http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/
Taxes differ for motorcycles and trucks Law calls for more taxes on non-passenger vehicles
Tuesday, 09 Oct 2012, 5:09 PM EDT
By Susan Hogan By Shaun Towne
NORTH SCITUATE, R.I. (WPRI) -- A North Scituate man is roaring mad after he was forced to pay full price taxes on a new motorcycle he bought, despite having traded in an older bike.
Normally, if you're buying a car and you have a trade-in, you will only be charged sales tax on what you pay. Although, if you're buying a motorcycle or a pickup truck, we've uncovered an old law that you may not be aware of.
Richard Unsworth has bought and sold many motorcycles over the past 40 years, but it was through the recent purchase of his Harley Davidson that he discovered something that really burned him.
"When I went to the registry I expected to pay about $1,100 in taxes," he said. "When I got done, it was like $1,700!"
Unsworth was charged sales tax on the full price of the motorcycle, even though he had a trade-in valued at $7,500.
"My trade-in was taxed back in 1999," he added. "I'm paying again for the same $7,500, I don't believe it's fair."
Call 12 For Action has learned that there's a law in Rhode Island that only allows passenger vehicles to get a reduction in sales tax for the trade-in. Passenger vehicles, according to the law, do not include motorcycles or pickup trucks.
"This was a law that was actually passed in the 1940s when pickup trucks were mainly used by farmers and motorcycles weren't that popular," said RI Tax Administrator David Sullivan. "Now that it's 2012, things have changed, but clearly the law hasn't."
According to Sullivan, the revenue hit would be about $5-10 million a year if the General Assembly were to change the law to include all vehicles. Although, that's not expected to happen in the near future. There have been several attempts by legislators to make the change, but it's been shot down every time.
