Are you paying too much in car taxes? Lady's Island woman was for 13 years
Lady's Island resident Sue Lauland has driven her durable Toyota Camry LE for 13 years.
She was livid to find out this week she has paid taxes on a more expensive Camry model for the past 13 years, likely costing her hundreds of dollars.
Lauland said a friend driving a newer model Toyota Camry discovered earlier this week that the taxes on their cars are assessed at the value of a Toyota Camry XLE -- the most expensive Camry model -- by the Beaufort County Auditor's Office on their bill each year.
Lauland and her friend had their car taxes adjusted to the value of the car they actually drive, but Lauland said she was told by the auditor's office there was no way for her to recoup money from the 12 years she paid higher taxes. She said Friday her refund would only amount to about $20 based on the car's age.
"It's an old car, so the refund is not anything significant, but over 13 years it adds up to a nice chunk of change," she said. "The government would get their pound of flesh if I underpaid. It's not fair.
"They must make millions and millions of dollars in revenue off this. People really need to know that this is crazy."
New Beaufort County auditor Jim Beckert said most surrounding counties also assess car taxes based on the most expensive model, a practice used in Beaufort County before he took office. Beckert said the need to assess the car at a higher value is caused by incomplete data on registered vehicles in the state.
In many cases, the general model is included, but not the specific model version. So Lauland's car might only show up as a Toyota Camry, and not a Toyota Camry LE or XLE, Beckert said.
Each model has a different value assessed, but the auditor's office has no way of knowing what type of Camry it is unless the person comes in, he said.
That problem starts at the car dealership; if the specific model isn't inputted at the point of sale, it is not included when the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles sends out renewal and new car data each month, said auditor's office employee Amanda Paulsen, who spends a chunk of each month poring over that new data.
The auditor's office typically gets information on 10,000 to 12,000 cars each month, she said.
In other cases, the guide for assessed values sent out by the S.C. Department of Revenue may not include a value for certain cars. In a datasheet from October, Paulsen had to manually find the value of 900 cars, she said.
Beckert, who took office July 1, said he is working to find a solution to the issue and ensure that taxpayers are aware of how their car's value is assessed. The auditor's office will adjust the tax bill down, so long as the car's owner can provide supporting documentation that shows their vehicle is a less expensive model.
Beckert said it helps the auditor's office if a person gets their car tax adjusted, because they can note in the person's tax file and assign the correct model value moving forward.
Beckert is also considering sending out tax bills with a notice or message included that the car tax is based on the most expensive version of the car, part of his plan to make the auditor's office as customer-friendly as possible.
He hopes to include something "eye-catching" that will make taxpayers immediately aware of how the value of their car is determined.
"We don't want you to pay more than you have to, but we don't want to drop the assessed value and have you pay less than you're required to," he said.
Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
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This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Are you paying too much in car taxes? Lady's Island woman was for 13 years."