Indiana doc fee cap: $261.72 and what it covers

• Indiana caps the documentary fee at $261.72. A dealer cannot charge more than that, and a figure above it is a billing error rather than a negotiating position.
• The cap is inflation-indexed, so it moves on a schedule rather than staying fixed. The figure above is the one currently in force.
• The rule: IC 9-32-13-7 ($200 statutory base, CPI-adjusted annually; $261.72 eff. 2026-07-01 per SOS Auto Dealer Services non-enforcement memo).

• The doc fee is part of the taxable amount in Indiana, so sales tax is calculated on it as well. A larger doc fee costs you more than the fee itself.
• Because the cap is a legal ceiling rather than a required charge, a dealer is free to charge less. It is a smaller lever than the vehicle price, but it is not fixed by law at the maximum.
• Taxed at 7%, a $261.72 doc fee really costs $280.04.

• The doc fee is taxable, and the effective ceiling is $261.72. That figure is re-indexed for inflation every July 1 and is published by the Secretary of State as a non-enforcement threshold rather than a hard statutory cap u2014 the statute itself still says $200.
• Indiana requires the doc fee to be built into the advertised price. If you are working from an advertised number, the fee should already be inside it u2014 adding it again would double-count.

Source: Indiana DOR Sales Tax Information Bulletin #28S; IC 6-2.5; BMV Fee Chart · rules last verified Oct 1, 2026. Methodology.