Why does Braintree still bill excise on my dead car?

Towns tax registered cars at $25 per $1,000 of value, running or not, and a lapsed or revoked registration still counts. Only a cancellation stops it.

Is there a Braintree bylaw on junk cars?

Braintree's town code wasn't available to us online, so Massachusetts law is the guide on this page. Check with Town Hall, since Braintree may set rules of its own.

How do I challenge a Braintree excise bill?

Ask the town's board of assessors for an abatement. In Braintree the deadline is whichever comes later: 1 year after you paid the bill, or 3 years after its due date.

Town guide · Massachusetts

Selling a dead or junk car in Braintree

Braintree's excise bill does not care whether the car runs. In Massachusetts towns collect this tax, not the RMV. It is $25 per $1,000 of value, and it is still owed on a registration that only lapsed or was revoked. Cancelling ends it, and selling the car gives you the moment to cancel. We buy whole non-running and junk cars: sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 10 sources

Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Braintree, the short version

Population: 38,957 (Census estimate, July 2025)
County: Norfolk
Land area: 13.762 square miles
Town junk-car bylaw: Not found online; state law used here
Motor vehicle excise: Town bills it: $25 per $1,000 of value
Excise abatement: Board of assessors; later of 3 years past due date or 1 year past payment
Replacement title: $25 from the RMV
Plates: Seller keeps them

No Braintree bylaw found, so state law it is

Our search found no online copy of Braintree's town code, so the rules below come from Massachusetts law. Braintree may well have a bylaw about junk or unregistered cars in yards, and a call to Town Hall settles it. The RMV's automobile-law page itself refers people to local police guides when a car is towed off private property.

Two statutes reach every Massachusetts town. Braintree's street officer may treat a car as refuse under Chapter 90, section 22C if it seems abandoned, has sat over 72 hours on a road or someone's property without consent, and is worth less than its removal. Chapter 266, section 120D says a car can be pulled off private land only when the driver had been warned off, directly or by a posted sign, by whoever controls the property, and only with notice to police.

Stopping the Braintree excise

A lapse is not a cancellation. Cancel on MyMassGov, file the confirmation somewhere safe, and send your insurer a photocopy. After that, Massachusetts forbids driving the car on any public way, so plan on it leaving on a truck.

A partial year is billed from the month of registration through the rest of that year. Think a Braintree bill overcharges you? Abatements go to the town's board of assessors. To apply, Braintree owners get the later of two dates: 3 years from when the bill was due, or 1 year from paying it.

Signing over the title

For a Braintree handover, Chapter 90D, section 15 has the owner sign the title assignment, write the true odometer reading, give a warranty of title, and pass the certificate to the buyer. The RMV's instructions add hand-printed names and dates from both parties, and they say nothing about a notary. Missing a price box? A bill of sale with the amount fills the gap. Title lost somewhere in the house? A replacement from the RMV is $25, and junk car with no title has the details.

Braintree plates are yours to keep or destroy. Once the registration is cancelled, the RMV wants them recycled or cut through, not mailed back. And the same Chapter 90D section frees a seller who signed and delivered from blame for later violations by whoever drives it next.

Near Braintree

In straight-line miles, Weymouth Town is 3.0 away, Randolph Town 3.2 and Quincy 3.8. Statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.

Asking for an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or write to us online. Braintree sellers can call or use the form. In Braintree we load the car at your home, a family member's place, or your work parking lot.

Questions people ask

Why does Braintree still bill excise on my dead car?: Towns tax registered cars at $25 per $1,000 of value, running or not, and a lapsed or revoked registration still counts. Only a cancellation stops it.
Is there a Braintree bylaw on junk cars?: Braintree's town code wasn't available to us online, so Massachusetts law is the guide on this page. Check with Town Hall, since Braintree may set rules of its own.
How do I challenge a Braintree excise bill?: Ask the town's board of assessors for an abatement. In Braintree the deadline is whichever comes later: 1 year after you paid the bill, or 3 years after its due date.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

Mass.gov: Motor vehicle excise mass.gov
Mass.gov: Cancel your vehicle registration and plates mass.gov
Mass.gov: Massachusetts law about automobiles mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 90 s. 22C, abandoned vehicles malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 266 s. 120D, removal from private property malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 90D s. 15, assignment on transfer malegislature.gov
Mass.gov: Registration and title for a vehicle bought from an individual mass.gov
Mass.gov: Replace your vehicle's certificate of title mass.gov
U.S. Census Bureau city population estimates, 2020-2025 www2.census.gov
U.S. Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer, places www2.census.gov