The Problem Solvers are getting calls and emails from viewers surprised by big late fee penalties when they went to tag their vehicles after the safer-at-home restrictions were lifted.
It appears many people thought there would be no penalty for waiting to take care of car tags until after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
Since tag agencies and the Oklahoma Tax Commission are considered essential, there were no orders for either to close during safer-at-home restrictions. Some tag agencies did shut down temporarily. Tag agents are independent contractors. So, they could close if they chose, but Paula Ross with the Oklahoma Tax Commission told the Problem Solvers very few did.
Two viewers asked why they could not get waivers for late fees they believed were out of their control? Evonne Bagnell claims she didn’t get the title from the dealership where she bought a car just before the pandemic hit until late May. Connie Dill said the tag agency she goes to in Hugo did close for a while which lead her to believe she could not get her car tagged.
Paula Ross from the Tax Commission told the Problem Solvers Oklahomans have several ways to get their vehicles tagged. They can go to a tag agency in person, they can do it online here, or mail it in. She added, people also get a thirty day grace period after the one month time frame that tag fees are due. This in effect gives people a 60 day window to get vehicles tagged.
Ross said, “There's a lot of variety as far as ability to do that, and unfortunately, those penalties just can't be waived, and I know that's probably not what they want to hear.” She added, there is no provision in state law that allows for late fees to be waived on tags no matter what the circumstance.
Dill said she did try to request a reimbursement of the late fees from the Tax Commission, because she thought she had to go to a tag agency to tag her car, but the Tax Commission denied her request.
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