Request By:
Mr. Jack H. Shipman
Executive Vice President
Liberty National Bank & Trust Company
P.O. Box 32500
Louisville, Kentucky 40232
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Susan G. Leavenworth, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter to the Attorney General, you ask whether automobiles repossessed by the bank may be transferred into the bank's name without the payment of the current year's property tax.
Automobiles are assessed for property tax purposes as of January 1. Beginning in 1984, there are new provisions regarding the property tax on motor vehicles. Assessments will be done by the PVA prior to January 1, 1984 and certified by the Revenue Cabinet on January 1, 1984. The tax will then be due when the automobile is offered for registration at the county clerk's office. The county clerk will collect the property tax for 1984 and succeeding years at the time of registration. See, generally, KRS 132.485, 132.487, 134.800 through 134.820.
Presently, in Kentucky, an automobile will have a separate certificate of title and certificate of registration. The registration is renewed yearly. The title changes only when the owner changes. See, generally, KRS Chapter 186A. A State resident owner of a motor vehicle must obtain a certificate of title but need not register the car until it is to be operated upon the highways of the State. KRS 186A.070. Thus, the bank may title the car in its name without registering the car.
If the bank does not register the car in 1984 and sells the car to a Kentucky resident, the 1984 property tax will be due when the car is registered by the purchaser. If the bank sells the car to an out-of-state purchaser in 1984 and the car is removed from Kentucky and not registered in Kentucky, the 1984 tax will not be collected in 1984.
It is our opinion that the bank may title a car in its name and, if the car is not registered and not operated on the highways, the current year's property tax will not be collected in the current year.