Motor Vehicles

The centralized system for property tax assessments on motor vehicles is a piggyback program supported by the Automated Vehicle Information System (AVIS). AVIS contains ownership records and various facts on motor vehicles and is maintained by the Transportation Cabinet.

Information is entered and maintained through online computer terminals located in each County Clerk’s office and in each PVA office. Vehicles registered with the County Clerk are also listed in the PVA. Boats are now included in the AVIS system and are registered in the same manner as other motor vehicles. This registration process leads to a property assessment based on values determined by the trade-in value of the property.

It is the responsibility of the PVA office to value vehicles missed by the online computer and to correct the values of those that were incorrectly valued and enter such values into the system via the terminals in the PVA office. Determining taxable status is also a PVA responsibility according to KRS 132.487 (5) and KRS 133.110. The PVA is required to manually correct various records if transfer of ownership, address change, or titling requirements have not been done. The PVA is under the supervision of the Revenue Cabinet and, along with all deputies, must comply with policies, laws, and procedures required by the Revenue Cabinet.

The assessment date for vehicles is January 1st. The taxable situs of a motor vehicle is presumed to be the county of registration as of the assessment date (KRS 132.227). The PVA office uses the following guides to determine a value for a vehicle using the trade-in value:

Late model used cars one to seven years old, NADA Value Guides, Official Used Car Guide.
Automobiles and light trucks 8-18 years old, NADA Appraisal Guides, Official Older Car Guide.
Heavy and medium duty trucks, National Market Reports, The Truck Blue Book.
Motorcycles, NADA Appraisal Guides, Motorcycles/Snowmobile/ATV/ Personal Watercraft Guide
Recreation vehicles and camping trailers, NADA Recreational Vehicle Appraisal Guide.
Commercial trailers, Department of Property Taxation, Appraisal Guide Heavy Duty Trailers.
Boats, boat trailers, and motors, NADA Marine Appraisal Guide, ABIS Marine Blue Book.

The assessment of all motorboats as defined in KRS 235.010 shall be administered in the same manner and according to the same procedures provided for motor vehicles in KRS 132.487.

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