Out-the-door price in Vermont
How Vermont works
- Vermont has no sales tax on a car. It charges a 6% purchase and use tax, the same rate in every town, with no local add-on. You pay it to the DMV when the car is registered and titled.
- Registering the car: a Vermont dealer normally prepares the registration, tax and title application and files it with the DMV within 15 days of the sale, and the tax and fees go in with it. They are in the calculator's total because you pay them either way. If you buy from a dealer outside Vermont, you file the application with the DMV yourself.
- Your trade-in lowers the taxable amount on a new or a used car, with no dollar cap. The trade-in must be registered or titled in your name. If you sell your old car yourself within three months before or after the purchase, the DMV gives a credit or refund based on its J.D. Power clean trade-in value, one car per purchase.
- A dealer discount lowers the price that is taxed. Whether a manufacturer rebate does is not confirmed from a Vermont source, so this estimate taxes the price before the rebate. If the DMV takes the rebate off first, the tax is 6% of the rebate lower.
- The doc fee is taxed: the DMV says it is part of the purchase price. Vermont does not cap it. Dealer-installed accessories are taxed. Extended warranties, service contracts and GAP are separate from the price and are not taxed, to our reading.
- The DMV taxes the greater of the purchase price and the J.D. Power clean trade-in value, so a car sold well under book value can be taxed on the book value. A buyer who disagrees can submit a dealer appraisal on form VD-012. This mostly affects private sales and gifts.
- If you already paid sales or use tax on the car to another state, Vermont credits it against the 6%. If the other state's tax was lower, you pay the difference. Proof of the payment is required.
- Registration is $89 for one year, plus a $2 emission fee, which is the $91 the DMV lists. A two-year registration is $167. A battery electric car pays an extra $89 a year, so the DMV lists $178 for one year and $341 for two; a plug-in hybrid pays an extra $44.50 a year. A new car also pays an $8 warranty fee, and a financed car a $14 lien fee.
Rules last verified Oct 11, 2026. Our methodology.
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What a Vermont advertised price has to include
Vermont's Attorney General requires a dealer's advertised price to be the actual total purchase price of the vehicle, leaving out only tax, registration and title fees. The FTC expects the same: every fee the dealer requires belongs in the advertised price, so only government charges like the purchase and use tax, title and registration can be added on top. That still isn't your out-the-door number; the calculator above adds the rest for your ZIP.
Federal law comes first
The FTC requires a dealer's advertised price to include every fee the dealer charges. Only charges the government requires you to pay, like tax, title and registration, can be left out. Where a state's rules let a dealer leave a fee out, the dealer still has to follow the federal rule, so the fee goes in. The FTC says a state's doc-fee rules can add disclosures, but they don't change the price that has to be advertised. Read the FTC's guidance.
Has to be in the advertised price
- The doc fee, which Vermont does not cap, whatever the dealer calls it
- Freight (destination) charges and dealer preparation fees
- Accessories or options already installed on the car, or routinely installed on every car the dealer sells
- A state inspection charge or temporary plate charge, if the dealer passes it on
- Any other charge the dealer requires you to pay to buy the car
Can still be added on top
- The 6% purchase and use tax, paid to the DMV
- The $42 title fee and the registration: $89 plus a $2 emission fee, $8 new car warranty fee, and the electric or plug-in hybrid infrastructure fee
- The $14 lien fee, if you finance
- Options you ask the dealer to install, and optional products you choose, such as a service contract or GAP coverage
- The price rule: Vermont's automobile advertising rule (CF 118.04(d)) says an advertised price must be the actual total purchase price of the vehicle, excluding only tax, registration and title fees. Its own examples are freight, destination and dealer preparation fees. The Department of Financial Regulation told dealers in 2002 that documentation fees belong in the advertised price too.
- The doc fee: Vermont sets no dollar cap. A dealer may charge one only if it charges every customer the same amount and includes it in the cash price of the car, where it is taxed. Presenting a doc fee as a DMV fee is a violation of the DMV's dealer rules.
- Available to everyone: an advertised car must be sold at or below the advertised price whether or not the buyer saw the ad, unless the ad says the buyer must bring it. An ad stays good for five days unless it states a shorter or longer period.
- Availability: a dealer must have enough cars at the advertised price for reasonably expected demand, or state how many it has, or say the car is available only by order.
- Rebates: a dealer may use the word "rebate" only for a manufacturer's program, and has to say so when the manufacturer is the source. If the selling price is raised to offset a rebate, the ad must say that.
More in our guide: Do dealers have to put fees in the advertised price? What actually changed for 2026
Vermont in detail
Vermont OTD questions, answered
Does a trade-in reduce sales tax in Vermont?
Yes — Vermont taxes the difference: your trade-in's value is subtracted before tax is computed.
Are manufacturer rebates taxed in Vermont?
Effectively yes — tax is computed before the rebate is applied, so you pay tax on the pre-rebate price.
Is the doc fee capped in Vermont?
No — doc fees are uncapped in Vermont; buyers report a typical $562.00. It's negotiable as part of your total OTD.
What does a Vermont dealer's advertised price have to include?
The actual total purchase price: the doc fee, freight, dealer preparation and anything the dealer added. Only the purchase and use tax, title and registration fees can be added on top.
Is there a limit on a Vermont dealer's doc fee?
No. Vermont sets no cap, so the fee is negotiable. The dealer has to charge every customer the same fee, include it in the cash price, and it belongs in the advertised price.
Do I pay the tax at the dealership in Vermont?
The purchase and use tax is due to the DMV at registration. A Vermont dealer normally registers the car for you and sends the tax and fees in, so you settle them at delivery. It is 6% of the price after your trade-in, with no local tax.
Does my trade-in lower the tax in Vermont?
Yes. The value the dealer allows for a trade-in registered or titled in your name comes off the taxable amount, on a new or used car, with no cap.