Dateline Sacramento — Car buyers no longer should be overcharged taxes after a discrepancy was discovered last year by Board of Equalization Vice Chair George Runner.

Under a new contract with the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, the Board of Equalization now will have more oversight of motor vehicle private party use tax collection.

“Taxpayers should have confidence that their government isn’t charging tax that isn’t owed,” said Mr. Runner. “This new agreement drives home that point.”

Last year, Mr. Runner called for a review of how tax rates were charged in a letter to the DMV. As a result, an internal review found that the DMV had used zip codes to charge taxes, even though zip codes are often split between cities and counties that employ different tax rates.

“To avoid overpaying taxes, it’s important for Californians to know they can easily find the correct tax rate for their address at boe.ca.gov/taxrate,” Mr. Runner said.

The new contract helps DMV counter staff to determine the correct rate for car buyers who live in zip codes with more than one tax rate. The agreement creates a pilot program to explore and evaluate alternative methods to reduce reliance on five digit zip codes used to determine tax jurisdiction.

A Board of Equalization review found 7,000 cases where taxpayers had been overcharged by the DMV. The Board will refund these overcharges to taxpayers.

For further assistance, consumers may contact the Board’s Customer Service Center at 1.800.400.7115.

Mr. Runner may be contacted at www.boe.ca.gov/Runner.