58.1-3516 - Proration of personal property tax.
§ 58.1-3516. Proration of personal property tax.
A. The governing body of any county, city or town may provide by ordinancefor the levy and collection of personal property tax on motor vehicles,trailers, semitrailers, and boats which have acquired a situs within suchlocality after the tax day for the balance of the tax year. Such tax shall beprorated on a monthly basis. Such ordinance may exclude boats or motorvehicles, trailers, and semitrailers with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000pounds or more used to transport property for hire by a motor carrier engagedin interstate commerce, or both, from the property subject to proration ofthe personal property tax. For purposes of proration, a period of more thanone-half of a month shall be counted as a full month and a period of lessthan one-half of a month shall not be counted.
Such ordinance shall also provide for relief from tax and a refund of theappropriate amount of tax already paid, which shall be prorated on a monthlybasis, where any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat loses its situswithin such locality after the tax day or after the day on which it acquiresa situs (hereafter "situs day"). No refund shall be made if the motorvehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat acquires a situs within theCommonwealth in a nonprorating locality. When any person sells or otherwisetransfers title to a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat with asitus in the locality after the tax day or situs day, the tax shall berelieved, prorated on a monthly basis, and the appropriate amount of taxalready paid shall be (i) refunded or (ii) credited against the tax due onany motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat owned by the taxpayer duringthe same tax year by the treasurer of such locality. Such refund shall bemade within thirty days of the date such tax is relieved. No refund of lessthan five dollars shall be issued to a taxpayer, unless specificallyrequested by the taxpayer. When any person, after the tax day or situs day,acquires a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat with a situs in thelocality, the tax shall be assessed on the motor vehicle, trailer, or boatfor the portion of the tax year during which the new owner owns the motorvehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat and it has a situs within the locality.
Any person who moves from a nonprorating locality to a prorating locality ina single tax year shall be entitled to a property tax credit in the proratingjurisdiction if (a) the person was liable for personal property taxes on amotor vehicle and has paid those taxes to a nonprorating locality and (b) theowner replaces for any reason the original vehicle upon which taxes are dueto the nonprorating locality for the same tax year. The prorating localityshall provide a credit against the total tax due on the replacement vehiclein an amount equal to the tax paid to the nonprorating locality for theperiod of time commencing with the disposition of the original vehicle andcontinuing through the close of the tax year in which the owner incurred taxliability to the nonprorating locality for the original vehicle.
B. Such ordinance shall provide for the filing of returns and payment of suchtax. Such ordinance shall also exempt property from the levy of such personalproperty tax for any tax year or portion thereof during which the propertywas legally assessed by another jurisdiction in the Commonwealth and the taxpaid. Such ordinance may provide that, notwithstanding any other date forbilling and payment of local personal property tax, the locality may bill allpersonal property taxes assessed for a portion of the tax year less than thefull year on or after December 15 of each year. The ordinance may furtherprovide that such taxes shall be due not less than thirty days after the dateof the tax bill. If the tax is not paid when due, the penalty and theinterest otherwise provided for by § 58.1-3916 shall be imposed based on theestablished due date.
(Code 1950, § 58-835.1; 1982, c. 433; 1983, cc. 36, 270, 273; 1984, cc. 276,305, 471, 675; 1985, cc. 241, 258; 1986, cc. 51, 366, 541; 1987, cc. 212,233; 1988, cc. 446, 726; 1989, cc. 29, 36, 329; 1990, c. 330; 1991, cc. 61,624; 1992, cc. 602, 669; 1993, c. 557; 1996, c. 536; 2002, c. 550.)