Friday, October 17, 2008
That's a good moneyspinner.
The tax and licensing renewal for my wife's Yaris came up this week. The car is 11 months and a week old, and the Utah State Tax Commission tell me that it needs an inspection and emissions test this year. That's the US version of the MOT back in England, only a lot less rigorous.
What a racket. Inspection and emissions on a year-1 vehicle? That's just an excuse to print money. I called the state tax offices on this. It used to be that they required an inspection and emissions check every year from the third year on. Now it's been changed to every other year from new.
I know why.
In America, it's the norm for people to sell their cars and buy new ones every three years. If this happened at a dealer, a loophole in the law meant the vehicle was excused the tests that year, presuming the dealer would do them in order to verify the vehicle was fit for re-sale. Meaning the tax commission didn't see a penny in testing revenue until the fourth year of a car's life.
With the change, even if people sell their car after three years, the tax commission get one lot of testing revenue out of them at the beginning of the second year.
That's a good moneyspinner.
What a racket. Inspection and emissions on a year-1 vehicle? That's just an excuse to print money. I called the state tax offices on this. It used to be that they required an inspection and emissions check every year from the third year on. Now it's been changed to every other year from new.
I know why.
In America, it's the norm for people to sell their cars and buy new ones every three years. If this happened at a dealer, a loophole in the law meant the vehicle was excused the tests that year, presuming the dealer would do them in order to verify the vehicle was fit for re-sale. Meaning the tax commission didn't see a penny in testing revenue until the fourth year of a car's life.
With the change, even if people sell their car after three years, the tax commission get one lot of testing revenue out of them at the beginning of the second year.
That's a good moneyspinner.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
First snow of the season.
Which means first really spectacular demonstrations of Utah driving of the season. You see, around here, people have a goldfish-like memory for snow and ice on the roads. It happens every year, regular as clockwork, yet each year when it finally arrives, it seems to take them all by surprise. We end up with cars upside down on the wrong side of the road, cars upside down in trees, cars upside down perched on crash barriers, and cars upside down stuffed into the sides of houses. Regular as clockwork. I shall venture out with quiet trepidation this morning - it's been snowing all night so I expect complete carnage today, even though the roads themselves are actually just wet, not icy. The snow will distract them from their makeup and cellphones, which have already distracted them from the task at hand - actually driving their cars - and that will be all she wrote.
// posted by Chris @ 08:50 0 Comments Links to this post 
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