15-8-202. Motor vehicle assessment by department of justice. (1) (a) The department of justice shall determine the registration fee on light vehicles in accordance with 61-3-560 through 61-3-562.
     (b) For the purposes of the local option vehicle tax under 61-3-537, the department of justice shall assess all light vehicles, subject to 61-3-313 through 61-3-316 and 61-3-501, for taxation in accordance with 61-3-503.
     (c) The department of justice shall determine the fee in lieu of tax for all buses, trucks having a manufacturer's rated capacity of more than 1 ton, and truck tractors in accordance with 61-3-528 and 61-3-529.
     (d) Taxes, registration fees, or fees in lieu of tax on a motor vehicle under this subsection (1) must be assessed or imposed in each year on the person who owned or claimed the motor vehicles or in whose possession or control the motor vehicle was on the anniversary registration date.
     (2) A tax or fee in lieu of tax may not be assessed or imposed against motor vehicles subject to taxation or to a fee in lieu of tax that constitute inventory of motor vehicle dealers as of January 1. These vehicles and all other motor vehicles subject to taxation or a fee in lieu of tax that are brought into the state after January 1 as motor vehicle dealers' inventories must be assessed to their respective purchasers as of the dates the vehicles are registered by the purchasers.
     (3) "Purchasers" includes dealers who apply for registration or reregistration of motor vehicles.
     (4) Goods, wares, and merchandise of motor vehicle dealers, other than new motor vehicles and new mobile homes, must be assessed at market value as of January 1.
     (5) (a) The department of justice is authorized to appear in any proceeding before a county tax appeal board, the state tax appeal board, or a court that seeks to dispute an assessment made by the department pursuant to the authority granted under this section.
     (b) For the purposes of proceedings before county tax appeal boards or the state tax appeal board, service of the application required under 15-15-201 must be made on the attorney general. A copy of any application giving rise to a proceeding before a county tax appeal board or the state tax appeal board must also be served on the county treasurer of the county in which the vehicle that is the subject of the proceeding was registered.

     History: En. Sec. 13, p. 78, L. 1891; re-en. Sec. 3700, Pol. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 2510, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 2002, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. Pol. C. Sec. 3628; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 158, L. 1933; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 30, L. 1935; re-en. Sec. 2002, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 72, L. 1937; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 256, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 245, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 86, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 232, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 290, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 296, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 40, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 180, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 435, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 405, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 414, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 74, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 327, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 388, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 507, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 126, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 211, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 260, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 51, Ch. 566, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 84-406(4); amd. Sec. 23, Ch. 712, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 262, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 13, Ch. 614, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 433, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 516, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 611, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 55, Ch. 27, Sp. L. November 1993; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 496, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 85, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 515, L. 1999.