§463. Private passenger vehicles; amputee veterans exempted; church, church school, and religious order vehicles

            A.(1) For each passenger-carrying automobile, van, low-speed vehicle as defined in R.S. 32:1(40), or other motor vehicle carrying only persons and their personal effects exclusively, not meeting the requirements of R.S. 47:463.5 or using or operating upon rails or upon permanent tracks and operated only for private use, an annual registration license shall be collected each two years in advance in amounts fixed by the following schedule:

            (a) For an automobile having an actual value of ten thousand dollars or less, the annual license tax shall be ten dollars.

            (b) For an automobile having an actual value of greater than ten thousand dollars, the annual license tax shall be the base tax of ten dollars plus an additional tax of one dollar per each one thousand dollars of actual value above ten thousand dollars.

            (2) For purposes of this Subsection, the actual value of each vehicle shall be determined as of the time of purchase or first renewal after the effective date of this Section according to criteria established by the secretary, and the tax shall be based on said value for each renewal thereafter. In applying the provisions of Subparagraph (A)(1)(b) above and for the purpose of computing the additional tax of one dollar per each one thousand dollars, any amount of five hundred dollars or more shall be rounded off to the next highest thousand dollars and any amount less than five hundred dollars shall be disregarded. The secretary shall provide by rules and regulations for the implementation of this Subsection. Such rules and regulations shall be subject to an oversight review by the Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.

            (3)(a) The deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services, shall issue license plates for private passenger vehicles. After July 1, 1992, there shall be issued one uniform identifiable Louisiana license plate, the style of which shall be proposed by the department and approved by the legislature on or before July 1, 1992. However, all special prestige license plates issued in accordance with R.S. 47:463.6 et seq. shall contain the uniform alpha-numeric series accompanied by a symbol or emblem representing the organization requesting such plate, and, on and after January 1, 2019, the international symbol of accessibility, upon request, if the applicant is eligible in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:463.4. All prestige license plates issued after August 15, 1999, shall include a handling charge of three dollars and fifty cents to offset the administrative costs of the department for the issuance of such plates.

            (b) No prestige plate shall be established after January 1, 2002, until the department has received a minimum of one thousand applications for such plate. In addition, the secretary shall establish a prestige license plate for an organization, in accordance with the provisions provided by law only when one of the following conditions is met:

            (i) The organization has prepaid to the secretary all the necessary fees required by law for one thousand applications for the license plate.

            (ii) The organization guarantees the secretary that if the license plate is established, at least one thousand license plates will be purchased by the members of the organization or citizens of Louisiana who have signed a list agreeing to purchase the license plate.

            (c) The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall issue one uniform identifiable license plate for privately owned personal trucks, commonly referred to as pick-up trucks, which shall contain the phrase "Sportsman's Paradise" imprinted on the bottom. A plate shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of this Subparagraph for all new registrations after January 1, 2004.

            B. Any amputee or blind veteran of World War II or of service on or after June 27, 1950, who is a Louisiana citizen and who received financial assistance from the administrator of veterans affairs in the purchase of an automobile under Public Law 663, 79th Congress, as amended, or under Public Law 187, 82nd Congress, is exempt from the payment of any motor vehicle registration or license tax on the automobile thus received, and is also exempt from payment of said tax on each subsequent automobile purchased by him as replacements, so long as it is determined by evidence from the U.S. Veterans Administration that the veteran's physical disability(s) still meets the requirements which were met originally in establishing his eligibility to an automobile. The commissioner shall issue, upon application by the veteran and without cost to the veteran, a license plate which is non-transferable; provided, that, at the discretion of the commissioner, such veteran shall be required to present an official notice from the U.S. Veterans Administration that he still meets the physical disability requirements which he originally met in establishing his eligibility to an automobile.

            C. For each vehicle owned and used by a church, church school, or religious order for their purposes, an annual registration license of three dollars shall be collected by the commissioner each two years in advance, commencing with the registration period beginning January 1, 1979. On vehicles purchased during the second year of the two year registration period, the license shall be three dollars.

            Amended by Acts 1954, No. 263, §1; Acts 1962, No. 318, §1; Acts 1978, No. 502, §2; Acts 1985, No. 545, §1; Acts 1986, No. 196, §1; Acts 1988, No. 503, §1; Acts 1989, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 23, §1, eff. Oct. 7, 1989; Acts 1991, No. 1016, §1, eff. July 1, 1992; Acts 1992, No. 4, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1070, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1004, §1, eff. June 27, 2001; Acts 2003, No. 986, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1242, §1, eff. July 7, 2003; Acts 2003, No. 1261, §1; Acts 2018, No. 346, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019.