The answer to your question is probably not, although there may be at least some portion of your foreign vehicle registration / taxes that may be deductible on a United States tax return. Please allow us to explain.
Under US tax law (which covers Americans working and
living overseas), only certain vehicle registration fees and taxes are
deductible; and in order to be deductible they have to be based (or assessed) on the value
of the vehicle, and not another factor. Thus, a sales tax paid on
buying new car is tax-deductible, as are portions of registration fees
in certain US states. The same tax rules apply to vehicles owned and operated by US taxpayers in foreign countries.
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, nor does
any amount that is based on vehicle factors other than that of
valuation. 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
In the case of any given foreign country, the registration, license, inspection, and other fees could be based on engine size,
vehicle weight, vehicle age, emissions standards, etc. The point here is
that only the portion of these costs that are based purely on the (objective) market value of the vehicle are tax deductible on a US return.
So, for a definitive answer to your specific question, you would want to look at the paperwork and rules issued by your foreign country, and then determine what, if any, of that amount is tax deductible (in the US), because it is a fee, levy, charge, or otherwise based on the vehicle's market value. Anything else is not tax deductible on a US income tax return.
Thank you for asking this interesting question, even if the answer is something other than what you were hoping to hear.
