California DMV fee calculator

The calculator works out your own total, for a purchase or a renewal.

The fees on every California registration

• Registration fee: $76. A state fee set by Vehicle Code section 9250.1. It includes a $3 alternative fuel and technology fee.

• California Highway Patrol fee: $34. A state fee paid with every first registration and every renewal.

• Vehicle license fee: 0.65% of the value. The value is the price paid, counted in full the year you buy the car and a smaller share each year after, by state law (Revenue and Taxation Code section 10753.2).

• Transportation improvement fee: $33 to $231. A state fee by value band, set in Revenue and Taxation Code section 11052 and raised each January with inflation.

• Road improvement fee: $121. A state fee for zero-emission cars from model year 2020, charged at renewal. It is not charged on the first registration of a car bought from a licensed dealer.

• County and district fees. They differ from county to county, and the DMV adds them to your bill.

The license fee gets smaller every year you own the car

State law counts the price in full in the year you buy the car, then a smaller share each year: by the eleventh year only 15% of it is counted. The count starts again from the new price whenever the car changes owner.

• Year 1: 100% of the price

• Year 2: 90%

• Year 3: 80%

• Year 4: 70%

• Year 5: 60%

• Year 6: 50%

• Year 7: 40%

• Year 8: 30%

• Year 9: 25%

• Year 10: 20%

• Year 11 and after: 15%

For example, on a car bought for $40,000 the license fee is about $261 the first year, $209 in the third year, $130 in the sixth and $39 from the eleventh year on. The improvement fee follows the same shrinking value, so it can drop a band as the car ages.

The improvement fee goes by the car's value

For instance, a car valued at $30,000 pays $132. The bands the DMV lists:

• Value up to $4,999: $33

• $5,000 to $24,999: $66

• $25,000 to $34,999: $132

• $35,000 to $59,999: $198

• $60,000 and up: $231

Buying from a dealer or from a private seller

At a dealer, the dealer collects the sales tax at the rate of the city where the car will be registered, together with the DMV fees, and sends them to the state for you. In a private sale you pay the use tax, at the same rate, to the DMV when you transfer the title, along with a $15 transfer fee set by Vehicle Code section 9255. A change of owner has to be reported to the DMV within 10 days.

For a used gas car, the seller gives you a valid smog certificate. If the car is four or fewer model years old there is no smog check: you pay a $8 smog transfer fee instead, under Vehicle Code section 4000.1. Diesel cars don't get that four-year exception, and electric cars have no smog check at all.

Want the whole price, not only the tax and fees? The out-the-door calculator adds the price, add-ons and the dealer's document fee.

Electric and hydrogen cars

From model year 2020, zero-emission cars pay the $121 road improvement fee, a state fee, at each renewal. It is not charged when a licensed dealer registers a new one for the first time, and electric cars skip the smog check. The state's purchase rebates are in our guide to EV rebates in Los Angeles.

Late fees

Renew late and the DMV adds penalties set by law. For example, the share is of the license fee (and the weight fee on trucks), plus a registration late fee and a Highway Patrol late fee:

• 1 to 10 days late: 10%, plus $10 and $10

• 11 to 30 days: 20%, plus $15 and $15

• 31 days to one year: 60%, plus $30 and $30

• More than one year, up to two: 80%, plus $50 and $50

• More than two years: 160%, plus $100 and $100

On a lease

When you lease, the leasing company owns the car, and the first year's DMV fees are part of your lease: paid at signing or built into the payment. The same state fees apply at every renewal. Ask to see them as their own line on the quote; our guide to what's in the total due at signing shows where they sit.

An example: a $35,000 car in Los Angeles

Example, round numbers: a new gas car bought from a dealer for $35,000 and registered in the City of Los Angeles, where the tax rate is 10.25%. The dealer collects $3,587.50 in sales tax and $536.15 in DMV fees for the first year: $76 registration, $34 Highway Patrol, $228.15 license fee and $198 improvement fee, plus county fees. A year later the license fee counts 90% of the price, so the first renewal comes to $447.33: the license fee is $205.33 and the improvement fee drops to $132.