OP here. The above answer is accurate in my case.

It appears that if you purchase a car after July 15, you get a separate prorated bill to pay in December.

Here is a response I got back from Fairfax County:

Thank you for reaching out to the Department of Tax Administration. The registration for your 2023 [Car] will not generate a bill until the middle of December for the 2/15/2023 due date because it was registered after 7/15/2022. But every bill thereon after will roll into our regular billing cycle with the due date of October 5th of that tax year. Please be on the lookout for your 5-month prorated bill for the [Car] around mid-December. Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:the dealer registered the car and got me plates right before I drove off with the vehicle.

You have to register your car first before they send you a car tax bill.

NP here. So which is it? Is the dealer registering the car not enough?

There are 2 different registrations -

1. Registering the car in the State of VA. Assuming you are buying in the DMV, they can and should do the paper work for you to register the car in VA. And, if they are in VA, they may be able to give you new plates/tags before you leave. Otherwise, they will issue you a temp tag until you get the registration and plates in the mail.

2. Registering the car in the county or town you reside in. Assuming you reside in Fairfax, you must register your new vehicle wtihin 60 day of purchase or you move the vehicle to the county. If you don't you are subject to a late fee. https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/vehicles/register-update-preface. The dealer will NOT do this for you and you must do it on your own.

Registration #2 may be new to folks that are new to the area as many areas of the country do not have a personal property tax on vehicles.

the dealer registered the car and got me plates right before I drove off with the vehicle.

You have to register your car first before they send you a car tax bill.

NP here. So which is it? Is the dealer registering the car not enough?

Anonymous wrote:You have to register your car first before they send you a car tax bill.

I bought my new car in February, and a month later they sent an email reminding me to register it.

Register now, and I'm sure they will send you a bill.

OP here. Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:You have to register your car first before they send you a car tax bill.

I bought my new car in February, and a month later they sent an email reminding me to register it.

Register now, and I'm sure they will send you a bill.

We bought a new car in March, did not receive a reminder to register it, and instead got a 10% car tax penalty added to our bill.

You have to register your car first before they send you a car tax bill.

I bought my new car in February, and a month later they sent an email reminding me to register it.

Register now, and I'm sure they will send you a bill.

Car taxes are due next week (Oct 5) and I had a question.

I just bought a new car in August and the dealer registered the car and got me plates right before I drove off with the vehicle.

I never received a car property tax bill for this car.

I tried looking up the car by the VIN number on Fairfax County's website and there is no new car listed under my profile (I see my other car on there).

What do I do? Do I wait for Fairfax County to send me a property tax bill for the car or do I need to do something before Oct 5th?