As long as your vehicle registration or license fee for your motorcycle includes taxes based on the value of the vehicle, you're eligible for this deduction, and you would input it in the same data entry field as for an automobile (car) registration. However, this tax deduction requires some explaining, so please bear with us while we do that.
First, taxpayers hoping take this deduction should understand that it applies only to the part of the registration / licensing fee that is based on the value of the vehicle itself (a motorcycle in this particular instance), and not that part of the registration / licensing fee that is a flat rate for all such vehicles.
This "fee based on value" is called an excise tax, and that's what makes it tax deductible under federal law. The legal reasoning is as
follows.
The IRS only allows that portion of a state registration fee
that is based on the value of the vehicle to be included toward your
other itemized deductions. Any flat fee portion doesn't count. This
is why there are some 20+ states whose residents can potentially benefit from
the deduction; but the remainder cannot: their states do not charge
vehicle registration fees by value, and instead charge flat fees only.
There is a list of these
qualifying states built-into the TurboTax software. A graphical image of
this chart of states is also shown in one of the screen-capture images at the
bottom of this answer (simply click to enlarge).
If your state is on
the list, then you can enter the vehicle excise tax amount (on a motorcycle registration) in TurboTax.
To do so mechanically in the software, you will want to have your tax return open and locate the Search /
Find box on your screen. Next, type in the exact search string "vehicle
registration fees" and then click on the Jump To link that
should appear beneath. This will take you to the appropriate data entry
place in the program. Please see the screen-capture images below for a
visual illustration of the process.Finally, it is also important to keep in mind that you (or anyone
claiming this deduction) may or may not actually see any net tax benefit from
including this item on your tax return. The reason for this is that you
must have enough itemized deductions (in total) to exceed the standard
deduction available to all taxpayers. Since more than 2 in 3 taxpayers do
not, most people end up taking the (more valuable) standard deduction, rather
than itemizing deductions. If you input all your data carefully, however,
including a motorcycle registration excise tax, the TurboTax software will make that determination for you.
Thank you for asking this question.
