Out-the-door price calculator for California

The rates are the state's own, effective October 1, 2026: 10.25% for a car registered in the City of Los Angeles, and from 10.25% to 11.75% across Los Angeles County.

What goes into an out-the-door price

• The price of the car. The selling price you agreed, after any dealer discount, before tax and fees.

• Dealer add-ons. Anything the dealer adds to the price. They are taxed with the car. Dealer add-ons and junk fees covers which ones to question.

• The document fee. State law caps it at $85, or $70 at a dealer that is not a DMV business partner (Vehicle Code 4456.5). The state's tax agency says document fees are subject to tax.

• Sales tax. Your city's rate, applied to the price, the add-ons and the document fee together.

• DMV fees. These are state fees from the DMV's schedule: a registration fee of $76, a Highway Patrol fee of $34, a vehicle license fee of 0.65% of the price, and a transportation improvement fee of $33 to $231 depending on the price. They are not taxed.

How California taxes a car purchase

• The rate follows the registration address. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), the state's tax agency, says the rate is based on the address where you register the vehicle. Buying from a dealer in a city with a lower rate does not change what you owe.

• A trade-in does not lower the tax. The agency's own example, in its Publication 34: a car sold with a trade-in taken as part payment is taxed on its full selling price. The trade-in lowers what you pay, not the tax.

• A manufacturer's rebate does not lower it either. In the agency's example, a manufacturer's rebate that the buyer puts toward the car stays part of the amount taxed.

• A dealer's discount does. When the dealer lowers the price, the tax is based on the lower price. This is why the price itself is the number to work on.

• A private seller changes who collects it, not the rate. When no dealer collects sales tax, the state charges use tax at the same rate, and you pay it to the DMV when you register the car.

• Bought out of state. California use tax applies when the car is registered here, and the state gives credit for tax already paid to another state.

• A lease is taxed differently. On a lease the tax falls on the payments and on what you pay at signing. See California sales tax on a car lease.

Car sales tax by city in the Los Angeles area

California's statewide rate is 7.25%. Cities and counties add district taxes on top, which is why the rate changes from one city to the next. These are the combined state and local rates for all 189 cities and unincorporated areas in the five Los Angeles-area counties, from the CDTFA's table effective October 1, 2026. For any address in California, the state's rate lookup by address gives the exact rate.

As an example, on a price of $30,000 the tax is $3,075 at the City of Los Angeles rate of 10.25%, and $2,325 at 7.75%, the rate in most of Orange County.

Los Angeles County

Woodland Hills, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Hollywood, Venice and the other neighborhoods inside the city limits use the City of Los Angeles rate.

• 10.25%: Agoura Hills, Bell, Beverly Hills, Bradbury, Cerritos, City of Industry, Claremont, Diamond Bar, Hermosa Beach, Hidden Hills, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, unincorporated areas, Maywood, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rosemead, San Dimas, Santa Clarita, Walnut, West Covina, Westlake Village

• 10.75%: Avalon, El Segundo, Inglewood, La Puente, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Torrance

• 11%: Alhambra, Arcadia, Artesia, Baldwin Park, Bellflower, Burbank, Carson, Cudahy, Downey, Duarte, El Monte, Glendale, Hawaiian Gardens, Hawthorne, Huntington Park, La Cañada Flintridge, La Verne, Lakewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Paramount, Pasadena, Pomona, San Fernando, San Gabriel, Sierra Madre, Signal Hill, South Pasadena, Temple City, Vernon, West Hollywood, Whittier

• 11.25%: Azusa, Bell Gardens, Calabasas, City of Commerce, Compton, Covina, Culver City, Gardena, Glendora, Irwindale, Lynwood, Pico Rivera, San Marino, Santa Monica, South El Monte, South Gate

• 11.5%: Santa Fe Springs

• 11.75%: Lancaster, Palmdale

Orange County

Most Orange County cities share one rate; a few add their own.

• 7.75%: Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Orange County, unincorporated areas, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Tustin, Villa Park, Yorba Linda

• 8.75%: Buena Park, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, La Habra, La Palma, Placentia, Stanton

• 9.25%: Los Alamitos, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Westminster

Ventura County

Ventura County has the lowest rates in the area.

• 7.25%: Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Ventura County, unincorporated areas

• 7.75%: Ventura

• 8.75%: Port Hueneme

• 9.25%: Oxnard, Santa Paula

Riverside County

Rates in Riverside County vary city by city.

• 7.75%: Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Eastvale, Indian Wells, Jurupa Valley, Rancho Mirage, Riverside County, unincorporated areas

• 8.75%: Blythe, Coachella, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Hemet, Indio, La Quinta, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Norco, Palm Desert, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto, Temecula, Wildomar

• 9.25%: Cathedral City, Palm Springs

San Bernardino County

Rates in San Bernardino County vary city by city.

• 7.75%: Adelanto, Big Bear Lake, Chino Hills, Grand Terrace, Hesperia, Highland, Loma Linda, Needles, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Bernardino County, unincorporated areas, Twentynine Palms, Upland

• 8.75%: Apple Valley, Barstow, Chino, Colton, Fontana, Ontario, Redlands, San Bernardino, Victorville, Yucaipa, Yucca Valley

• 9%: Montclair

What the estimate leaves out

• County and district DMV fees. The DMV lists these as varying by county. Its own new vehicle fee calculator gives the exact registration figure for your address.

• The electronic filing charge and the tire fee. A dealer may pass on what its registration service charges it, and the state adds a small fee per new tire.

• Interest. If you finance, the loan's interest is on top of the out-the-door price.

• Anything missing from the dealer's quote. Paste the quote into Check my quote to see add-ons and fees worth asking about.

How 021 helps

Our written quote is an out-the-door number: payment or price, drive-off, taxes, fees and our fee, each on its own line, before you agree to anything. Several dealers quote the same car, so the price the tax is figured on is a competed one. Already have a dealer's out-the-door number? Send it to us. We will beat it or tell you it is already a good deal.