Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter Thursday to the Maryland Department of Transportation, urging it to stop trying to collect nonresident vehicle permit fees from military servicemembers and their spouses.

The Justice Department claimed in the letter that under the state's current policy, military families stationed in Maryland are effectively taxed twice when they register a vehicle in their home state and then relocate to Maryland for military service.

“Relocation for military service is already a costly endeavor,” Dhillon said in a statement. “If a vehicle belonging to a servicemember or their spouse is registered in their home state, then that family has already paid their fair share. They should not also be required to pay additional taxes or fees in each state that they move to in compliance with military orders.”

Dhillon claimed the double tax violates the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and asked the state to exempt servicemembers and their spouses from the Motor Vehicle Administration’s nonresident vehicle permit fees, and update their policies and trainings to ensure that military families are not subject to such fees going forward.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.