Where do I post my Connecticut Motor Vehicle taxes paid?

[AnthonyC]

While CT does have a credit for property taxes paid on a primary residence, motor vehicle, or both -  the law has changed for 2017 and 2018 (see Connecticut Enacts Budget Legislation)

The credit is now limited to Connecticut residents who paid qualifying property tax on their residence and/or motor vehicle AND one or more of the following statements apply:

• You or your spouse is 65 years of age or older by the end of the taxable year.  
• You claim one or more dependents on your federal tax return. 

The maximum property tax credit allowed is $200 per return regardless of filing status. This credit can be used to offset only your 2017 income tax. You may not carry this credit forward and it is not refundable.  See Page 19 of 2017 Form CT-1040

To enter this credit in TurboTax:

• Click Start next to the Connecticut State return
• Proceed with the opening screens and income section
• Click Done with Income
• Click Start next to Property Tax Credit on the next set of items
• Click Continue after entering you Primary Residence Property Tax Information (if applicable)
• Click Yes to Taxes Paid on Motor Vehicles (if you don’t see it, see notes below)
• Enter required information 

If you aren’t seeing the credit on your screen, then there could be two issues:

(1)  The CT property tax credit is limited to $200 per return.  Since this credit applies to both residences and motor vehicles, if you have already reached the maximum CT property tax due to your residence, then the motor vehicle section will not appear. 

(2)  There have been some changes to this credit that now more strictly limit who can claim the credit (see the information above).  So, if you don’t meet those criteria, then you also won’t see the credit.  The phase-out threshold level has also reverted back to 2016 levels.

However, you may also be able to claim a federal deduction for personal property tax paid for this item since this tax applies to personal property you own, is based on its value and is charged on an annual basis.  But, in order to claim the deduction, you will have to be itemizing your deductions to get any tax benefit.  You can find this section in TurboTax under the Federal section -> choose Deductions and Credits -> scroll down to Cars and Other Things you Own -> select Car Registration Fees and proceed with the entries.

[kewh]

Why does Turbotax continue to expect Connecticut personal property taxes to be entered as car registration fees? CT registration fees are not based on value, and they are not renewed annually (they are every two years at a set fee). We do pay property tax on cars to our towns annually.

In order to get the deduction in past years, I entered our cars under registration fees, but it felt wrong, and I sent feedback to Turbotax. Bottom-line, should CT property tax on cars be entered as "registration fees" on the federal tax screens, even through it's not a registration fee? And when will Turbotax add a an explanation for CT in a pop-up box for more information?

[dpetzel]

This also confuses me each year. CT registration is seperate from motor vehicle property tax. This should really be more clear in the product.