DC DMV Excise Tax Changes and Other Important Dealer Updates
Dear Members,
To that end, the DC DMV has updated their excise tax rate table, which you can view here. The city also has a helpful excise tax calculator tool, which helps you determine the excise tax rates of specific vehicles, by providing the vehicle's VIN.
Importantly, the DC DMV now allows eligible D.C. customers to claim their D.C. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) when titling their vehicles in the District. This regulatory change also took effect on Monday as part of the Omnibus Amendment Act.
In order to correctly assess excise tax fees for vehicle title transactions, dealers are now required to ask their customers if they are eligible for EITC, and if they are claiming it. According to the DMV, dealers are not required to verify the accuracy of the customer's response; they just need to ask customers about the EITC and note that they have done so on the appropriate forms.
In the dealer update, the DC DMV also notes that the city remains under a public health emergency, and as a result, the DMV's Dealer Processing Center continues to experience delays processing transactions. Please continue following the same protocols for submitting dealer work that you have been following in the past few months, and please remember that there are no dealer services for expedited dealer transaction services for at least the near future.
As has been the case for months now, the Southwest Service Center at 95 M Street SW remains available for dealer/runner same-day title and registration work, with a three transaction-per-day limit. Same-day work, like any other in-person services at the M Street location, is by appointment only. The inspection station in Southwest is also open on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Finally, if you have a D.C.-based customer whose tag and title work is experiencing significant processing delays due to the customer not having a valid, RealID-compliant D.C. driver’s license and they cannot get a timely appointment with the DC DMV, please contact Joe Koch at 202-821-5824 or jk@wanada.org for guidance, as WANADA has developed a workaround with the DC DMV.
As you can see in the dealer update, the DMV's standard protocol is to require D.C. residents to obtain a RealID-compliant license prior to completing title and registration transactions, which has been an onerous process due to COVID-related delays in getting appointments.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments, and thank you for your patience as we all work together to provide quality, timely services during this health emergency.
Sincerely,
John O'Donnell
WANADA President and CEO
