Actual ratios vary from county to county. Under this procedure the machinery is valued at replacement cost each year and then depreciated according to its age and expected life. Property taxes are based on assessments as of January 1, are due September 1, but may be paid at par as late as January 5 of the following year. The rate may be lower after the entity comes under experience rating. The minimum tax rate may be lower after the entity comes under experience rating.
Tax is paid when the vehicle is purchased or titled in North Carolina.
Items that are excluded from the tax include prescription medicines, eyeglasses, gasoline, motor vehicles, and some utility services. The tax rates vary from county to county and from town to town. Since many manufacturing plants are outside the corporate limits of any town, such plants would pay only the county property tax. Merchandising concerns within municipalities are subject to both the city and the county levies. There are few special district taxes apart from school levies and rural fire district levies.