Following a story MHProNews posted Dec. 10, 2013 regarding an increased sales tax that will be imposed on manufactured and modular homes sold in North Carolina, charlotteobserver.com reports the tax is being raised to 4.75 percent Jan. 1. The industry is slowly recovering from a slowdown exacerbated by the Great Recession, and this could be another setback, especially for low income consumers who will be hit hardest. Brad Lovin, executive director of the N.C. Manufactured and Modular Homebuilders Association. “It’s a substantial increase, there’s no doubt about it. It’s already a struggling market, so this certainly is going to hurt some.” Currently, the sales tax on manufactured homes (MH) is capped at $300 for a single-section and $600 for a multi-section.
Sonny Bannister, the owner of Royal Homes in Raleigh says his customers typically earn between $24,000 and $72,000 annually, and his manufactured homes run $40,600 for a single and $74,200 for a multi-section. The sales tax for the former will be $1982.50 and for the latter, $3,524.50. If the customer finances the home, the tax will be spread out over a 15-20 year period. Recently a buyer paid $52,000 cash for a manufactured home. If the transaction had finalized in 2014, the sales tax would have been $2,470 instead of the $300 the buyer paid. North Carolina ranks fourth in the nation for shipments of MH.
