Pros/Cons of NC Antique auto plate? Tax discount?

thecarman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Apex, NC
Hey! Does anyone know the pros/cons of using an antique license plate in NC? The reason I ask - the Chatham county tax office said that if I have an antique plate, I can lower my vehicle property tax valuation to only $500. I have never heard of this before today.
I have a 1968 Buick Skylark convertible that just got value-assessed by the Chatham County property tax office at $19,200. My dad bought it around 1997 for $5k, and I bought it from him in 2011 for $7500. (See this old thread when I bought it - Please help me value 68 Skylark Convertible)
It sat in my parents garage until March 2023 when I put current plates on it again. Plates will be due in March again, which is why I got a notice that the value has been re-assessed.
When they sent me the letter about this, they mis-typed the value as $1,9200 , so I had to call them today to find out whether they meant $1920, or $19,200. (They confirmed that they meant $19.2k)
It probably is worth close to that amount now, so I’m not arguing against that. But the tax lady told me that I should get an antique auto plate for it if I usually only drive it to car shows and parades, and then I could fill out an application with her that would mean I only had to pay property tax on a $500 value. Has anyone ever heard of this? Would there be a downside to doing that?
Thanks!
 
When I got my car on the road the tag office mentioned antique tags. They ran the numbers and it didn’t make sense in my case. Tax savings didn’t cover the increased cost of antique tag. So I have a normal registration without any restrictions
 
I had antique tags on 2 of my Jeeps. When either one gets back on the road, I will probably put regular tags back on.

I got them because Lee County kept bumping up the tax value by 1000-1500 every year. I called and talked to them one day about it, asked how they came up with the value for the 1973 CJ. Her answer: "we just pick a number and increase it". The only way they said to override that is for me to hire an appraiser. Every year. So, I just did the antique plates, capped at $500. There is a form the county sends every year you have to fill out (which I've been told by DMV they are not supposed to do) where you have to list annual start/stop odometer readings, how you used it, etc. They tried to do an audit on me, said I had to take them to an "inspection station" because for a couple of years, both had zero miles accumulated. Instead of them believing they were inoperable, they assumed I was cheating the system, so I just turned the plates in until I get them on the road again.

I'd love to do the Montana LLC thing. Anything over 11 years old you can do a permanent tag (it's something like 5 years of renewal cost). (They have antique tags, too, but lots of restrictions). There are no weighted tags for trucks, either. BUT....the MT tags have been abused so much with folks avoiding sales tax and property tax with high-dollar cars and motorhomes, it's not worth the risk/hassle.

As an aside, my solution to the whole tax value thing that counties assign, they need a law that says if you think the county overvalues your property (cars, house, whatever), you can list if for sale for 90 days at that price. If it doesn't sell, the county has to pay you what they say it's worth. I've had a few older vehicles that I would have gladly let them have for what they said it's worth.
 
kaiser715 said:
As an aside, my solution to the whole tax value thing that counties assign, they need a law that says if you think the county overvalues your property (cars, house, whatever), you can list if for sale for 90 days at that price. If it doesn't sell, the county has to pay you what they say it's worth. I've had a few older vehicles that I would have gladly let them have for what they said it's worth.
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Pretty sure Thomas Jefferson back in 2020 said “an accountable government is an imaginary government” or something like that.
 
kaiser715 said:
I had antique tags on 2 of my Jeeps. When either one gets back on the road, I will probably put regular tags back on.

I got them because Lee County kept bumping up the tax value by 1000-1500 every year. I called and talked to them one day about it, asked how they came up with the value for the 1973 CJ. Her answer: "we just pick a number and increase it". The only way they said to override that is for me to hire an appraiser. Every year. So, I just did the antique plates, capped at $500. There is a form the county sends every year you have to fill out (which I've been told by DMV they are not supposed to do) where you have to list annual start/stop odometer readings, how you used it, etc. They tried to do an audit on me, said I had to take them to an "inspection station" because for a couple of years, both had zero miles accumulated. Instead of them believing they were inoperable, they assumed I was cheating the system, so I just turned the plates in until I get them on the road again.

I'd love to do the Montana LLC thing. Anything over 11 years old you can do a permanent tag (it's something like 5 years of renewal cost). (They have antique tags, too, but lots of restrictions). There are no weighted tags for trucks, either. BUT....the MT tags have been abused so much with folks avoiding sales tax and property tax with high-dollar cars and motorhomes, it's not worth the risk/hassle.

As an aside, my solution to the whole tax value thing that counties assign, they need a law that says if you think the county overvalues your property (cars, house, whatever), you can list if for sale for 90 days at that price. If it doesn't sell, the county has to pay you what they say it's worth. I've had a few older vehicles that I would have gladly let them have for what they said it's worth.
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Yep, my trailers are worth gold to the county. Once again 🖕🏼them. I got permanent tags. Ain’t paying taxes. They do what they want. Went up on my house 65%
 
Noel said:
Yep, my trailers are worth gold to the county. Once again 🖕🏼them. I got permanent tags. Ain’t paying taxes. They do what they want. Went up on my house 65%
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I have 5 trailers listed (permanent tags, but list as personal property because the tax department caught me on that after a few years), total value is only like 1500 bucks. Two I have had since about 1988, their value is probably about zero. A couple more are 15-20 years old, and also pretty much fully depreciated per the county.

I just poked around for values on my 2 almost running Jeeps -- 1973 CJ5 and 1967 J200 (my M715, but that's what the state says it is). Hagartys valuation thing says 14,900 and 15,400. I'd happily let either one go for that. Bring a flatbed trailer and a dump trailer for either one.
 
kaiser715 said:
I have 5 trailers listed (permanent tags, but list as personal property because the tax department caught me on that after a few years), total value is only like 1500 bucks. Two I have had since about 1988, their value is probably about zero. A couple more are 15-20 years old, and also pretty much fully depreciated per the county.

I just poked around for values on my 2 almost running Jeeps -- 1973 CJ5 and 1967 J200 (my M715, but that's what the state says it is). Hagartys valuation thing says 14,900 and 15,400. I'd happily let either one go for that. Bring a flatbed trailer and a dump trailer for either one.
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Hagerty and the county automatically assume it’s restored and in great shape. Imagine the old guys driving a 74 f100 clapped out hauling trash off getting a 500$ tax bill on their 1000$ truck valued at 20k
 
This is one of the few areas where MD got it right.
No recurring property tax on vehicles. Pay an "excise tax" (6% of value) once when you register for tags the first time, thats it.
Tags have to be renewed every 2 years, and are kinda high ($135 for cars, $180 for SUVs) but overt he life of a car its way less than NC.
Meanwhile... trailers also have a renewable tag fee, but its damn amazing how many people in my neighborhood must actually live in Maine based on the number of their trailer tags I see...
 
Failing anything else use Hagerty's valuation tool to present factual data to the county to reduce the valuation. I did that for my Blazer a couple years ago when the county decided it was worth 10x what I paid for it. Knocked the taxes down to less than 1/3rd what they imagined up.

www.hagerty.com

1968 Buick Skylark Custom | Hagerty Valuation Tools

Have you seen the latest 1968 Buick Skylark Custom values?
www.hagerty.com
 
Tangentially speaking about taxes...if there's a guy, we'll call him Ren...who hasn't tagged several vehicles in years, with the title in his name...but they've all been in storage/on jackstands, what's the situation with back taxes...pay them or forgiven since they were inop...but they were still property. In the past I...I mean, Ren, has just waited to title a new purchase in his name until it was roadworthy, so this wasn't an issue.
 
UTfball68 said:
Tangentially speaking about taxes...if there's a guy, we'll call him Ren...who hasn't tagged several vehicles in years, with the title in his name...but they've all been in storage/on jackstands, what's the situation with back taxes...pay them or forgiven since they were inop...but they were still property. In the past I...I mean, Ren, has just waited to title a new purchase in his name until it was roadworthy, so this wasn't an issue.
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MOTOR VEHICLE GAP TAX
 
This happened to my TJ from 2016-2022. I thought about trying to appeal and say it was inoperable and stored in Watauga county, but it was only about $100, so the time and effort it would take to go to the tax office and argue with them seemed not worth it when I could just write a check and move on. If it were a higher dollar value, it would have certainly been a different story. I know that is not directly helpful to your question, but sharing my similar experience.
 
You all get by cheap on vehicle taxes i pay around $5000.00 a year on taxes on the vehicles. But i have around 30 in my name. Mostly title only i tag around 10 of them. My commercial insurance and personal insurance runs around 21,000.00 a year. I need to make some changes to get the cost down but i don't know what i need to do but just sell everything off.
 
LT1JEEP said:
You all get by cheap on vehicle taxes i pay around $5000.00 a year on taxes on the vehicles. But i have around 30 in my name. Mostly title only i tag around 10 of them. My commercial insurance and personal insurance runs around 21,000.00 a year. I need to make some changes to get the cost down but i don't know what i need to do but just sell everything off.
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It helps when in the eyes of the state your $50k restoration is only valued at $350 because the vehicle is 45+ years old.
 
UTfball68 said:
It helps when in the eyes of the state your $50k restoration is only valued at $350 because the vehicle is 45+ years old.
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They have it here now that your $350 is worth $20,000. I told them i would sell them all the old cars for what they think they are worth. I only have a few hundred dollars in most of them. I have a few that is worth over $10.000+ I have one that has never been titled from GM since it was new.
 
I don't remember exactly, but this is a 2003 model Oshkosh dumptruck, tax value is $2-3k. Needless to say I don't tell them any different. The engine alone would sell for about $10k....

As for gap tax, if I ever get my Tacoma running I may retitle it in my sons name by that point to avoid having the gap tax...
 

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I forgot to come back and follow up on this. I went through the process with Chatham County. It costs me $10 extra per year for the antique auto plate. And it saves about $150 per year in taxes.
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Just a few of them. I have around 400 of them you want to buy a 100 or more of them they are for sale. For the right price i will deliver. lol.
 
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