In Massachusetts, excise tax paid on cars is deductible. The registration fees paid to the state are not, but the excise tax paid to your town/city is. The excise tax is $25 per $1000 of the car’s value, based upon the original MSRP and a factor that decreases with time:
- In the model year 90%
- In the second year 60%
- In the third year 40%
- In the fourth year 25%
- In the fifth and succeeding years 10%
Since the tax is based on the value of the car (and not the weight or other criteria), the Feds allow you to claim it it as personal property tax deduction on your Schedule A.

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Affine Financial Services » Blog Archive » What’s a blog worth?
on Mar 12th, 2009
@ 8:39 pm:
[...] a month ago, I posted on the tax deductability of the excise tax paid on cars in Massachusetts. Over 50 folks have read this post. Maybe [...]