Reporting Vehicle Changes

• A period of half a month or more is considered a full month.
• If your vehicle is not registered in another jurisdiction, it is considered to be temporarily absent from Arlington so the Arlington tax will not be prorated.
• If the vehicle is moved to a non-prorating Virginia locality, you will still owe taxes to Arlington for the full year.
• Review your tax bill to ensure that it reflects the correct period of time.  If correction is necessary, email the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office or call 703-228-3135 Option 0.

• Log into your (or sign up for a) CAPP account
• Make an appointment by calling 703-228-3135 Option 0

• If you wait more than 30 days to notify the Office of the Commissioner of Revenue, and have moved within Virginia, you must provide your new address, your move date, and a filing receipt or paid tax receipt from your new taxing locality.
• If you have moved out of Virginia, you must provide a copy of your new state vehicle registration in order to adjust your account.

Effective January 2019, personal property taxes for vehicles that are moved, disposed of or sold during the first half of the year (through June 30th), will be assessed by the Commissioner of Revenue and vehicle owners will receive a final personal property tax bill from the Treasurer for the tax amount plus the local motor vehicle license fee (as applicable) which will be payable within thirty (30) days of billing.  The tax amount is prorated based on the number of months the vehicle had taxable status in Arlington County. The total tax amount due is calculated using the Tax Rate (set by the County Board) and the State Tax Subsidy (PPTRA) amount from the previous tax year. If there are any changes to these amounts for the current tax year, the account will be adjusted appropriately.

Prior to 2019, when a vehicle owner had sold their vehicle or moved from Arlington months earlier, there was confusion when they received a tax bill from Arlington for the vehicle which would be due by the October 5th.  This new practice of “Immediate Billing” was undertaken so that bills could be provided to customers who disposed a vehicle or moved from Arlington in the first half of the year, instead of waiting until the usual billing in August for the October 5th tax deadline. By billing the tax bill closer to the time to when the vehicle is sold, disposed or moved, the potential for confusion is reduced.