Tax season is upon us, and Virginia leads the country in an area that every Virginian despises: the car tax.

Virginians, on average, pay $1,139 per car in personal property taxes, even when they have paid off the vehicle. This is not registration fees, loan costs, or sales taxes. It’s just pain without much gain.

It’s no wonder Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said it was the ” Most Hated Tax in the Commonwealth since the Tea Tax that started the American Revolution. Virginia counties tax cars at a greater rate than tax-loving states like Massachusetts, California and Maine. Marylanders and Delawareans don’t pay any taxes, but we do.

Virginia has a 3.97% average for the entire state, but tax rates vary by county and city. Surprise, surprise! The tax rate is highest in Democrat strongholds like Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax Counties. These counties are a good representation of the life under permanent Democrat control.

You just bought a brand new Toyota Corolla at $20,000? If you live in Arlington County, expect to spend $3,400 on taxes to keep your car for the next ten years. That’s the average time that Virginians own their cars. This is 17 percent more in taxes to keep your vehicle even after you’ve paid it off.

The cost only increases from there. In Arlington, a $40,000 Honda CR-V costs $7800 in taxes, and adds 19% of the cost over ten years.

You may have saved for a new Ford F-150. Arlington’s tax will cost you a staggering $13,000 in ten years. This is 22% of the cost to own the truck.

The added burden of interest and sales tax on loans is a real pain. A $40,000 CRV purchased in Chesterfield County will cost $1,660 for sales tax and $5,300 for car taxes if owned for 10 years. Then, he would pay over $8,000 over five years in interest at the current lending rate, plus $12,000 in insurance– totaling $27,000. this adds an additional 67.5% to the total cost of the car after it’s been paid off.

He’s buying a car worth $67,000, not to mention the maintenance and fuel expenses.

The tax burden in the Commonwealth is similar. The tax burden is similar in Chesterfield County, Virginia Beach County, Chesapeake County, Fairfax and Prince William Counties. If you can pay the tax at all.

Virginia law allows for the confiscation of vehicles until the owner is brought before a court. The vehicle will be stored at the expense of the owner. In the event that he does not pay, , he may lose his right to drive on Virginia, and be charged with a Class 4 misdemeanor.

You could lose both your job and your truck, if you cannot afford to pay a $1,000 tax bill. Virginians who are working will ask: “Is this fair?”

Democrats seem to believe so. When Gov. Youngkin’s (R) proposal for a $1.1billion tax credit to Virginians who earn less than $50,000 or $100,000 for couples, was slammed by the Democrat Senate majority leader as a “zombie gimmick” that had been rejected in the 1990s.

Far from it. Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore, who was elected Governor in 1997 on the platform of abolishing hated car taxes , secured legislation for its gradual elimination over a period of five years. Next came Democrat Governor. Mark Warner froze the car tax relief rate and reduced it to zero. Since then, taxes continue to rise. Warner was promoted to the U.S. Senate by Democrats for this.

This is a big opportunity for the Republican Lt. Governor, as Youngkin will retire in 2025. Winsome-Sears cannot afford to lose in her race with Abigail Spanberger, a leftist.

Sears, Youngkin and Gilmore, with Gilmore’s support, were able to eliminate the grocery tax, which was also hated by voters, exactly as promised on the campaign trail in 2021. And the voters loved it. Sears, if elected to office in November, has promised to eliminate the car tax as well as tax on tips. She said that in March, “We fought for the end of the car tax but Democrats with their thin majority stripped it out of the budget.”

Since 2023, Republicans have attempted twice to eliminate or reduce the car tax. Both efforts were defeated by Democrats who wanted the money for wasteful, inefficient projects that would benefit special interest and radical teacher unions and even undocumented immigrants.

Sears will have a tough time winning in Virginia’s purple. Abigail Spanberger will have the full support of the Democrats’ massive get-out the vote machine. To overcome this advantage, conservatives will need to mobilize every Republican and Independent vote.

Give Virginians back their money – they’ll thank with their vote.

This article first appeared on Virginia's car tax is the highest in the nation and Democrats want to keep it that way