Both governor candidates want to end Virginia car tax

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) -It’s called the single most-hated tax in Virginia.

And now, the two candidates running for governor this fall are on board with chopping the car tax, but it would have hefty financial implications.

Both candidates for Virginia governor can agree on one thing: the state’s “car tax” should be eliminated.

Last week, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears announced her “Axe the Tax” initiative at a campaign event. This initiative includes ending the car tax.

A spokesperson for Democratic Abigail Spanberger says that she, too, supports ending the tax and plans to work with both Democrats and Republicans to find a way to do so.

“I’m not a fan of the car tax or really any other taxes. We’re overtaxed as it is, so if we can get rid of a few of ‘em, let’s go,” one resident said.

The tax provides significant revenue for cities, towns and counties, which levy and collect it. If lawmakers want to kill it at the state level, they must find a way to reimburse the localities for all that lost revenue.

The state estimates that repealing the car tax in Virginia would cost between $2.5 billion and $3 billion a year.

Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin tried not once, but twice, to repeal the car tax.

“But we have to be careful who we vote for and be very strategic and actually do background checks on the candidates as well. But I don’t believe getting rid of that and raising the tax prices on people, we’ll do anything,” said another Virginia resident.

But the Virginia General Assembly — mainly state Democrats — said otherwise during budget negotiations.

“Lowering taxes is always popular. Always has been. Always will be, although it causes fiscal problems for a state,” Political Analyst Larry Sabato said.

But political analyst Larry Sabato says that while the car tax has never been abolished in full, it has been chipped away at.

“‘No car tax’ was the winning slogan for Jim Gilmore, and it got him a landslide win in 1997. That should tell you. The appeal of a proposal like this,” Sabato said.

Most car owners had to shell out big bucks on their annual car tax bill, which was due on June 5.

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