[Yobyot]

If you have an X3 registered in Mass., be sure to check the valuation.

As you may know, excise tax is based on the MSRP of the vehicle without options for that model year.

I received a bill valuing my 2018 30i at $48,850. BMW's MSRP for the car is $42,450.

I applied, as required, for an abatement based on valuation in my town. They threw up their hands and said the RMV has to change the valuation. I wrote the RMV and after 60 days without a response, I escalated to my state representative.

After a call from the RMV prompted by that action, it turns out that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts thinks my 30i is an M40i. RMV claims that my VIN shows in a NADA database as an M40i.

To prove it's not, I have to submit a copy of the Moroney sticker and my registration. That, of course, isn't a problem.

And I suspect this is just a coding error on the part of the seller of the database the RMV uses. But it does mean that if you have a 2018 30i registered in Massachusetts, you are likely paying too much in excise tax.

This year (the so-called "year of manufacture") if your car was registered for the full year, the difference is $144. It may not be much but I don't like to pay more than I legitimately owe.

[Fenders]

Thanks for those efforts and the heads-up post. I take delivery of my 30i this Friday and will keep an eye out for the valuation on the upcoming excise bill.

[Sea-Tac]

I think they do this in AZ as well which gave a few Porsche owners the shakes if I remember correctly when I was in that forum.

[Fenders]

thanks again Yobyot - Just got my incorrect town bill this week - RMV confirmed fax receipt of my required docs today...paying the inflated amount up front is a bit annoying, but I'm looking forward to the adjustment at some point.

[Yobyot]

Whoa!

Talk about Jungian synchronicity...

As the notice of your post arrived in email, I was faxing the RMV the incorrect excise bill and a copy of the window sticker. They valued my MY2019 M40i at $32300, which at 50% in the year before the year of manufacture (MGL 60A S1) would mean the MSRP is $64600. But the Moroney sticker shows the MSRP of the base car (which is the price subject to tax) is $54650, a nearly 15% increase in tax.

Two overvaluations in a single year. This cannot be an accident.

[Yobyot]

Originally Posted by Fenders

thanks again Yobyot - Just got my incorrect town bill this week - RMV confirmed fax receipt of my required docs today...paying the inflated amount up front is a bit annoying, but I'm looking forward to the adjustment at some point.

Just FYI, RMV has to update the valuation AND send notice to your city/town Board of Assessors. You then have to file an abatement for the tax. (RMV should send you a copy of the notice.) Then the Board has to vote the abatement. This can take months. So, you really do have to pay the wrong amount and then get it back through this complex, paper-driven process.

I've written my state rep a second time and asked them to ask RMV why this is happening. It's a pattern -- not an error.

[GGEVOX]

Subd....


interesting.

[x3sm]

Mass sucks.....