jaunty75

Connecticut proposes 400% tax increase on collector car owners

http://underthehood.oldcarsweekly.co...01&rid=3400133

Time to move to Rhode Island?

cutlassgal

Well that would suck!

Jamesbo

I'm thinking more and more about the Cayman Islands.

rocketraider

It's typical of misguided state legislatures who see these high-profile auctions and automatically assume every old car owner is loaded. There's been a lot of discussion on this one over on AACA forums too.

I'm just waiting for my "I'm a car guy too" local Vajenya legislator to start monkeying with the Virginia antique car laws again.

It's all about the revenue, folks. They can't manage what they have, so they want more.

Rickman48

Do they have roads on the Cayman Islands??
I thought it was coast to coast Banks - -

oldcutlass

With "T" shirt shops in between! Some of the crap this country comes up with just ****'es me off!! Now that I'm older I realize now, why all the the older people were always bitter when I was growing up. It's hard to maintain a good attitude when the GUBERMINT always has their hand in your pocket!

Destructor

More legal theft from Soviet officials, right now the only way I can get back at them is to drive all three of my cars on Earth day, which is Friday. I will be celebrating all weekend. The Olds will come out for some good ol' tire burning.

GoodOldsGuyDougie

Someone who lives there needs to post who actually is totally responsible for coming up with this BS and post there names and phone. I'll promise a 100 phone call to them and more.

Diego

http://www.examiner.com/muscle-car-a...que-car-owners

joe_padavano

So old car owners in CT should immediately get involved politically. Contact SEMA. Contact your representatives. If you just bend over and take it, you deserve it.

toro68

Earth Day is a big joke!

I hope you really make a HUGE "Carbon Footprint", tomorrow!

76 Regency

I completely agree. The show "Chasing Classic Cars" is based on a classic car dealer in Connecticut and the whole premise of the show is that the owner of the shop buys and sells very pricey cars at auction. These are not Oldsmobiles and Chevys but Ferraris, Jaguars and other over priced "collector" cars that tend to do nothing but look pretty and gain value like a commodity. They can't seriously think that the auctions in Greenwich, CT and the like indicate that every person in the state with an old car is loaded. Give me a break...how many of us struggle with progress on our cars because it's so expensive some times.

I actually moved to Connecticut because it was much more affordable than NY. We already pay property tax on our cars here which we did not in NY but the home property taxes are so much less that it hardly makes an impact. Something like becoming a reality would have many of us moving out of state, NY or elsewhere. I'm a part of this hobby because my father has always loved cars and that love, along with his Ninety Eight became mine over time. There is nobody that will ever change or take that away from me.

I'll be following up on this BS for sure. Thanks for bringing to my attention.

76 Regency

Hey guys,

I'm hoping others have seen this and are taking a stand against it. I am finally getting around to contacting the representatives listed in the link above and I am hoping that along with support from other enthusiasts, that we will be able to squash this proposed tax increase. This is ridiculous and this kind of treatment is unjust. Let's hope we can make a difference!

76 Regency

Hey gang,

Not sure if anybody else followed up on this but I finally contacted the representatives and already got a response. According to the representative that replied, "The bill died and collector car owners are safe...for this year at least." WHEW!

bccan

Who determines what constitutes a collectible car? I have 2 Cutlasses, are they collectible? They made how many hundreds of thousands of them? 442's are without question collectible but is a Studebaker, if so, only Avanti or Lark too? If the Lark is supercharged does that change things? Is your Tempest that doesn't even have a V8 just like a GTO? Sounds like a real quagmire for the state if a few enthusiast lawyers collected a few bucks from people & challenged it, I would throw a Benjie or 2 in the war chest just out of principal. State's legal fees could easily surpass any tax gouge. Of course they wouldn't give crap, just raise or add some other tax, they will not let that pension go (too) unfunded!

The "Richers" will just register their exotics in one of the numerous states where they have residences, others will just revert to their dealer plates, some will just lapse the registration if the car is not running or sees very little use, and, then, some fraction will pay the freight.

jaunty75

These laws usually don't use this kind of definition. They just base it on age. "All cars over 25 years of age" or "all cars made before 1985" or something like. It just happens that most collector cars are also old cars and so are affected by these laws.

rocketraider

Trouble is, you can about bet the farm it will come up again. And again and again until they get it passed. The "car guy" legislator here brought it up three years running until the rest of the Legislature finally went along with it, and the Commonwealth netted a near 9 million dollar windfall from the increased fees. When he presented it to them in that light, they passed it.

And I have worked to unseat him in every election since.

One thing I've learned about these "representatives of the people" is that they don't really care about the people they represent, but they do care about their big campaign contributors. That's why I am a firm believer in strictly and severely limited campaign contributions, and strictly enforced term limits- you get 8 years to do your thing and then you come home and do something productive. I'd also like to see PAC's done away with, but that won't happen in my lifetime.

Destructor

These politicians are worthless, thieving, communist pigs.

76 Regency

I must have emailed close to 100 representatives. One wrote back saying "thank you for your email John" and 2 actually responded with respectable replies. Overall they both said that they thought it was ridiculous and did not vote in favor of it. They did say it would likely come up again so I hope it doesn't eventually pass. We're ok for now.

toro68

x2

ggoudas

So my 1994 Toyota Camry wagon 230k "I buy used and kill it slowly" will be a collector soon. Hehehe well i guess if that law came to Mass it would not be so funny. imagine paying for a collectable ouch and it is a 94 toyota double ouch

droldsmorland

AGAIN...Moriarty always with the negative waves....why cant you say something righteous and hopeful... like Hillary is dead and she took all her business as usual goonies and dumbazzed husband with her. Sooo tired of the wawawa politics. Time for us to start taking a stand and let the few know the masses...we arent gona take it any more...(Twisted Sister).
This USA of today wants to make me bring up my Jack Daniels chicken wing lunch on a daily bases through both nostrils. If you'd a told me 40 years ago we'd be witnessing what we are today I would have laughed you out of town. Now Im crying and the rest of the world is laughing at us...and rightfully so.

Im putting a blower on my mower for earth day. Im gona huff R12. Im gona do doughnuts in the Olds and Chevy. Then go 4 wheelin in my F250!

We need to be like the Sweeds...see the attachment.

pogo69

With the welfare cases rising by the minute in this bankrupt state it is only a matter of time until someone in the CT govt realizes that some of these cars are valuable and the owners can afford to pay more, so the the welfare folks can get more food stamps and a nicer phone

My442

Danny Malloy is a big problem there.

ignachuck

This thread died a quiet death five years ago until ggoudas brought it back today.

Just curious: Does anyone know whatever happened to the original proposal in Connecticut?

pogo69

To tell you the truth I do not know.... The bills come in the mail and I pay them

quaddriver

When I first joined IBM I lived in the Constipation State from late 87-early 94 and I could not leave fast enough. Everything was the 'implied ripoff'. Does anyone remember when Joe Lieberman ran a smear campaign to unseat weicker, who promptly ran, and won governor and installed a massive income tax, a lower rate but more coverage sales tax and paved the way for town property taxes to increase. I actually moved from Waterbury to Danbury because the personal property vehicle tax on the (new at the time) ford truck I was buying would be $1200-something a year in Wtby, but only $300-something in danbury. I saved $900 and lopped 2 hours off my daily commuting time.

I had proposed using a large earth cutting ditch witch/chainsaw to cleave CT off from the rest of the US and tow/sell it to Russia. No takers then, so the peeps have earned the misery that that locale brings. But fear not, other locales in the US, namely MD and VA are working hard to be just as bad if not worse.

PS does my distaste still show?

Stevec

My youngest is a senior in high school as soon as he is settled into college me and the wife are planning on moving to Sarasota Fla. The taxes in Ct are simply outrageous! $8000 grand a year on the house,$350 on a 9 year old Honda, $1000 on a 2 year old Acura. People are leaving this state in droves......