Beverly Excise Tax: Rates, Late Penalties, and Abatements

The Beverly excise tax on motor vehicles is charged at $25 per $1,000 of assessed value each year, and the bill is due 30 days from the date it was issued.¹² Anyone who garages a vehicle in the city owes it, though the amount drops sharply as the vehicle ages, and abatements are available if you sold the car, moved out of state, or had it stolen.

How Your Bill Is Calculated

The $25-per-$1,000 rate is the same in every Massachusetts city and town.³ What changes is the assessed value, which is not the price you paid or the current market value. It’s a percentage of the manufacturer’s list price, stepped down by age:¹

Year before the designated year of manufacture: 50%
Year of manufacture: 90%
Second year: 60%
Third year: 40%
Fourth year: 25%
Fifth year and after: 10%

A car with a $35,000 list price is valued at $31,500 in its year of manufacture, producing an excise of $787.50. By the fifth year that same car is valued at $3,500 and the excise falls to $87.50. The 10% floor never drops off, so you’ll owe something every year the vehicle is registered to you, no matter how old it gets.

If You Registered Partway Through the Year

Register after January and the annual amount is reduced by one-twelfth for every full month that passed before registration.² Any day within a month counts as the whole month. A registration dated April 9 is billed for April through December.³

How to Pay and When

The 30-day clock runs from the bill’s issue date, not the day it lands in your mailbox.² That trips people up when mail delivery eats a week off the window.

Beverly takes payment online through UniPay Gold. Electronic check is free; credit card carries a convenience fee.⁴ You can also mail a check or money order to the tax collector at City Hall, 191 Cabot Street. Put the bill number on the check so it gets applied correctly.

What Happens If You Pay Late

Interest starts accruing at 12% per year the day after the due date. From there the fees stack:²

Formal demand for payment: up to $30
Warrant issued to a deputy tax collector: $10
Deputy’s warrant notice: $12
Service warrant delivered in person: $17

The worst part isn’t the dollar amounts. If you ignore the final notice, the city asks the Registry of Motor Vehicles to flag your record. Once that happens, you can’t renew your driver’s license or any vehicle registration in your name until the excise, interest, fees, and a $20 release fee are all paid. The flag applies to every registration you hold, not just the one attached to the unpaid bill.

Who Doesn’t Have to Pay

Most exemptions are narrow. Vehicles owned by the Commonwealth or its subdivisions are exempt, as are vehicles leased for a full calendar year to charitable organizations by a lessor in the leasing business. Licensed dealers pay a flat $100 per plate instead of the standard excise, and farmers or manufacturers using vehicles solely for business under a general distinguishing number are exempt.¹

Disabled veterans with a 100% VA disability rating, or who the VA has deemed unemployable because of a service-connected disability, are exempt on one passenger vehicle or pickup truck used for non-commercial purposes.⁵ Former prisoners of war and their surviving spouses may qualify in municipalities that have accepted the relevant provision.¹

Getting an Abatement

An abatement reduces or wipes out a bill that no longer matches your situation. You may qualify if you sold, traded, or junked the vehicle, moved out of Massachusetts, or had the car stolen.⁶

The filing deadline is generous. You have three years from the date the excise was due, or one year from the date you paid it, whichever is later.⁷ File sooner if the bill is unpaid, because interest and collection fees keep piling on until it’s resolved.

What to Send In

Beverly’s abatement application comes from the Board of Assessors at City Hall, 191 Cabot Street.⁸ You’ll need the registration number and VIN from your original bill. Attach documentation that fits the reason:

Sold or traded: a bill of sale or dealer receipt showing the transfer date, plus your plate cancellation confirmation from the RMV if you returned the plates.
Junked or totaled: a junkyard receipt or a letter from your insurer confirming the loss.
Moved out of Massachusetts: a copy of your new state’s registration showing when it took effect.
Stolen: a copy of the police report.

Dates matter. The assessors use your documents to figure out when your ownership or residency actually changed, so a bill of sale with no date gives them nothing to prorate against.

Review and Appeal

Send the completed application and documents to the Board of Assessors by mail or through the city’s online portal. The assessors review the evidence and send a written decision. If they approve, you’ll get a certificate adjusting your balance.

If they deny it, you can appeal to the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board within 60 days of the denial. The Appellate Tax Board is independent of the city, and your petition can include arguments or evidence you didn’t put in the original application.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title IX, Chapter 60A, Section 1
2
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Motor Vehicle Excise Information
3
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Excise
4
City of Beverly. Online Payment
5
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Disabled Veteran Fee and Tax Exemptions
6
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Cancel Your Vehicle Registration (License Plates) – Section: Excise Tax Abatements
7
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title IX, Chapter 60A, Section 2
8
City of Beverly. Application for Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Abatement