Determining the deductible
amount of the vehicle registration fee requires
a computation on your part. This is because only the part of the fee based
on the value of the car is deductible for federal purposes.
Here are the instructions from the Iowa website:
"If you itemize deductions, a portion of the automobile or multipurpose
vehicle annual registration fee you paid in 2014 may be deducted as personal
property tax on your Iowa Schedule A, line 6, and federal Schedule A, line 8.
This deduction is for annual registration fees paid based on the value of
qualifying automobiles and multipurpose vehicles. Multipurpose vehicles are
defined as motor vehicles designed to carry not more than 10 people, and
constructed either on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional
off-road operation [Iowa Code section 321.1(44)]."
This is the computation (borrowed
from the state's website).
- Get the actual annual registration fee paid.
- Take the weight of your automobile and divide it
by 250. The weight is found on your automobile registration certificate.
- Subtract line 2 from line 1. This is the
deductible amount for line 37.
Here is the example from the state website:
Malia purchased an automobile from
Jennifer.
The actual fee Malia paid to register the automobile at the courthouse was
$150.
The weight of the automobile is 3,000 pounds.
The deductible amount is calculated as follows:
Get the actual annual registration fee
paid - $150
Take the weight of your automobile and divide it by 250. The weight is found on
your automobile registration certificate - 12
Subtract line 2 from line 1. This is the deductible amount - $138
In short, this formula removes the amount of the fee that is based on weight,
leaving only the amount based on value.
