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Time ticking for car owners to opt out of birthday tax
TAVT is one-time payment that may be covered by sales tax already paid
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Tax clerk Bridgette Hughes helps Jerry and Wanda Tilson of Lula with TAVT opt-in questions on Friday at the Hall County Tax Commisssioner’s Office. “It’s crazy,” said Jerry Tilson. “Usually you could get a tag for $20 or $30, now you have to save up $400 for a tag.” Tilson said the tax on his recently purchased 2000 Yukon Denali is $373, and he needed a boat trailer decal, too. - photo by NAT GURLEY
Georgia residents who bought a car in 2012 or early 2013 have until the end of the week to opt out of the birthday tax and into a new one-time title tax. The Title Ad Valorem Tax replaces the annual ad valorem tax, often referred to as the birthday tax, and it may not cost vehicle owners anything to switch. The TAVT took effect March 1, 2013, so those purchasing cars, whether at a dealership or from a private owner, now pay a percentage of the vehicle’s fair market value or purchase price, whichever is the higher amount, and then do not pay an annual tax.