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Washington State - King, Pierce & Snohomish Co. tax info

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v12 to 12v

Active Member
Jul 10, 2012
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I got my pre-MVPA and found that there was a charge for RTA tax even though we are just outside of the Sound Transit tax area.
Tesla removed the tax after I pointed it out to them.

If you are not sure whether you are located within the RTA tax area and you are taking delivery at the location where your car will be registered, you can use this map and type in your address for verification:
Sound Transit Map Explorer


You can find general information about the tax on this page:
Our taxing district - SoundTransit
 
So $210 on a $70K car.

RTA tax
The RTA tax is a 0.3 percent motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) and a 0.9 percent sales tax approved by voters of central Puget Sound. Taxpayers who live within the RTA district boundaries pay the RTA tax.
 
So what taxes and fees are incurred? Can you share what you saw in your paperwork?

There was a registration and titling fee of $85.75. There was also the RTA (Sound Transit Tax) of $327.00 that I had removed because we are not in the transit area. If your precinct did not get to vote on the tax in the 90’s you don’t have to pay it. It applies to the transit service areas along the I-5 and 405 corridors. If you click on the links in my previous post you’ll get a map and an address search tool.

There was also a $35 charge for shipping and handling of the high power wall connector that we ordered. There was a footnote saying “Seller may receive or retain part of these amounts”. I’m guessing that it’s because it is an estimate of the actual shipping cost at this time.
 
There was a registration and titling fee of $85.75. There was also the RTA (Sound Transit Tax) of $327.00 that I had removed because we are not in the transit area. If your precinct did not get to vote on the tax in the 90’s you don’t have to pay it. It applies to the transit service areas along the I-5 and 405 corridors. If you click on the links in my previous post you’ll get a map and an address search tool.

There was also a $35 charge for shipping and handling of the high power wall connector that we ordered. There was a footnote saying “Seller may receive or retain part of these amounts”. I’m guessing that it’s because it is an estimate of the actual shipping cost at this time.

Seems like the reservation/PMVPA systems are still in 'beta'. Mine (for Clark County) correctly had no RTA (there is a note its $327 for "King, Snohomish and parts of Pierce"). And no shipping charge for the HPWC. Makes me wonder if they are planning to drop off my charger on day of delivery, if they are shipping it for free, or ????
 
Thank for the RTA post and link! I also just saved the $327 fee. That just more than paid for the cost of my NEMA 14-50 Receptacle update to my home.

You might check the registration on your other cars to see if you are getting charged the tax on them. It's a tax they charge every year at renewal time so you'll be able to apply some of that savings to the new EV tax of $100 that is supposed to make up for some of the state's lost gas tax revenue. The remainder in savings might pay for a few months worth of charging!

I had to have the RTA tax removed from other cars, but that was back when the tax was fairly new. Maybe their systems are more accurate now.