CA airplane taxes

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jd21476

jd21476

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jd21476
I just received two tax bills for my airplane purchase last year. One from the State of California for the tax on the purchase of the plane and the second kick in the n*ts from the County of San Diego for a Personal Property tax. This seems ridiculous that I have to pay the State and the County. Is that normal?
 
The sales tax and the personal property tax are two different taxes. Yes, you owe them both. Welcome to living in a bankrupt state.
 
I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but San Diego is going to be sending you another bill next year. And the year after that, etc. It’s a property tax just like the one you pay on your house and cars.
 
I feel your pain. I am also in San Diego, although I purchased my airplane from Florida. Because the sales tax is less in Fl, San Diego County will hit you up for the balance that you would have paid had you purchased the airplane in CA (hence the word "Equalization" in "State Board of Equalization"). Florida wants its sales tax asap to avoid penalties (as does CA), then there's the use tax, and just when I thought I was done the City of El Cajon reaches out its hand as well: because the aircraft is based at an airport in their city they want an extra 1/2% on top of the sales tax. I spent countless hours researching what I would owe and to whom, and when, and I did get the impression that they make it as difficult as possible, presumably by design as penalties are an additional revenue opportunity.
 
Yep those are real. And if you lease a hanger from the county you also get to pay property tax on the hangar you’re leasing “for private use of public land.” So use tax on the plane, property tax on the plane and property tax on the hanger you lease.

And if you got a new annual on your plane when you bought it (like I did) your insurance renewal, annual and property tax are all due within a couple of months of each other.

Just part of the fun of owning a plane in California. On the other side, I can fly about 340 days out of the year and basically be anywhere in CA within 2 hours
 
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Register it in Nevada.
 
Proof CA is even worse than NY. In NY no sales tax or property tax on small aircraft. YET?
 
flyingron said:
And this helps how? Unless he's going to park it in Nevada, that's not going to change his California tax liability.
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The aircraft is registered in Nevada, does not mean it can't fly in Ca.
just means it must return to Nevada once in a while.
 
Oh, yes. In California we love our taxes. I don't worry about it, because the political professionals we elect do such a good job spending the money. Anyway, I paid sales tax once, personal property tax yearly, and because I rent a hangar from the city of Watsonville, "possessory interest" tax on the hangar, also yearly. That's right--I pay tax on a hangar that I don't even own.

Tim
 
Wait till you also get a property tax bill for the hangar you are RENTING at a municipal airport. Still don't understand how that is a legal thing...

Tom-D said:
Register it in Nevada.
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EDD scours airports and hangar leases for N Numbers. Does not mater where it is registered, it matters where it physically is for a certain amount of time.
 
Tom-D said:
The aircraft is registered in Nevada, does not mean it can't fly in Ca.
just means it must return to Nevada once in a while.
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If it has situs in a California county (i.e., it is based there), then it will owe the property tax regardless of where it is "officially" registered.
In fact, if the owner lives in California, I suspect his county may claim situs for even out of state aircraft.
 
Tom-D said:
Register it in Nevada.
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Doesn’t matter where it is registered. CA goes by where it is located. They take records from ATC towers/FBOs/Airport authorities...etc to track down who needs to pay.
 
Just to clarify, I am going to pay the taxes for California and the area I live. I just wanted to make sure they were valid because the letters I received from the State and the County came within days of each other and seemed suspicious.
 
asicer said:
Is there an exemption for "aircraft of historical signifigance" in your state and/or county?
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The answer for San Diego County is yes, there is, and the Comanche is eligible but it requires that the plane be ‘displayed’ at an event 12 times per year. Display events are available at most of the local airports, including sign-offs on the Country required form that is submitted yearly. Whether this is worth the hassle depends on your annual County tax bill, which depends on how much the County thinks your plane is worth...

Both the State and County mine the FAA aircraft register to determine who they can tax, so the bills are not unexpected after you buy a plane and base it locally.
 
jd21476 said:
I just received two tax bills for my airplane purchase last year. One from the State of California for the tax on the purchase of the plane and the second kick in the n*ts from the County of San Diego for a Personal Property tax. This seems ridiculous that I have to pay the State and the County. Is that normal?
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Two things. Sales(may be called usage, same thing) would be from the Board of Equalization. One time thing. The property tax will recur yearly. It is State. The Counties are the ones who collect it for the State along with maybe a few of their local taxes.
 
flyingron said:
If it has situs in a California county (i.e., it is based there), then it will owe the property tax regardless of where it is "officially" registered.
In fact, if the owner lives in California, I suspect his county may claim situs for even out of state aircraft.
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Don't know if it's still six months. I had my plane in California for a few days shy of half the year and didn't have to pay. The Property Tax one was easy. Just gave them a written explanation and that was it. The Sales tax one was tedious. They didn't even come after me until a couple years later. They wanted reciepts to prove I was out of the State with the plane and proof of where it went and where it now was.
 
The phrase used by San Diego County in their declaration form for annual property tax is "habitually based". With ADS-B tracks available on-line to anybody, in seconds, the aircraft's base is easy to ascertain.

One time California sales tax is a different issue, I believe avoidable with enough trouble and a one year temporary base in Oregon, where you pay an annual aircraft registration fee but no sales tax. Unless its a million dollar aircraft or the owner lives near the state line, I don't suppose its often done.
 
What model year is your airplane? You're stuck with the sales tax, but the yearly property tax can be avoided if it's over 30 years old and you don't use it for business and if you do 12 displays a year. There are display days at airports all over the state. It's pretty easy to fly to breakfast and get a sign off.
 
jd21476 said:
because the letters I received from the State and the County came within days of each other and seemed suspicious.
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That is because their systems are interconnected. One likely triggered the other.

EDD sent me my use tax bill once the County property tax was filed....and think they found that though the FAA registry when I changed ownership into my name. Bastards.
 
Isn’t there a way to reduce the tax burden if you display your aircraft on Airport display days a few days a year?
 
RalphInCA said:
Isn’t there a way to reduce the tax burden if you display your aircraft on Airport display days a few days a year?
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Yes, its been mentioned by me in Post #18 and again in Post #22
 
jd21476 said:
I just received two tax bills for my airplane purchase last year. One from the State of California for the tax on the purchase of the plane and the second kick in the n*ts from the County of San Diego for a Personal Property tax. This seems ridiculous that I have to pay the State and the County. Is that normal?
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For the property tax you should had received an assessment form earlier this year asking about your plane condition, etc. It should had also included a form for exception claim if your airplane is of historical significance. That form is due April 1st. They send the bill after the assessment is done.

The sales tax is legit too, however IIRC I paid the sales tax right after I bought the plane, not waiting for the bill.
 
Here's a link to a list of display days in the Southern California area. This is an old list so double check before going. I didn't notice where you are based. A little searching on line will find a NorCal list too.
You basically just show up and get a form signed 12 times in a year and then submit that as evidence that you display your plane as a classic.
http://www.ocflyingclub.com/
 
Palmpilot said:
What makes you think California is bankrupt? It's true that the state's 16.5 billion dollar rainy-day fund is on it's way to becoming depleted since the start of the pandemic, but I'm pretty sure that the taxes that are the subject of this thread are not a new thing.
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I was being facetious. The state is doing better than it was a few years ago. In fact, you can argue that the tax situation is what they need to be doing. They were hurting pretty badly with initiatives like prop13 in the past.
 
Ahhh yes, the old “luxury” tax. That used to get steam coming out of my ears every year.
 
PlasticCigar said:
Yep those are real. And if you lease a hanger from the county you also get to pay property tax on the hangar you’re leasing “for private use of public land.” So use tax on the plane, property tax on the plane and property tax on the hanger you lease.

And if you got a new annual on your plane when you bought it (like I did) your insurance renewal, annual and property tax are all due within a couple of months of each other.

Just part of the fun of owning a plane in California. On the other side, I can fly about 340 days out of the year and basically be anywhere in CA within 2 hours
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Shawn said:
Wait till you also get a property tax bill for the hangar you are RENTING at a municipal airport. Still don't understand how that is a legal thing...



EDD scours airports and hangar leases for N Numbers. Does not mater where it is registered, it matters where it physically is for a certain amount of time.
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It's called a Possessory Use Tax. I paid it decades ago for a slip in a city owned marina where I kept a sailboat. Oh, and when Alameda County came after me for the use tax when I bought the boat they based the tax on what they said the boat was worth, not what I paid for it. I called and asked if that was an offer to purchase as it was twice what I paid for it. The guy on the phone just laughed and said I could come up and contest it. Bastards get you coming and going.
 
Timely this thread as I just got my "Unsecured Property Tax" bill for my aircraft. The taxation in this state is pretty fierce with sales tax (one time) property tax on the hangar I rent from the city (still scratching my head on how that works), and unsecured property tax on the plane. In my case, the recurring taxes is a little over 1.2 AMU each year. :(
 
Shawn said:
Wait till you also get a property tax bill for the hangar you are RENTING at a municipal airport. Still don't understand how that is a legal thing...



EDD scours airports and hangar leases for N Numbers. Does not mater where it is registered, it matters where it physically is for a certain amount of time.
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EDD? NC does the same thing, marinas and airports are required to send in a list of tenants so state and county governments get their pound of flesh.
PA uses federal databases for addresses where boats and planes are registered and they also assume you own state income tax.
 
rtk11 said:
Timely this thread as I just got my "Unsecured Property Tax" bill for my aircraft. The taxation in this state is pretty fierce with sales tax (one time) property tax on the hangar I rent from the city (still scratching my head on how that works), and unsecured property tax on the plane. In my case, the recurring taxes is a little over 1.2 AMU each year. :(
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How do you get the bill for the hangar? From the City or from the County Tax Collector?
 
I finally got the Navion to NC in November, I duly reported it to the county as is the law (they're not coming around looking into my house to see what I've got).
Amusingly, I got a call from the county. First, they want to know what airport it's at. It's in my hangar on my private property. Second, they can't find it in their blue book. We went around on this for a minute until it occurred to me to tell them to look under North American (mine is technically a Ryan).
 
luvflyin said:
How do you get the bill for the hangar? From the City or from the County Tax Collector?
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I got a lovely letter from the Orange County Tax Collector. :p Sweet and right to the point - you rent X hangar at Y airport, you owe us Z for the assessed value. :(
 
flyingron said:
And this helps how? Unless he's going to park it in Nevada, that's not going to change his California tax liability.
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Don’t report the N number to airport. Inform airport you want 24 hours notice prior to entry.

When they go to inspect my hangar it’s just miraculously empty.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Inform airport you want 24 hours notice prior to entry.

When they go to inspect my hangar it’s just miraculously empty.
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Yeah, they don’t care what you want if you’re renting. They can enter your hangar anytime they please, it’s not a private residence. Don’t like it, they’ll just give it to the next person on the waiting list.
 
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