British couple buying an RV in the US

mr_andyj wrote:
For Georgia you will pay a "sales tax" based on what the county thinks your vehicle is worth. You can get a lower valuation, but that requires getting someone official (repair shop) to write it up and for the county official to approve it, then send it to a higher-up to approve and a week later you get a modified valuation.

In Georgia the steps are: there are no steps. If it is a licensed/titled vehicle then you just pay for the new title and pay your tax. They issue you your license plate right there in person and all is good. You only need to have proof of insurance.
No inspection is necessary in GA.

The "sales tax" is 6% if I remember correctly.
certificate if applicable.

I have received conflicting info as to paying property tax in South Carolina.
I have never heard of "property tax" on non property, but am not from SC. Property is generally just land, not things. You will pay a tax one way or the other. 6% is not going to be far off no matter the state.
In Ga you pay 6% once, then about $20-40 each year after that which you own the vehicle.

In Georgia, on MOTORIZED vehicles, you will pay a ONE TIME TITLE TAX (currently 6.6%) when you go to apply for a title and registration. The Title tax is based on a standardized book value generated by the State of GA. It will NOT vary from County to County (or should not if they are doing the computer entries properly) it is based on a VIN number. If the VIN is for an INCOMPLETE vehicle (meaning a cab and chassis that the coach company fitted a body to) then the value may not be in the computer. If you have some special circumstance that you feel the value is much different than the book numbers, you go ahead and pay the tax, and file an appeal form with the tax commissioner, who passes this along to the county Board of Assessors, who handle the appeal and value of it. Every county BOA establishes their own procedures and processes for the appeal and value. We allowed office staff to make adjustments up to 25% of the book, more than that, they made a recommendation and it was decided upon in a BOA meeting. Again, the appeal always goes to the BOA, but each of the 159 counties handles that process differently. I sat on my county BOA for 15 years, most of that as the Chairman. We handled a good number of appeals, usually extremely high mileage vehicles, or ones with damage that were still drive-able. There is no sales tax on motorized vehicles.

After registering the vehicle, each year you pay a registration fee which is $20 for a car or light truck, and higher for heavier vehicles. You DO NOT pay a yearly Ad Valorem tax on MOTORIZED vehicles which you titled and registered after March 2013. If you own vehicles bought prior to that (I own two bought prior to that time) then you pay Ad Valorem tax EVERY year.

On trailers, you pay a tag fee and a fee to title the trailer (fairly minimal) and then pay an Ad Valorem tax, based on a book value. That tax will vary by the address used as every county has a different milage rate and then you have cities, fire districts, school tax, etc, all of this adds together to create a milage rate for a particular location. You pay the registration fee and the Ad Valorem tax each year on trailers and non-motorized vehicles.

In Georgia, you pay property tax on EVERYTHING except what is specifically exempt. Taxable property includes Real property (land) and Personal Property (boats, airplanes, other personal property that the aggerate total exceeds $7500) Your clothes and household items are exempt.

Charles