Frequently Asked Questions

Please note that an application for abatement does not mean that you do not pay your Motor Vehicle Excise Tax. In the event that an abatement is granted due to sale, trade, theft, loss, etc, the amount abated will be refunded to you. No abatement shall be granted for less than $5, and no amount shall be refunded below $5. The Board of Assessors has the authority to abate an excise tax bill only if an application is timely filed. To be filed in a timely manner, an application must be received on or before December 31st of the year following the year to which the excise tax bill relates. Once registered in the year, a bill can be abated only if the vehicle is sold, traded, junked, totaled or otherwise disposed of and the plates are transferred to another vehicle or canceled. If the vehicle is disposed of and the plates are not transferred or canceled, no abatement can be issued; or if the plates have been canceled or transferred and the original vehicle is not disposed of, no abatement can be issued.

You may be eligible for an excise abatement in any of the situations listed below. Come into the Assessor's Office to complete an Abatement Application and provide us with all the required documentation. All requested supporting documentation must be supplied for the bill to be abated.

• Sold: Bill of sale and Plate Return Receipt or new registration if plate transferred.
• Traded: New registration or Plate Return Receipt and Purchase Agreement citing vehicle as trade-in.
• Stolen or Total Loss: Insurance Company Settlement Letter and C-19 form (Affidavit of Lost or Stolen Plate from Registry) or new registration if plate transferred.
• Moved from Massachusetts: Registration from new state and a Plate Return Receipt.
• Junked Vehicle: Receipt from junkyard and Plate Return Receipt or new registration is plate transferred.
• Vehicle Returned to Dealer: Letter from dealer acknowledging receipt of vehicle and Plate Return Receipt or new registration if plate transferred.
• Charitable Donation: Letter from Charity acknowledging receipt of vehicle and Plate Return Receipt or new registration if plate transferred.
• Active Duty Non-Resident: When your excise tax abatement is processed you will receive an Abatement Certificate from the Board of Assessors. If a refund is due, a check will follow from the Tax Collector.

For questions about vehicle registration information or vehicle valuation, call the Registry of Motor Vehicles Excise Tax Correction Bureau at 617-351-9380, or visit their website to change your address or get general information.

Motor vehicle excise tax is an annual tax for the privilege of registering a motor vehicle or trailer. Anyone who registers a vehicle in Massachusetts will receive an excise tax bill from the municipality where the vehicle is garaged. The amount of excise tax due is calculated by multiplying the value of the vehicle by the tax rate ($25 per thousand dollars of value). The value of the vehicle is determined by the Registry formula taking the applicable percentage for the year of the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The manufacturer's list price rather than the actual purchase price is used to calculate motor vehicle excise tax.

Applicable Percentage for the Year:

• In the year preceding the year of the manufacture: 50%
• In the year of manufacture: 90%
• In the second year of manufacture: 60%
• In the third year of manufacture: 40%
• In the fourth year of manufacture: 25%
• In the fifth and succeeding year of manufacture: 10%

Do not ignore your excise bill! Even though you may have sold, traded or otherwise disposed of the vehicle, your bill is always due thirty (30) days from the issue date. If the bill is unpaid and remains outstanding more than thirty (30) days after its issue date, it will accrue interest charges and fees for which you will be responsible. Your driver's license and/or vehicle registration will also be returned to the Registry of Motor Vehicles for non-renewal action.

Abatement applications are available by clicking on the link from the previous page or by visiting our office. Abatements can be filed for thirty days following the mailing of the first tax bill of the fiscal year usually during the month of January. The filing deadline is always printed on the tax bill. Please keep in mind the Board of Assessors has no jurisdiction to act on an application that is filed later than 5 pm on the day the abatement application is due.

The Board of Assessors looks for persuasive evidence before changing any assessment. Applications should include a complete description of factual errors. For example, errors in number of baths, year built, square footage of living area, etc. Factual errors usually require a site visit. Or, if you believe your property is over-assessed, provide an analysis of comparable sale properties with your abatement application. The analysis should include at least recent sales of homes that are similar to yours in characteristics such as style, living area, number of bedrooms, lot size and location. Property record cards are available to support your claim.

You will receive a notice of decision on your application within three months of the date you filed an application. If an abatement is granted, your second-half tax bill will be reduced by the amount of the abatement. If the Board of Assessors denies your application, there is an additional appeal process available. The appeal must be filed within ninety days of the Board of Assessors' decision, by contacting the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board, 399 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108-5292, at 617-727-3100.

Filing an Application for Abatement does not stay the collection of your taxes. In order to preserve your rights of appeal, pay the tax when due.

Property tax assessments are billed for fiscal year 2004, with an effective date of January 1, 2003. This means that the owner as of January 1, 2003 should appear on the tax bill. However, as the current owner, you should still pay the tax bill before the due date to avoid interest from being assessed and a tax lien being placed on the property.

This is the beginning of an ongoing program that will have no end. Different property types will be inspected on a rotating basis so that it is hoped that it will not be necessary to inspect any individual property more than once every 9 years unless alterations or additions were made.

Properties are inspected by the Assessing staff with new construction, or additions, porches, finished basements etc. are completed. This information is compiled in conjunction with the issuing of building permits and occupancy certificates.

Historically, there are many instances when homeowners will complete additions etc. without taking out a permit. This program is designed to assure all are paying their fair share of the tax levy.

The last time Marlborough conducted a Measure and List program was the early 1980s. Fiscal 2003 was a re-certification year for us. At the same time, we converted our assessment software system. The combination of these two issues resulted in the uncovering of the need for this update. As a result, the Dept of Revenue required the Measure and List program to commence. One of the options they have is not to certify our values which would result in the issuing of estimated bills until the requirement is met. The result of that would be an extra cost for billing and administration to the City and the possibility that when values were certified, taxpayers would have to make up large deficits in tax payments over a short period of time.

The Department of Revenue mandates that all property in any municipality be inspected on an ongoing rotation basis to ensure the accuracy of information that is used for the basis of our assessments. If a property has fewer features than what is noted by the assessment record card, the result could be an assessment that is too high. If a property has features that are more than what the assessor has, the result could be an assessment that is too low. The result of that scenario is that other taxpayers pay an inequitable amount of taxes.

If you believe there are factual errors in date pertaining to your property, or you believe that comparable sale properties are assessed substantially less (ten percent) than your property, then you should file an Abatement Application.

Call the Board of Assessors at 508-460-3779.

Call the Collector's Office at 508-460-3773.

To qualify for a motor vehicle excise Blind Exemption, all of the following must be met:

• Permanent impairment of vision in both eyes;
• Must own and register vehicle for their own personal use;
• Must submit either a certificate from the Division of the Blind or a physician's letter;
• Vehicle must be owned and registered by blind person.

To qualify for a motor vehicle excise Handicapped Exemption, all of the following must be met:

• Must suffer either the lost of or the permanent loss of use of both arms or both legs;
• A letter from a physician stating such loss;
• If exemption is sought due to loss of use of limbs, the letter must state that is a permanent loss;
• Vehicle must be owned and registered by a handicapped person.

If a person qualifies for a blind or handicapped motor vehicle exemption and owns more than one vehicle, they have the right to choose which vehicle the exemption is applied to.