North Carolina Dealers' Battle Cry: Stop the Car Tax

North Carolina auto dealers are fighting proposed legislation that would hike sales and use taxes motorists pay when they purchase a car or title it in the state.

The levy would raise hundreds of millions of dollars a year to help fund highway projects.

“We understand there are needs out there,” John Policastro, the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Assn.'s general counsel tells the Kinston Free Press. “We want to be a part of the solution. We just don't want to be the sole solution.”

Currently, car buyers pay a 3% sales and use tax. The bill would increase that to 6.75%. That would increase taxes from $600 to $1,350 on a $20,000 car.

The bill also calls for eliminating trade-in value exemptions from the sales-tax equation.

As part of the protest, auto dealers in the state have posted “Stop the Car Tax“ signs at their stores and elsewhere.