CA/NV property tax Q

[ken ward]

Apparently the County Assessor noticed my glider on the ramp at Minden
at the end of April, the very day I rigged it. I got a form letter from
them asking if it was "based" there, how long it was going to be there,
and how long it had been there. Setting aside how long it's been there,
what answers to the first questions are likely to result in the lowest
tax assessment, and which answers produce the greatest amount of trouble?

For example, if I say it's there all year, that makes it easy for them.
Any way to estimate this cost for a CA resident?

However if I say it's only in Nevada during the soaring season and in
California the rest of the year, are they likely to pro-rate NV taxes
and then demand CA tax receipts for it's location during the rest of the
year? Any way to estimate Santa Clara County costs so as to compare
with Nevada?

Anyone with any first hand experience in this matter? You may respond
privately by email if you like. A Google search of r.a.s archives
turned up sales and use tax threads, but little about this particular
topic.

Thanks,
Ken
CA resident

[Guy Acheson]

Hi Ken,
I am a California resident who bases my plane at Minden,
specifically because of taxes. You can declare any
physical place as where you base your plane for tax
purposes. Many people try and scam the system by constantly
moving their planes around and when you are contacted
by the Nevada people you tell them the plane is based
in California. When you are contacted by California
you tell them it is based in Nevada. That worked for
me for about ten years and then California and Nevada
started talking to each other about six years ago.
You can declare your home as where you base your plane
and then you will pay the same rate you pay on your
house which is generally 1% of the 'fair market value'.
You will pay the tax rate that applies for the county
in which you base your plane. Essentially all either
state cares about is that you are paying taxes to someone.
I had long discussions with the tax people in California
and Nevada. California will establish a value for
your plane and tax the plane at full value. For a
fairly new plane it will be the purchase price including
all installed instruments. For an older plane it will
be your purchase price or the fair market value that
the tax assessor tells you it is. California will
essentially never depreciate the tax basis of your
plane. Nevada uses a different formula and after three
years will begin to decrease the tax basis of your
plane. I pay significantly less to Nevada. California
has contacted me twice when one of their inspectors
saw my plane on California airports. They challenged
my declaration of Nevada as my base, but by paying
a tiedown fee at Minden all of the problems went away.

You should do what I did and just call up both tax
offices and talk with them. They were very easy to
talk to and answered all my questions and even ran
'what ifs' regarding tax rates.

There are lots of schemes to avoid paying any taxes
but they were all too complicated for me.