut knowing that the assessments went up (thus still collecting more money than the year before), and a complete failure to change county regulations to enable small and medium businesses (over a preferential approach to large companies). The Board of Supervisors continues to spend like “drunken sailors” wasting our hard-earned money on projects and programs that developers and special interest support/ want. Negatively impacting our quality of life. Just look at the Mason Supervisor – his priorities are to ignore voters who are being ignored by the Park Authority (two parts of Fairfax County government being unresponsive), “making” Mason an “art hub” (nice but doesn’t really need taxpayer money or support), and renaming a street to pander for campaign contributions. Nothing about better crime enforcement, no push for better code enforcement or needed reform, nothing about reducing government spending, or even focusing on core elements with a budget reduction on extras. Voting is how we can change the trajectory. Start with voting out the Mason Supervisor, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors and everyone else in local government. Unless you want to keep things the way they are – where our elected officials tell you what to do and decide how to spend your money.
I sincerely doubt the 10-12 cars parked at that house on Heming between Axton and Leesville will pay this tax. Police refuse to write a ticket on the derelict van parked illegally or run the plates on the stolen vehicles they park on sidewalk forcing students to walk in street on the way to school or the park. What does it take for FFx police to write a ticket? Is it just a mental block? Or is there fear of upsetting the gang members who visit that house? Or upset the notoriously code violating landlord? Seems that car tax is only for people who abide by the law and want a live-able community.
Honestly, you should go back Texas. Unless you lived in Austin, the self-flagellation and pandering to the highest on the victim totem pole around here is going to drive you crazy.
Northern VA is run by and populated largely by left-wing zealots who put warped ideology over citizens’ basic needs and safety. It’s just what it is. This includes mayors, Board of Supervisors, hand-picked school administrators, woke police chiefs from places like Baltimore, and DEI sheriffs, just to name a few. Good luck and Godspeed.