The Justice Department has issued a letter urging the Maryland Department of Transportation to stop efforts to collect nonresident vehicle permit fees from servicemembers and their spouses that violate the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).
Under Maryland’s current policy, military families across the state are effectively taxed twice when they register a vehicle in their home state and then relocate to Maryland for military service.
“Relocation for military service is already a costly endeavor,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “If a vehicle belonging to a servicemember or their spouse is registered in their home state, then that family has already paid their fair share. They should not also be required to pay additional taxes or fees in each state that they move to in compliance with military orders.”
The Department is asking Maryland, consistent with the SCRA, to exempt servicemembers and their spouses from the Motor Vehicle Administration’s nonresident vehicle permit fees, refund amounts they have already collected, and update their policies and trainings to ensure that military families are not subject to such fees going forward.
For more information about the Department’s enforcement efforts under the SCRA and other laws that protect the rights of servicemembers and their families, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.
Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations may be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.
