Mobile Homes & Watercraft
Mobile Homes & Watercrafts may be considered real estate and are assessed by the Real Estate Assessor.
Commissioner of the Revenue - Personal Property Taxpayers
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Mobile homes on temporary foundations are assessed as personal property by the Commissioner of the Revenue's office. In some cases, mobile homes may be considered real estate and are assessed by the Real Estate Assessor.
The following factors are evaluated to determine if the mobile home is assessed as real estate:
- The land and the mobile home are owned by the same person.
- The mobile home is on a permanent foundation.
- The intention of the owner.
Mobile homes assessed as personal property are taxed at the same rate as real estate. The real estate tax rate is set by City Council and may change from year to year. The current tax rate is $0.97 per $100 of assessed value. Under the provisions of the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3522, mobile homes are assessed by square footage.
The Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3518 requires every person owning a mobile home as of January 1 to report the such personal property to the Commissioner of the Revenue by completing and submitting the Mobile Home Declaration Form to the Personal Property Taxpayers Division of the Commissioner of the Revenue.
Virginia Beach does not prorate personal property taxes on mobile homes. The tax is based on the ownership and location of the mobile home as of January 1.
Mobile homes are titled with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If a mobile home has been sold or disposed of or moved from the City of Virginia Beach, the Commonwealth of Virginia requires that you directly inform the Virginia DMV either online at dmvnow.com or by phone at (804) 497-7100.
Read Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3520 for information regarding local permit requirements for moving a manufactured home to the place where it will be used and required payment of property taxes before moving manufactured homes.
Since 2001 the personal property tax rate on "privately owned pleasure boats and watercraft used for recreational purposes only" was lowered to one-millionth of one cent ($0.000001) per $100.
The tax rate on all other boats remains $1.50 per hundred dollars of assessed value by Virginia Beach City Ordinance 3232E.
What to do if you sell or move your watercraft?
You must notify the Department of Wildlife Resources, formerly the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, or the US Coast Guard, if the vessel is documented, of any change in ownership or address of watercraft.
Methods of discovering watercraft.
The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and the US Coast Guard furnishes the Commissioner of the Revenue a list of all watercraft registered in our city as of January 1 each year. Taxes are based on ownership as of January 1 of the current calendar year. The watercraft does not have to be in the city on January 1 to be considered taxable for the whole year.
If the watercraft is normally garaged, docked, or parked in the city, it has acquired a degree of permanency and is taxable for the whole calendar year. The City of Virginia Beach does not prorate taxes for watercraft.