Maine car registration and title fees

• Title fee — $33.00. Certificate of title, issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The same $33 covers recording your lender's lien on a first loan. A dealer may not charge more than this for titling. Cars more than 25 years old need no title. (29-A M.R.S. 603(1)(B), 603(3), 652(13))
• Registration (one year) — $35.00. One year of registration and a standard plate for a car or SUV. The registration does not pass from the seller to you, so a used car pays it too. It renews every year at the same fee. (29-A M.R.S. 501(1), 406; BMV Registration Fees page)
• Registration (pickup, one year, by registered weight) — varies. One year of registration for a pickup, by the weight it is registered for: $35 up to 6,000 lbs and $37 from 6,001 to 10,000 lbs, which covers most pickups. Without the weight this uses 7,000 lbs. Above 10,000 lbs a pickup registers as a truck. (29-A M.R.S. 501(1), 504(1)(A)-(E))
• Registration transfer fee — $8.00. Moving the plates and the registration you already hold to this car, in the same registration year. If this car's registration fee is higher than the old one, you also pay the difference. The registration keeps its old expiration date. (29-A M.R.S. 502(1); 36 M.R.S. 1482(5))
• Town service fee (registration agent) — $6.00. Your town office keeps this fee for registering the car. The law lets a town charge up to $6 over the state fee on a new registration (plus $1 more for a resident of another town). Each town sets its own, so this shows the most it can be. Whether the same fee applies on a plate transfer is not confirmed. (29-A M.R.S. 201(3)(A)-(B))
• Municipal excise tax (first year) — varies. Maine's yearly vehicle tax, paid to your town (not the state) before the car can be registered. It is 24 mills, or 2.4%, of the car's original list price (MSRP) for the current or next model year, 17.5 mills for last year's model, then 13.5, 10, 6.5 and finally 4 mills from the sixth year, never under $5. The formula is the same in every town. It uses the original MSRP, not the price you pay: enter the MSRP above, or this uses your price and runs low on a discounted new car and on any used car. If you are replacing a car you registered this year, your town credits the excise you already paid on it; this total does not subtract that credit. (36 M.R.S. 1482(1)(C), (4); MRS Property Tax Bulletin 13 (Sept. 23, 2025), sec. 2(C), sec. 6)
• Excise credit transfer fee — $3.00. Your town charges $3 when it moves the excise tax you already paid on your old car to this one, in the same registration year. Charged only if you claim the credit. The credit itself is not subtracted in this total, so the total can run high if you transfer. (36 M.R.S. 1482(5)(B); MRS Property Tax Bulletin 13, sec. 6(A)(1))

• Lemon law arbitration program fee — $1.00. A $1 fee the dealer collects on each new vehicle sale to fund the state's lemon law arbitration program, and passes to the state. (10 M.R.S. 1169(11)(A))
• Consumer mediation service fee — $1.00. A $1 fee the dealer collects on each used vehicle sale to fund the state's consumer mediation service, and passes to the state. (10 M.R.S. 1169(11)(B))
• Temporary registration plate (est.) — $2.00 (dealer fee). The dealer puts a temporary plate on the car, good for 30 days. The state fee is $2 a plate in 2026. The law does not say whether a dealer may pass it on, so this shows the state fee as an estimate. Ask what it charges. A charge for it belongs in the advertised price. (29-A M.R.S. 954-A(1), (2))

• The town excise tax comes back every year when you renew, on the same original MSRP at a lower rate as the car ages: 17.5 mills in the second year, 13.5, 10, then 6.5, and 4 mills from the sixth year. The rate steps down each January 1. The registration fee renews every year at the same amount.
• If you replace a car you registered in Maine, the excise tax you already paid on it can be credited toward the new car if you move the registration in the same registration year. The town charges $3 for the transfer, and it can refund the excess if the credit is larger than the new tax. Ask your town office before you buy.
• Maine requires an annual safety inspection at a licensed station. The station sets its price, up to $12.50. It is not in this total.
• Maine does not also tax a registered car as personal property. The excise tax is the yearly vehicle tax.

• As of October 2026 Maine charges no extra state registration fee on electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid cars. Bills to add one (LD 622 and LD 1875 in 2025) did not pass.

• The town excise tax is the large yearly cost. In the first year it is 2.4% of the car's original list price: about $876 on a $36,500 MSRP. You pay it to your town office, not the dealer, and it has to be paid before the car can be registered. It falls with each model year of age. It uses the original MSRP, not what you pay, so enter it for a used car or the figure here runs low.
• Registering the car: you register at your town office after paying the excise tax there, or at a BMV branch if your town does not issue registrations. A dealer may offer to do the paperwork for you; ask. The state fees are a $33 title and a $35 registration for a car; your town adds a service fee of up to $6.
• If you move a registration from a car you are replacing, the transfer costs $8 and your town credits the excise tax you already paid on the old car. That credit depends on your old registration, so the total here does not subtract it and can run high.
• Buying from a Maine dealer to drive out of state right away: you do not pay Maine sales tax if you live elsewhere, and your home state may tax the car when you register it there. If you live in Maine and buy out of state, Maine collects its 5.5% when you register, less any sales tax you paid there.

Source: Maine Revenue Services — Instructional Bulletin No. 24, Vehicle Dealers · rules last verified Oct 11, 2026. Methodology.