Fifteen changes and errors we found while rebuilding all 51 state pages, and where most published figures are now wrong.
Most vehicle fee tables on the web are out of date, and a few were never right.
While building calculators for all 50 states and Washington DC we read each state’s statute and cross-checked it against what the revenue department or DMV currently collects. Ten places had either changed in the last eighteen months or never matched their own statute. New Mexico raised fees 25 percent. Wyoming halved its electric vehicle decal. Delaware’s document fee is a full point higher than the figure everyone quotes. Connecticut’s headline fee covers three years and the DMV table never says so. Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Alaska and Louisiana all publish multi-year totals too. Maryland’s surcharge is already inside its published fee, so adding it again overcharges by $40.
Passenger registration fees up about 25%
Change: $56 became $70 at the top weight band
Every band rose by roughly a quarter. An electric vehicle fee of $70 and a plug-in hybrid fee of $35 follow on January 1, 2027.
NMSA 1978 § 66-6-2 — “more than three thousand pounds, seventy dollars ($70.00)”
Age-of-vehicle registration fee set at $12, $10 and $7
Change: The older $9, $7 and $5 schedule was repealed that day
Two schedules coexisted in the statute until the alternative one was repealed. Separately, the road safety surcharge is temporarily $3.70 lower through August 31, 2027.
Colorado DMV — “Less than 7 years old $12; 7 to 9 years old $10; 10 years or older $7. These fees are effective from July 1, 2026”
All-electric vehicle decal $200 to $100, plug-in hybrid decal $50 added
Change: Cut in half
2026 House Bill 145 halved the electric decal and created a new plug-in hybrid decal. Most guides still show $200.
Wyoming 2026 HB 145, Enrolled Act 33 — “an all-electric vehicle as defined in W.S. 39-17-301(a)(l) . $200.00 $100.00”
Additional motor vehicle sales tax 0.3% to 0.5%
Change: On top of the 6.5% state rate and local rates
Anything written before 2026 shows 0.3 percent. On a $40,000 car the change is $80.
Washington Department of Revenue — “Effective Jan. 1, 2026, the rate is .5%. Through Dec. 31, 2025, the rate is .3%.”
Zero emission vehicle sales tax exemption ended
Change: 0% to 6.625%
Phased out in two steps: 3.3125 percent from October 2024, then the full rate. On a $45,000 EV that is nearly $3,000 that used to be free.
New Jersey Division of Taxation — “July 1, 2025, and after | 6.625%”
Motor vehicle document fee is 5.25%, not 4.25%
Change: A full point higher than commonly published
Delaware is marketed as having no sales tax, but the document fee works the same way and is now higher than several states’ sales tax.
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles — “5.25% of purchase price or NADA book value, whichever is greater.”
Fee for new registration is $10 plus 5%, not a flat 5%
Change: A flat $10 was added
House File 674 added the flat portion. Guides that predate it undercount every transaction by $10.
Iowa Code § 321.105A — “in the amount of ten dollars plus five percent of the purchase price”
Passenger registration is $120 for three years, not one
Change: About $40 a year
Public Act 19-165 moved Connecticut from two-year to three-year registration. The DMV fee table states no period at all, so the figure is widely reported as annual.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-49(a) — “the fee shall be one hundred twenty dollars every three years”
County road and bridge fee $11.25 to $11.50
Change: Small, but it is the kind of number calculators get wrong
County add-ons in Texas change quietly and are published only in a TxDMV chart, not in statute.
Texas DMV county fee chart — “County road and bridge fee, Burleson $11.50”
Excise tax base becomes the actual sale price
Change: The NADA plus or minus 20% band is gone
House Bill 1183 removed the valuation band. Also, Oklahoma is often described as a 4.5 percent excise state; the excise is 3.25 percent plus a separate 1.25 percent sales tax.
Oklahoma Enrolled HB 1183 — “shall be the actual sales price of such a vehicle before any discounts or credits are given for a trade-in”
The $40 EMS surcharge is already inside the published registration fee
Change: Adding it again overcharges by $40
The MVA publishes $120.50, $125.50 and $191.50 with the yearly surcharge already added, so the registration fee alone is $80.50, $85.50 and $151.50. The old $135 and $187 figures still circulating were two-year totals under the previous $17 surcharge.
Md. Transp. § 13-912 — “For each Class A (passenger) vehicle, the annual registration fee is: 3,500 pounds or less: On or after July 1, 2025, $80.50”
Passenger plates are sold for two years, not one
Change: The $20 minimum is a two-year figure
The statute sets an annual rate but collects two years in advance. Pickup trucks and motorcycles run on a four-year cycle. A site showing $20 as an annual fee is double-counting the term.
La. Rev. Stat. § 47:463(A)(1) — “an annual registration license shall be collected each two years in advance”
The headline registration fee is a two-year total
Change: MA $60, SC $40, AK $100, OR $126, NY weight table
All five register passenger vehicles for two years and publish the two-year figure without always saying so. Oregon doubles again to four years on a brand-new vehicle. Treat any of these as annual and you halve the real cost.
Massachusetts RMV schedule of fees — “PAN Passenger Normal $60.00 Biennially”
Fees that calculators add to every total but should not
Change: DE $20, AK $10, ID $10
Delaware’s $20 is a late fee charged only after expiry. Alaska’s $10 is a walk-in fee you avoid by renewing online. Idaho’s $10 state parks passport is a voluntary sticker. None belongs in a default estimate.
Idaho Code § 49-402(11) — “registrants may pay a fee to purchase an Idaho state parks passport”
Registration processing fee $6 to $9, and $12 to $18 on a two-year
Change: Up 50%
A second increase in six years. It is charged on every renewal on top of the plate fee.
Missouri DOR Form 1659 — “APPLICANT MUST INCLUDE A $9.00 PROCESSING FEE FOR EACH ONE-YEAR REGISTRATION.”
Every figure above was read from the statute or the state revenue department page it links to, not from a secondary source. Where the statute and the agency disagree, we used what the agency actually collects and said so. Several of these entries exist precisely because the two do not match.
Found something wrong? The sources are linked on every entry so you can check for yourself. We would rather be corrected than be wrong.
See the same list for real estate transfer taxes →
This page tracks rate changes only. For a calculation, use the state page. Estimates only; the state or county issues the final bill.