If you are unsure about an excise bill, please call the Manchester Assessors office at 526-2010. We are here to help you; please do not ignore any bill.
CALCULATION of the EXCISE AMOUNT
The amount of the motor vehicle excise due on a particular vehicle in any year is calculated by multiplying the value of the vehicle by the motor vehicle excise tax rate of $25.00 per thousand. The value of a vehicle for the purpose of the excise is the applicable percentage for that year of the MSRP for that vehicle. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a vehicle is the price recommended by the manufacturer’s list price rather than the actual purchase price, which will control for purposes of calculating the motor vehicle excise.
The applicable percentages are set out as follows:
in the year preceding the year of manufacture 50%
in the year of manufacture 90%
in the second year 60%
in the third year 40%
in the fourth year 25%
in the fifth and succeeding years 10%
HANDICAP EXEMPTIONS
A person need not have a handicap plate to be eligible for this exemption. Alternatively, one who has a handicap plate is not per se entitled to an exemption. This exemption is available to a person who has suffered either (a) an actual loss of or a permanent and complete loss of use of both legs or both arms or (b) a permanent vision impairment of both eyes of the magnitude set out in Ch. 60A Sec 1. The Board of Assessors requires an applicant for this exemption to provide a certification by a physician of the existence of the loss.
This exemption is restricted for each handicapped person to one vehicle at a time, owned and registered by the person for personal use. A person who owns more that one vehicle has the right to choose the vehicle upon which to obtain an exemption. A handicapped person who owns a vehicle jointly with some other person satisfies the ownership requisite for a full exemption.
EXCISE TAX ABATEMENT
Assessors possess jurisdiction to abate a motor vehicle excise only if an application for abatement is timely filed. To be timely filed, an application must be received by the assessors within three years after the excise was due, or one year after the excise was paid, whichever is later. Once registered in the year, a bill can be abated only if the vehicle is sold, traded, junked, totaled or otherwise disposed of, and the plates transferred to another vehicle or canceled. If the vehicle is disposed of and the plates not transferred or canceled, no abatement can be issued; or if the plates have been canceled or transferred and the original vehicle is not disposed of, no abatement can be issued. The minimum motor vehicle abatement which may be made is $5.00. If a registrant otherwise
qualifies for an abatement but the amount of that abatement is less than $5.00, no abatement may be made.
Other reasons for abatement are: if the vehicle is reregistered in another state and the Massachusetts plates returned; if the vehicle is overvalued; if there is a subsequent registration (the same vehicle registered by the same person more than once in the same year); incorrect place of garaging. There is no abatement for moving from one community to another within the state of Massachusetts. The bill is due to the community where the vehicle was originally registered in the year.
The filing of an application does not stay the collection of your excise tax. It should be paid as assessed. Refund will follow if abatement is allowed.
Any questions or for further information, you can contact the Assessors Office
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