California vehicle registration fee

11 replies
106 views

I paid my 2015 registration in 2015, but also paid my 2016 registration in 2015. Does it count the year that I paid it, or the year of the registration? (should I count both payments made in 2015?)

TurboTax Premier Online

Answer

You can deduct the amounts actually paid Jan 1, 2015 - Dec 31, 2015. If you paid both your 2015 and 2016 amounts during the 2015, then deduct both on your 2015 return.

Please note: the amount deductible from your California Vehicle Registration Billing Notice is only the amount titled California motor vehicle license fee, not the entire amount you pay to the CA DMV.

Anonymous

Answer

You can deduct the amounts actually paid Jan 1, 2015 - Dec 31, 2015. If you paid both your 2015 and 2016 amounts during the 2015, then deduct both on your 2015 return.

fester69

Level 2

Agreed. Most all deductions are considered such during the year the expenses were incurred/paid, not when they were actually due.

user17611403881

Level 2

You can get the deductible portion at https://www.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/vlfForm.do - The VLF is deductible in the year PAID, regardless of what registration year it might be for.

R123z

Level 2

What does this mean? TY n's taxes are filed in TY (n+1). By your logic, car owners would never be able to claim deductions for TY n's registration because the taxes are never filed in TY n.

Could you please confirm?

Also, there is no separate line item for 'taxes' when paying the Registration fee every year. And CA DMV charges to view the registration fee breakdown. Is anyone aware of the approximate tax percentage/ VLF that gets applied to the Registration fee?

Thank you.

RogerD1

Alumni - Intuit

The year of the registration does not determine when it is deducted, but it is deducted in the year it is paid. For example, if you paid a $200 tax on your car registration for 2024 in January 2025 and you paid another $200 tax on your car registration for 2025 in December 2025, you would be able to deduct the total amount of $400 on your 2025 tax return because you paid both amounts in 2025. This also holds true for real property taxes as well.

Did you see the link in a prior post to the California DMV website to get the VLF for your vehicle? Give that a try for getting the amount of tax you are able to deduct on your 2025 tax return.

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