.jpg)
Timely Topics
Farm use vehicle tags are intended to allow part-time and full-time farmers to operate vehicles on their farms and avoid the annual regist ration fees and some other costs of operating a conventional over-the-road vehicle.
Operation of vehicles tagged “farm use” on the public roads is allowed with restrictions outlined in the Code of Virginia.
For years, non-farming citizens have been applying farm use tags to their vehicles and avoiding registration and other fees required of over-the-road vehicles. New laws were enacted July 1, 2023, intended to crack down on the tagging of nonfarm vehicles with farm use tags. The legislation called for the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, to be an “enforcementfree” transition period giving people time to come into compliance with the new law. June 30 is quickly approaching and people utilizing farm use tags on any of their vehicles need to be sure they comply.
Farm use tags can be used on the following vehicles: pickup trucks or panel trucks, sport utility vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, and vehicles having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 7,500 pounds, as indicated by the manufacturer’s ratings typically on a label permanently affixed to the inside surface of the driver side door.
Farm use tags can no longer be legally applied to cars. Interestingly, there appears to be no clear wording in the Virginia Code that distinguishes a car from a sport utility vehicle. Anyone applying farm use tags to a light vehicle other than a pickup truck needs to be prepared to prove their vehicle is a sport utility vehicle to a judge in Virginia traffic court.
Anyone with a farm use vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 7,500 pounds or less needs to complete a onetime registration process and pay a $15 fee with the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The DMV will issue to the applicant a farm use placard (plate) and appropriate used of such vehicles is outlined in Virginia codes 46.2-665, 46.2-666, 46.2670, 46.2-672, and 46.2-673. The new farm use placards are nontransferable. Any owner or lessee of a farm use vehicle shall return the farm use placard to the DMV within 30 days of the vehicle ceasing to be used for one or more of the exempt purposes.
The application process of farm use vehicles with GVWR of 7,500 pounds or less requires the applicant to report the approximate location and acreage on each farm for which the exemption is claimed and the type of agricultural commodities, poultry, dairy products or livestock produced on such farms. The vehicle’s owner or lessee must also sign a statement attesting that the vehicle shall only be used for one or more of the exempt purposes and that the vehicle is insured in the state of Virginia.
Vehicles with GVWR of greater than 7,500 pounds, trailers and semi-trailers do not need to apply for the new DMV-issued farm use placards and can continue to display the traditional red-and-white farm use tags. But these vehicles must restrict their use to the distances and agricultural uses outlined in the Virginia Code for Farm Use vehicles.
It’s important to note that vehicles required to display the new farm use placards will be reported to local commissioner’s of revenue as vehicles for business use. As a result, these vehicles in Rockbridge County will be treated as business-use vehicles, are subject to personal property tax, and they will not receive the car tax relief deduction. So the owner will have to pay a higher personal property tax on these vehicles.
For more information on farm use vehicles, call the Rockbridge Extension office at (540) 4634734 or send e-mail to [email protected].
