I just bought a used car trailer.
Previous owner had back taxes due since 2014.
Apparently GA has a neat little law- if you buy something from a tax deadbeat, YOU have to pay his back taxes.
What a stupid law. There isn't even any way for a buyer to know that a vehicle has back taxes due. How does the State get away with charging someone for someone else's taxes???
Good thing it wasn't a $30,000 or more vehicle. 
Was he actually able to keep the trailer registered while owing taxes?
So don't move to GA..
Gonna mark that down.
In reply to eastsidemav:
I don't think so. Came with an old tag.
But expired trailer tags are the norm in GA. Generally, you won't even get pulled over for it.
What if this had been a classic collectible sitting in a garage for several years? Or a parts car? I can think of lots of reasons a vehicle might not be registered and I might want to buy it. Doesn't mean I should have to pay the other guy's taxes.
Wow, that is awful. But I understand it is how properties work too.
There is a mall in Milwaukee (Northridge mall) that has been abandoned for 15-20 years because the Chinese firm that bought it stopped paying taxes, and no one local will buy it because the govt wants to collect the back taxes and utility bills from the prospective new owners (govt kinda has a point, they've been policing and the utilities up to a point we're protecting the building, so the buyer is getting more value than if the govt and utilities provided no services). I'm sure the govt will settle if someone were serious, but they still want something, and because of it the property just sits.
Maine trailer tags. Just saying
SCDNR does the same thing with boats. That can add up to quite a lot of money.
In reply to Robbie:
No, the government does not have a point.
They have been providing services to the current owner. They need to go after the person to whom the services were rendered and failed to pay for them.
There are tools in place for non-payment of taxes. It's called a tax lien. The government is being a lazy E36 M3 because they don't want to own the property and have to go through the appropriate process.
In reply to SVreX:
California does that too with back registration. Technically it's the responsibility of the seller to pay them but you won't be able to tag it without the fees being paid. So you'll have to resort to a lawyer to recover fees.
I don't understand why this is allowed at all.
Vigilantly justice.
Go back and take it out of the seller's ass.
In reply to SVreX:
The state does what they want because they can.
WA charges sales tax every time a car changes hands.
They call it an unrelated fee, one that coincidentally mirrors the rate of sales tax.
I live in Ga. and sadly know going in I have to Catch up the Tag Tax to buy one for myself, only way to avoid it is to buy New, but wait There's A Tax for That Too! And of course Nothin I stop to look at is New.
In reply to SnowMongoose:
I actually understand a sales tax. You bought something, you pay tax.
GA also does ad valorum. You get to pay tax every year, just because you own something. 
SVreX wrote: In reply to Robbie: No, the government does not have a point. They have been providing services to the current owner. They need to go after the person to whom the services were rendered and failed to pay for them. There are tools in place for non-payment of taxes. It's called a tax lien. The government is being a lazy E36 M3 because they don't want to own the property and have to go through the appropriate process.
This. All of this.
I didn't start this thread to complain about paying taxes. Yeah, no one likes that.
But being forced to pay someone else's taxes?... wow.
My brother has been burnt by similar issues in the past and successfully sued in small claims. He now has a form that he has sellers sign that says they are responsible for any overdue fees not disclosed in the sale.
The CA DMV allows you to go online and check registration status and dues.
In reply to SVreX:
Especially since they are irrelevant to the value of the vehicle to you, the new / prospective owner.
There's a similar law by me, although I don't think it applies to trailers. You look at the road tax disc on the car, and if it's not current, the gap from the expiry date to the present is how much back tax you could potentially be on the hook for. A missing tax disc at a small dealership or private sale is a red flag.
GTXVette wrote: I live in Ga. and sadly know going in I have to Catch up the Tag Tax to buy one for myself, only way to avoid it is to buy New, but wait There's A Tax for That Too! And of course Nothin I stop to look at is New.
Would buying out of state avoid back taxes?
GA has done away with Ad Valorem. If you have a vehicle that you have had for awhile and opted to keep it and continue to pay the Ad Valorem, you will continue to pat yearly. If you buy a vehicle you will be charge the TAVT. That went into effect with HB 386 March 1, 2013. You will be charged a percentage of the purchase price. Want to go the good ole boy route and have the seller say he sold it to you for $1 or whatever? No good, the state will charge you according to what they think the vehicle is worth. Don't like it, you will be told to appeal it to the county Board of Assessors. We have still not figured out where they get the figures they charge. Your county assessors board probably has appeals to the TAVT every meeting.
SC has been doing this with automobiles, even to the point of chasing people to other counties.
68TR250 wrote: GA has done away with Ad Valorem. If you have a vehicle that you have had for awhile and opted to keep it and continue to pay the Ad Valorem, you will continue to pat yearly. If you buy a vehicle you will be charge the TAVT. That went into effect with HB 386 March 1, 2013. You will be charged a percentage of the purchase price. Want to go the good ole boy route and have the seller say he sold it to you for $1 or whatever? No good, the state will charge you according to what they think the vehicle is worth. Don't like it, you will be told to appeal it to the county Board of Assessors. We have still not figured out where they get the figures they charge. Your county assessors board probably has appeals to the TAVT every meeting.
While you have just touched on another pet peeve of mine, GA has not done away with ad valorum.
They've done away with it on vehicles, but they have not done away with it on property. Ask any business.
spitfirebill wrote: SC has been doing this with automobiles, even to the point of chasing people to other counties.
Chasing who? Sellers? Good.
How do you chase a buyer, when they are standing in front of you trying to get a tag?
Maybe this changed when they switched to the sales tax on tags from Ad valoram a couple years back. I know I had a situation like that with an old trailer about 4 years ago and specifically did NOT have to pay the back taxes. And I'm in GA.
Weird.
EDIT: right, I meant they switched on vehicles.
Maine Trailer REgistration. Look it up.
You'll need to log in to post.
