Re: Lic. Plate

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Wed, 6 Dec 1995, Jef Johnstone wrote:
> BTW, what does everyone else pay for the
> pleasure of driving an Audi?
> I'm talking about vehicle registration...or tabs.

actually the registration part is small.. $20 or so.. the rest of it
is excise tax, which is income tax deductable.  i think the excise tax
was created to go after those grammas and grandpas who sold the house
and got a big mobile home costing $100K... no property tax but here
comes the excise tax.  (correct me if i'm wrong)

> Here in Washington, 
>I payed $464 last year to the state to own/drive my niffty
> little CQ...

that's nothing.  i paid something like $1100 for the first year i had the v8.
5 years later i'm paying something like $700.  

>OUCH!! They base it on retail value of the car then depreciate it
> some % each year after

this part is total bull.  my v8 is probably worth $15 or 16K today.
if i went out and bought a brand new $16K car, the "tabs" for it will
probably be less than half of what i'm paying right now.  daylight
robbery is what it is.  

another wierd twist.  the "value" is based on the base model.  so for
cars with a big range such as the mitsu eclipse, you pay the same
regardless of which model eclipse you buy.  a win for the guy who buys
top of the line GSX.  he will pay the value based on the $9000 (or
whatever) cut rate special model. if you buy a S6, it is *the* base
model and you pay accordingly through the nose.

>...ya right...don't get me started...

you got yourself started... :)

at least we don't have a state income tax.  the current system of WA
state taxation is said to favor the higher incomes more.  (imagine,
bill gates not paying a dime in state income tax and by his leading
a unflashy lifestyle, the state gets to see little of his billions,
though that high tech mansion would generate a sizeable chunk of
property taxes)...

having less and less to do with audis....


eliot