Vehicle Personal Property Tax Assessments

All cities, counties and towns in Virginia have a personal property tax which helps fund local government. For Arlington County residents, the tax is assessed on all motor vehicles that are garaged (regularly parked) overnight in Arlington County per Arlington County Code § 27-11.1, including:

The Commissioner of Revenue’s Personal Property Tax Division assesses all Arlington vehicle personal property taxes, based on:

• The County Board’s set tax rate (for 2023, the tax rate has been set at $5.00 per $100 of assessed value).
• Your vehicle’s value. (The Commissioner uses the “Clean Loan” value in the January [of the tax year] edition of the J.D Power (formerly NADA Guides) for vehicle assessments.)
• The number of months your vehicle was located in Arlington.
• The amount of tax relief your vehicle is provided.
• The Code of Virginia and local ordinances.

The Arlington County Commissioner of Revenue's Vehicle Personal Property Division will automatically register personal property including motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers garaged in Arlington that have been registered with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).  According to Virginia Code § 46.2-754 and Arlington County Code § 14.2- 69, vehicle owners are required to file for local vehicle registration within sixty days of purchase, or of being brought into the jurisdiction. Please note, it is the taxpayer's responsibility to ensure that all vehicle personal property accounts with Arlington County are properly registered and updated in the event files from the DMV aren’t received timely.

To alert customers about a change on their account(s), CAPP (Customer and Assessment Payment Portal) account subscribers will receive a notification via email.  Non-CAPP subscribers will receive a letter from our office via the US mail.  Upon receipt of this notice, all customers can review and certify that the information is correct by going to the main CAPP landing webpage and doing the following:

1. Locate “I Want To”. 
2.  Select “Review DMV Registration”.  (At this time, CAPP users are unable to review their DMV registration while logged in to their CAPP profile.)

For more information or if you have questions, please call the Vehicle Personal Property Division at 703-228-3135 to speak to a Tax Assessor.

• Do not display Virginia license plates (these vehicles may also be required to pay an annual Out of State License Fee
• Are inoperable
• Are “temporarily absent” from Arlington (removed for a short period with the intent to return)
• Are garaged in other Virginia jurisdictions, or moved outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, but not properly registered as such

As of July 1, 2019, vehicles are no longer required to display a county decal. 

The vehicle personal property tax year is from January 1 to December 31. Vehicles are assessed based on the number of months they have a taxable status in Arlington.

• 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.

The Commissioner of Revenue (COR) is charged with providing what are “fair market values” on vehicle personal property by using “values found in recognized vehicle pricing guides”.  The COR cannot take any other action under the law in determining vehicle values.  The Arlington County Board establishes the personal property tax rate on motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, and boats which are garaged in Arlington County as of January 1 each year annually. For 2023, the County Board has set the tax rate at $5.00 per $100.00 of assessed value.

For questions, please call the Commissioner of Revenue’s Vehicle Personal Property Tax Division at 703-228-3135 to speak to a Tax Assessor.

Make an Appointment

Vehicle personal property tax registrations, a change in the status of your vehicles, and payments can be processed online via the Customer Assessment and Payment Portal.

Please make sure to pay before any payment deadlines to avoid any additional fees, including any bill that may require an adjustment.  

For questions or if you wish to schedule an appointment, please call our office at 703-228-3135, #0.

Please call 703-228-4017, #0

Please call 703-228-4017, #0