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Thousands of Virginia drivers overcharged, wrongly charged by DMV
Hat tip, the Virginia Mercury
VIRGINIA NEWS
Thousands of Virginia drivers overcharged, wrongly charged by DMV
by: Tannock Blair, Ben Dennis
Posted: Mar 25, 2022 / 02:24 PM EDT
Updated: Mar 25, 2022 / 11:07 PM EDT
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Around 2,700 people were incorrectly taxed by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles over the course of two years. ... According to DMV Spokesperson Jessica Cowardin, Virginia drivers were overcharged between $5 and $40 as part of a state law that went into effect in July 2020.
The “Highway Use Fee,” is a state tax that is intended to tax fuel-efficient and electronic vehicles to “ensure a more fair contribution to the Commonwealth,” according to a statement on the DMV’s website. ... During the implementation of this law, the DMV improperly updated its department calculating system, Cowardin said, resulting in drivers being taxed more than they should have been according to the highway use fee.
In order to calculate the highway use fee, a customer provides their vehicle identification number (VIN) in order for the DMV vendor to determine the miles per gallon (MPG) for that vehicle. If the VIN and MPG cannot be identified, the DMV vendor uses two different methods, depending on whether or not the vehicle is a truck or car, to determine the average MPG.
If the vehicle is a car, the Environmental Protection Agency average MPG for all cars is used. ... If the vehicle is a truck weighing “between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds,” the EPA average for the same model and year is used. ... The 2020 interpretation of the language “between 6,000 and 10,000” was to program the calculating system to record trucks with a gross weight greater than 6,000. So the calculating systems were programmed to record vehicles weighing 6,001 pounds and above. ... This resulted in 2,769 owners of trucks weighing exactly 6,000 pounds being taxed the same as the EPA average for all cars.
{snip}
To see your car’s registration fee and highway use fee, visit DMV.Virginia.gov.
This article was written including reporting by 8News Reporter, Sabrina Shutters.
Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Thousands of Virginia drivers overcharged, wrongly charged by DMV
by: Tannock Blair, Ben Dennis
Posted: Mar 25, 2022 / 02:24 PM EDT
Updated: Mar 25, 2022 / 11:07 PM EDT
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Around 2,700 people were incorrectly taxed by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles over the course of two years. ... According to DMV Spokesperson Jessica Cowardin, Virginia drivers were overcharged between $5 and $40 as part of a state law that went into effect in July 2020.
The “Highway Use Fee,” is a state tax that is intended to tax fuel-efficient and electronic vehicles to “ensure a more fair contribution to the Commonwealth,” according to a statement on the DMV’s website. ... During the implementation of this law, the DMV improperly updated its department calculating system, Cowardin said, resulting in drivers being taxed more than they should have been according to the highway use fee.
In order to calculate the highway use fee, a customer provides their vehicle identification number (VIN) in order for the DMV vendor to determine the miles per gallon (MPG) for that vehicle. If the VIN and MPG cannot be identified, the DMV vendor uses two different methods, depending on whether or not the vehicle is a truck or car, to determine the average MPG.
If the vehicle is a car, the Environmental Protection Agency average MPG for all cars is used. ... If the vehicle is a truck weighing “between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds,” the EPA average for the same model and year is used. ... The 2020 interpretation of the language “between 6,000 and 10,000” was to program the calculating system to record trucks with a gross weight greater than 6,000. So the calculating systems were programmed to record vehicles weighing 6,001 pounds and above. ... This resulted in 2,769 owners of trucks weighing exactly 6,000 pounds being taxed the same as the EPA average for all cars.
{snip}
To see your car’s registration fee and highway use fee, visit DMV.Virginia.gov.
This article was written including reporting by 8News Reporter, Sabrina Shutters.
Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.