A computer search found at least 18 states that impose statewide motor vehicle taxes or fees based on a vehicle's value, but only Kansas and Mississippi refer to the tax as a property tax. (Mississippi refers to its tax as an ad valorem tax, the term usually associated with property taxes.) All the states specify the portion of a vehicle's value subject to the tax (i.e., the assessment or base value) and the rate at which that value is taxed, but differ on whether the state or localities levy the tax and keep the revenue. Based on these differences, we divided the states into three groups:
- states where counties or municipalities levy the tax or fee at a state-determined rate and keep the revenue (Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Utah);
- states that levy the tax or fee and redistribute the revenue to counties and municipalities according to statutory formulae (Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, and Kentucky); and
- states that levy the tax or fee and keep the revenue generated (Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Nevada).
