Personal Property Tax Relief Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Updated September 2001 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES ...............................................................................................................................................2 COMMISSIONERS OF THE REVENUE........................................................................................................................................................................... 2 TREASURERS................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTS..................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: REQUESTING REIMBURSEMENTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTS ...........................................5 OVERVIEW AND DATA REQUIREMENTS.................................................................................................................................................................... 5 ON-LINE METHOD ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 FAX METHOD ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS............................................................................................................................................................... 16 REQUESTING REIMBURSEMENT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTS (DOA) FOR 100% TAX RELIEF.................................................. 22 DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTS CONTACT NUMBERS............................................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 3: REPORTING DOA REQUEST INFORMATION TO DMV.............................................................................................24 CHAPTER 4: SUBMITTING DETAIL TAX RECORDS TO DMV...........................................................................................................28 DETAIL RECORD LAYOUT ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 BATCH HEADER RECORD LAYOUT ......................................................................................................................................................................... 32 BATCH SIZES............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 SUBMITTING RECORDS.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 34 SUBMITTING PC FILES............................................................................................................................................................................................... 34 SAMPLE PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING A PC SUBMISSION FILE.......................................................................................................................... 36 SUBMITTING MAGNETIC CARTRIDGE AND REEL TAPE FILES............................................................................................................................. 44 SUBMITTING PAPER TURNAROUND DOCUMENTS................................................................................................................................................. 47 CERTIFYING SUBMISSION TO PPTR......................................................................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 5: RECONCILING LOCALITY TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTS.................................................................52 CHAPTER 6: DUPLICATE PAYMENT PROCESS.......................................................................................................................................57 CHAPTER 7: PPTR PROCESS FOR TAX YEAR 1998................................................................................................................................61 CHAPTER 8: CONTACT INFORMATION......................................................................................................................................................65 APPENDIX A: COMMON DATA FIELD ERRORS ......................................................................................................................................66 FIRST AND/OR LAST NAME NOT VALUED.............................................................................................................................................................. 66 TAX START DATE AND TAX END DATE ................................................................................................................................................................. 66 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.................................................................................................................................................................................... 67 BATCH HEADER ERROR............................................................................................................................................................................................. 67 RECORD COUNTS AND AMOUNTS IN THE BATCH HEADER RECORD.................................................................................................................. 67 PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX REIMBURSEMENT AMOUNT ...................................................................................................................................... 67 TAX LEVIED MUST BE GREATER THAN ZERO....................................................................................................................................................... 68 VEHICLE VALUE AND PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX REIMBURSEMENT AMOUNT MUST BE GREATER THAN ZERO...................................... 68 APPENDIX B: DETAIL RECORD, CREDIT RECORD AND HEADER RECORD EXAMPLES ..................................................69 DETAIL RECORDS EXAMPLE .................................................................................................................................................................................... 69 CREDIT RECORD EXAMPLE ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 71 BATCH HEADER RECORD EXAMPLE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 73 APPENDIX C: QUALIFYING LEASED VEHICLES ....................................................................................................................................74 APPENDIX D: JURISDICTION NAMES AND CODES ...............................................................................................................................75 APPENDIX E: PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX RELIEF ACT....................................................................................................................79 Chapter 1: General Responsibilities Chapter 1: General Responsibilities Personal Property Tax Relief 1 September 2001 Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Chapter 1: General Responsibilities Chapter 1: General Responsibilities Commissioners of the Revenue The Commissioner of the Revenue or Director of Finance in each locality is responsible for: • determining the value of each vehicle • determining which vehicles qualify for personal property tax relief • reporting qualifying vehicles to the Treasurer of the locality, and • assisting locality's Treasurer and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) resolve duplicate payments. Treasurers Using the vehicle information received from the Commissioner of the Revenue, the Treasurer (or Director of Finance) in each locality is responsible for: • determining the tax reduction for each qualifying vehicle • displaying the tax reduction on the tax bill along with the designation of "Car Tax Relief" or "Tax Relief" • explaining how the reduction was calculated on the tax bill for tax year 1999 and beyond • requesting reimbursement from the Department of Accounts (DOA) for tax relief • submitting tax payment information to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to support reimbursement requests to the DOA • assisting locality's Commissioner of the Revenue and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) resolve duplicate payments. • submitting tax payment information to the DMV for reimbursement check production for tax year 1998 payments. Department of Accounts The Department of Accounts (DOA) is responsible for receiving and processing reimbursement requests from localities. DOA reimburses localities in an amount equal to the amount of tax relief within two business days of their request, provided the locality makes the request online and allows DOA to deposit the payment electronically. Department of Motor Vehicles The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is responsible for reconciling all localities to DOA for tax year 1999 and beyond. DMV monitors all DOA reimbursement requests on a daily basis. In addition, all localities must submit detailed tax records to DMV to support their reimbursement requests made to DOA. Personal Property Tax Relief 2 September 2001 Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Chapter 1: General Responsibilities DMV is also responsible for receiving qualifying vehicle reports from leasing companies and forwarding this information to the appropriate localities on a monthly basis to assist them with determining which vehicles qualify for car tax relief. (See Appendix C for information on qualifying leased vehicles.) By November 1 each year, DMV is responsible for estimating the amount to be paid by the Commonwealth under PPTRA for the upcoming tax year. DMV also estimates the amount to be paid by the Commonwealth in any tax year to an individual county, city, or town and reports the estimated amount to the State Comptroller. The DMV Commissioner will notify the Treasurers if, for budgetary reasons, the percentage reimbursement for a given year needs to be adjusted. In addition, by November 1 of each year, DMV is required to provide a report to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations committees on the actual and projected reimbursements under PPTRA. The report must include an explanation of the methodology used to forecast PPTRA reimbursements, the actual and estimated reimbursements by locality through the most recent fiscal year along with an explanation of the variance, and the estimated reimbursements by locality for the next two fiscal years. For tax year 1998 tax relief, DMV is responsible for receiving detail records from localities, processing reimbursements and forwarding information to the Department of Taxation (Taxation) for review under the Commonwealth's Setoff Debt program. Taxation then forwards the requests to the Department of Treasury for reimbursement check processing. Department of Treasury The Department of Treasury is responsible for preparing and mailing reimbursement checks to taxpayers for 1998 tax relief. Department of Taxation The Department of Taxation is responsible for reviewing 1998 reimbursements against the Commonwealth's Setoff Debt program. Personal Property Tax Relief 3 September 2001 Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Chapter 2: Requesting Reimbursement from the Department of Accounts for Qualified Vehicles Chapter 2: Requesting Reimbursement from the Department of Accounts for Qualified Vehicles Personal Property Tax Relief 4 September 2001 Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Chapter 2: Requesting Reimbursement from the Department of Accounts for Qualified Vehicles Chapter 2: Requesting Reimbursements from the Department of Accounts Overview and Data Requirements Since 1999, localities have been able to request payment for vehicles valued at $1,000 or less from DOA in four equal weekly installments, with the last payment being on the tax due date. Payment due dates and amounts are based on the locality's tax due dates in effect on January 1, 1998, and on tax rates in effect on July 1 or August 1, 1997, whichever is greater. Example: Chesterfield County had a tax due date of June 5 in effect on January 1, 1998. Chesterfield County wants to request $36,000 in tax relief for vehicles due 100% tax relief. Four weeks prior to their June 5 tax due date, Chesterfield may request the $36,000 to be paid in four equal installments as follows: I NVOICE T RANSACTION V EHICLE D UE T AX NUMBER AMOUNT COUNT D ATES Y EAR 1 11-01-050602 $ 9,000.00 3 0 0 5-15-02 2 002 1 11-02-050602 $ 9,000.00 3 0 0 5-22-02 2 002 1 11-03-050602 $ 9,000.00 3 0 0 5-29-02 2 002 1 11-04-050602 $ 9,000.00 3 0 0 6-05-02 2 002 S ection 58.1-3527 of the Personal Property Tax Relief Act stipulates that the Comptroller shall prescribe the form of reimbursement request for tax years 1999 and thereafter. T he Department of Accounts (DOA) has developed two methods for reimbursement. Both provide for the submission of summarized data. The first method is keying the reimbursement request directly on-line into the Commonwealth Accounting and Reporting System (CARS) and receiving your payment through electronic data interchange (EDI). This is the preferred method. Using this method will result in DOA reimbursing the locality in two-business days. The second method is to fax the required information to DOA. The two-business day turnaround is not guaranteed with the fax method. R egardless of which method is chosen, the information required to process a reimbursement request is the same. All requests will be made in a summary fashion. DOA requires seven pieces of information to process a request. They are as follows: F IPS Number This is the current Federal Information Processing Standard. It is a three- digit field. It is the number currently entered in the upper right hand corner of all Deposit Certificates for the Commonwealth. This number will remain the same for every request. Personal Property Tax Relief 5 September 2001 Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Chapter 2: Requesting Reimbursement from the Department of Accounts for Qualified Vehicles F IPS suffix The suffix is a two-digit field. The suffix will be used to track the number of requests made per day. For example, 01 would be used for your first request, 02 would be used for your second request, etc. This number will reset at 01 at the beginning of each business day. V endor Id The Vendor Id is your nine-digit tax identification number. This information is entered into CARS to access your locality name and address. This information will remain the same for all requests. V endor Id Suffix The vendor Id Suffix is a two-digit field. For payments made through EDI, the suffix directs the EDI payment to the correct bank account if your locality has more than one account. This information will remain the same for all requests, unless you change your bank account. T ransaction A mount This amount will be the summation of many detailed records at your office and represents the money due to you from the Commonwealth of Virginia. I nvoice Number This is a twelve-digit field; however, currently only eleven digits are utilized. The format and requirements for use of the invoice number is defined as follows: The first three spaces will be your FIPS number, spaces four and five will be the FIPS Suffix, and spaces six through eleven will be the date (MMDDYY) the request was entered into CARS. When complete, your invoice number would follow this format FIPSXMMDDYY. This number is very important to the process because this will be the mechanism used to tie the summarized request to the detailed records maintained at the locality. The invoice number will be referenced on your EDI deposit remittance data so that you can tie the cash reimbursement received in the bank to the original request. This number will change for every request. D ue Date This is an eight digit field (MMDDYYYY). This field will only be utilized for the requests that must be divided into four equal payments. Requests for calendar years 1999, 2000, and 2001 will not require this field except for vehicles assessed at $1,000 or below. These requests must be divided into four equal payments, the last of which will be due on the tax due date based on the customary due date(s) in effect in your locality on January 1, 1998. See Example on page 5. Personal Property Tax Relief 6 September 2001 Technical Reference Guide for Local Government Officials Chapter 2: Requesting Reimbursement from the Department of Accounts for Qualified Vehicles On-Line Method The Preferred Method D o I have access to on-line? T o use the on-line method, a connection to the Department of Information Technology (DIT) and a 3270 emulator on your computer is required. If you currently have access to the STARS system at the Department of Taxation, then you already have both of these. If you currently do not have this, and you would like to use the on-line method for submission, please contact the Department of Information Technology at (804) 786-3932. They can provide you with the requirements for obtaining the connection. You will be responsible for providing all hardware and all costs associated with the DIT line. H ow do I get logon Ids? O nce the connection to DIT and the 3270 emulator have been established you will need a logon ID to access the Personal Property Tax Relief Act system. We will require the locality to set up two individuals to access the system and each must have a separate logon. The first logon will be for the primary individual responsible for entering the requests; the second logon ID will be for the backup individual. To receive your logon IDs please complete the Request for CARS User Logons for PPTRA (FORM A on page 17) and return to the Department of Accounts. Your logon Ids will be established and you will be notified once the process is complete. H ow do I sign-up for EDI? I f you currently do not receive your payments from the Commonwealth through EDI, and would like to start receiving them in this manner, complete the EDI Payment Agreement (FORM B on page 18 and 19). Fax the completed Form to the Department of Accounts at (804) 225-4250. If you have questions about this process, please contact Kim White at (804) 225-2376 or e-mail her at: