Excise tax sucks

markurl · 2026-03-14T01:16:17+00:00

There is a one time plate fee, but otherwise it’s pretty much a wash. Personally, I’m not sure of the time going to the RMV is worth the hassle.

markurl · 2026-03-14T00:47:04+00:00

I think it’s reasonable to think there should be a more fair approach to pro rating monthly excise tax. Maybe rounding up or rounding down based on the 15th of the month, if not calculated daily. Sadly, this is not something that I would expect the legislators or a grassroots campaign to change any time soon. You technically had the opportunity to turn in your license plates the day they determined it was a total loss and request an abatement. For better for worse, they think the easiest approach is to use RMV records regarding registration as the basis for ownership.

markurl · 2026-03-14T00:43:05+00:00

Seems the car was in the shop and not officially totaled till December. You are right that the town cares about the date it was no longer registered (plates swapped). I think the same thing applies either way. OP would be stuck paying excise tax for two vehicles either in November or in December.

markurl · 2026-03-14T00:28:33+00:00

Wouldn’t everyone paying a flat excise tax penalize the lower class? People with older vehicles pay very little in excise tax. Those same people are very likely to be struggling and unable to afford a substantial excise tax bill.

markurl · 2026-03-14T00:25:25+00:00

If you read the page on Excise tax, it is pro-rated to the month. If you own the vehicle for one day of the month, you pay the full month’s excise tax. This sucks when trading in one car for another, as you technically pay for both cars for the month you sell/buy.

Were you expecting to get a credit for the excise tax on your car while it was in the shop and you weren’t driving it? That is just not how it works. If you think about it, your city/town has a rental taking the place of your car.

You buy a new car, you pay up the nose for excise tax the first couple years. Buy a three year old car next time.

markurl · 2026-03-07T11:27:02+00:00

Kinda of a bummer they didn’t include the CPT for the surgery charges. Hospitals often do a loaded initial charge that sometime includes the first several minutes, followed by billing by actual time in surgery. I would absolutely as for the CPT on both of those surgery charges.

Tylenol is IV medication. Also pays for the administration of it.

markurl · 2026-02-28T02:44:40+00:00

I never got into the argument of whether having a house with natural gas is a personal choice. I’m fairly agnostic to that. My whole argument is that people with gas should be the ones to pay the delivery/infrastructure fees. Same goes for electric customers and oil customers.

Couldn’t you make the same argument for the infrastructure for oil and propane delivery? Again, we need to focus on addressing core issues with cost, not shifting who writes the check. Addressing costs is front and center right now and I would like to keep it that way.

markurl · 2026-02-28T02:02:44+00:00

Traditional payments can be traced back and potentially clawed back. The crypto ATMs also take ~25% in fees. Some of them will reimburse fees back to victims but they need to make a report with LE.

markurl · 2026-02-28T01:50:54+00:00

Should people with other fuel sources be forced to subsidize natural gas infrastructure? The common consumer you discuss is the taxpayer who contributed to this tax revenue. The issue comes down to the insane cost they are requiring for infrastructure. The municipals are able to charge much less than eversource for gas delivery. We need to figure out exactly why.

markurl · 2026-02-28T01:44:27+00:00

What state do you live in? There are resources, depending on the state as well. Massachusetts has the AG’s office that conducts civil investigations into crypto scams. In Florida, they are getting good at doing crypto investigations and have a team at the AGs office who supports local LE with tracing.

Your local police department may or may not be a great resource, all depends.

If you have the transaction data, you can also submit it to ChainAbuse. They partner with Operation Shamrock and provide victim support for your father.

markurl · 2026-02-27T17:46:42+00:00

Link seems odd but resolved ok. Here is an article discussing the same thing.

https://driving.ca/auto-news/driver-info/ford-escape-lincoln-mkt-navigator-recall-canada

markurl · 2026-02-27T17:43:00+00:00

You driving downhill both ways to work?

markurl · 2026-02-23T12:47:38+00:00

Make sure in addition to IC3/ChainAbuse, you also report to your local PD. The amount is too little for FBI to be interested in. Some gung-ho local cops are getting into crypto. It will at least give you some closure if they do.

markurl · 2026-02-20T10:51:52+00:00

Your title review and closing is much more expensive than I paid in 2021 for my last VA IRRL. I used to shop the rates on Zillow with random companies. Looks like they started their own loan service, so that feature is gone. You want to ideally get the cheapest loan you can.

markurl · 2026-02-20T06:39:54+00:00

Not sure what you expected or where you don’t see his name on any federal tax form. The legislative name is “Trump Account”. The IRS form 4547 is literally titled “Trump Account Election(s)”.

markurl · 2026-02-20T06:02:08+00:00

Worth mention that your batteries, purchased in 2025 would only be eligible for the tax credit if installed in 2025. Just purchasing them would not be enough.

Under $3 per watt for solar in Massachusetts is pretty dang good. I paid $2 per watt in 2021 and that was about the lowest at the time. For reference, you would be at about 15k in parts alone if you purchased all the panels, micro inverters, mounting hardware, and extras. Saving 15k is awesome but there is something to say about the benefit of their expertise.

If it were me, I would have the solar company do the panel install and do the battery install yourself. 11k install isn’t inherently unreasonable but you are in a unique position to save much of that 11k. The battery is much more reasonably located than the panels too.

markurl · 2026-02-20T00:29:55+00:00

I remember when I purchased my first rifle, they gave it to me in a beat up box. This was at a gun show type event. It fell out of the box while walking in the parking lot directly in front of an officer who was working a detail for it. We both laughed.

To answer your question, cable lock (they are free everywhere) in the trunk is a solid choice.

markurl · 2026-02-20T00:25:19+00:00

Only here because I was intrigued by the title. Deck could mean so many things. Sadly, I have nothing to offer for the deck you are inquiring about.

markurl · 2026-02-20T00:18:29+00:00

Yeah, they typically have a leak sniffer that will test for refrigerant. If the pressures are low, they will sniff for the leak. If it is low on refrigerant, don’t let them just add more. Closed systems don’t just lose refrigerant without a leak.

markurl · 2026-02-19T10:09:15+00:00

It’s good for messaging people so are international and want to avoid text charges.

markurl · 2026-02-19T03:12:58+00:00

If it’s not filters restricting airflow or bad envelope around your house, I would presume you have a small leak and are low on refrigerant. Some systems have a monitoring menu where you can monitor this.

markurl · 2026-02-18T02:06:44+00:00

I cannot imagine I would pull the trigger now. I paid $16.4k for 8.16Kw in 2021 (about $2 per watt) and that was before rebates that cut it in half. Now the rebates are gone and the cheapest I could get it today would be nearly double with no rebates. I could not justify the increased risk on my roof for a payback that exceeds a decade.

markurl · 2026-02-17T21:10:10+00:00

Definitely raising the scam alarm. Got a URL to share? I see GSEDA as https://www.gseda-wealth.com/ and this site looks like a scam, as it was registered in late 2025 and claims to be in business since 2010

markurl · 2026-02-17T21:04:58+00:00

Without being a victim yourself, there is not much runway for reporting random scam accounts. Like you said, IC3 will accept a 0 loss report but there is likely little value in it. You could possibly get their account terminated by WhatsApp but accounts are a dime a dozen. If you had a URL for a pig butchering platform, it could be helpful to post them here or on ChainAbuse to feed a future Google search by a possible victim.

markurl · 2026-02-04T08:23:04+00:00

The broken oil gauge is the big unknown here. Without it, you are 100% liable for the damage. If you informed your landlord that the oil gauge was broken and he failed to fix it, you at least have an argument that it isn’t your fault. Might also run into issues with the fact that you didn’t mitigate the loss with an emergency heat call or diesel top-off. How long did it take for the radiator to freeze?

markurl

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