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Thursday, October 1, 2009

"If you take a walk I'll tax your feet"

I've been working quite a bit in Hartford CT over the past two months, and one of my favorite topics to ponder is the Connecticut "car tax". Yes, in Connecticut, a property tax is levied against the value of your car(s). Here is a brief description for the official website of the state of Connecticut:

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Town Property Tax Information

Motor Vehicles are subject to a local property tax under Connecticut state law. This applies whether or not the vehicle is registered. The local property tax is computed and issued by your local tax collector.

If you do not register a motor vehicle but retain ownership, you must annually file a declaration form with your assessor(s) between October 1 and November 1.


Tax Jurisdiction

A tax jurisdiction is considered to be your town of residence.

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Silly me, I thought that the only property that should be taxed was that which conceivably could increase in value. Taxing the value of something that actually loses value the minute you buy it seems strange at best to me, repressive at worst. I realize that the intention here is to generate revenue that goes towards maintaining the infrastructure that cars use, namely roads. However, governments being what they are I suspect that this tax simply generates revenue that keeps governments running.

What's next, tax the value of my washing machine?

Speaking of repressive, this is a tax that screams repression. Think about it: it's not enough to tax what you earn, this state also has to tax that which you use to get to your job so that you can earn enough to pay your taxes. This is on top of other taxes that are higher than many other states.

Look, I actually do like Connecticut...it's beautiful here, the people are very nice and Hartford isn't a bad town. But this is one form of taxation that seems utterly insane.

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