High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Road tax, also Vehicle Excise Duty in the UK, Registration Fee USA, Regco Australia, Vehicle Licensing Fee Brazil, Motor vehicle circulation tax Spain) which is an annual tax which has to be paid on most motor vehicle before using them on a public road. For example, in Massachusetts, the excise tax is billed separately from registration fees, by the town or city in which the vehicle is registered, and was set at a fixed rate of 2.5% statewide by a 1980 law called Proposition 2 . Within some states, the fees may vary from county to county, as some counties have surcharges per vehicle. An example of this is Virginia's personal property tax. The state of New York, on the other hand, charges a tax based on the vehicle's weight, rather than on its value, which is charged at the time of registration renewal.