Onslow County: Personal Property Tax Exemption for Nonresident Service Members and Spouses
Onslow County releases the vehicle and other personal property tax of an active-duty service member whose home of record is another state, on a current Leave and Earnings Statement each year at tag renewal, and a spouse's under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. Its page still requires the spouse to have a domicile in the same state as the member, a test federal law dropped in January 2023.
Also called: vehicle tax, personal property tax, SCRA, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, MSRRA, Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, LES, Camp Lejeune, New River, home of record, 4001.
Federal law, 50 U.S.C. 4001(d), says the personal property of a service member or spouse has no tax situs where the member is stationed under orders, unless it is the member's or spouse's home state or the property is used in a business. North Carolina taxes vehicles, boats, aircraft, jet skis, motorcycles and mobile homes, and the Onslow County Tax Office applies the federal rule to them.
The service member. If you do not claim North Carolina as your home of record, give the Tax Office a current Leave and Earnings Statement and the county tax is released. The Tax Office asks for a current LES every year at tag renewal. A vehicle titled jointly with a dependant or anyone else who is not on active duty is taxed on half its value. A leased vehicle is billed to the leasing company, which cannot claim the member's exemption, and the lease may pass the tax on. The State's highway use tax, collected by DMV at registration, is owed whatever the home of record. A member who has paid county tax without claiming nonresident status should ask the Tax Office about a refund. Send documents to the Tax Office's military exemption email address or to 234 NW Corridor Boulevard, Jacksonville (Listings 910-989-2201).
The spouse. The page asks for the dependant military ID, the member's LES, and a tax return, driver licence or other document showing residency in the member's state.
Where the county's page is behind federal law. It says the spouse "must provide proof of having established and maintained a domicile in the same state as the military member." That was the 2009 Act. Since Public Law 117-333 in January 2023, 50 U.S.C. 4001(a)(3) lets a member and spouse elect, for any tax year of the marriage and whenever they married, to use the member's domicile, the spouse's domicile or the member's permanent duty station. A spouse who never lived in the member's home state can elect it. A spouse refused on the old test should cite section 4001(a)(3).
Thresholds
Thresholds for Onslow County: Personal Property Tax Exemption for Nonresident Service Members and Spouses
Gate
Rule
Nonresident active-duty service member or spouse
The member must be on active duty here under orders with a home of record in another state. A spouse may use the member's domicile by election under 50 U.S.C. 4001(a)(3). No rating applies.
Out of date, a broken link, or something else wrong? Say what you found, and an editor checks it against the official source.
Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.