Excise tax exemptions for military personnel vary by state

METHUEN, Mass. — Should men and women on active military duty pay excise tax on their cars in their home states?

A mother’s effort to ease the burden on her daughter serving overseas could benefit military personnel throughout Massachusetts, if legislation to be filed by a local state representative is approved.

Diane Amato went before the Methuen City Council on Monday to request that those on active duty in the military be exempt from paying their vehicle excise tax. By Thursday, State Rep. Diana DiZoglio, D-Methuen, had plans to file legislation to accomplish the same thing statewide.

Currently in Massachusetts, disabled veterans and former prisoners of war have the opportunity to apply for a motor vehicle excise tax exemption. Excise tax exemptions vary by state. Several other states, including Maine, Hawaii, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nevada have similar tax exemptions in place.

Amato began looking into state and local regulations after she received an excise bill for her daughter, Alfina Amato, who was serving in Afghanistan from March until December of 2014. Alfina’s car was at her base in New York, her mother said. 

“Why should she be paying an excise tax when her car’s not even in the state?” Diane Amato said. 

Seeking answers, Diane Amato approached a local city councilor, Thomas Ciulla, who brought Amato before the council at their Aug. 3 meeting. Councilors passed a measure to make active military members exempt. Later in the week, DiZolgio credited Ciulla when she announced she filed a piece of legislation to make Methuen’s new regulation a state law.

Ciulla said the excise tax exemption is “a small, easy thing the government can do to support those who protect us.”

“These military families serve us, but now it’s our time to serve them and to give back,” he said.