Vermont car registration and title fees

• Title fee — $42.00. Certificate of title, paid to the DMV. The dealer files for you. A title is issued to the new owner whenever the car is registered. (23 V.S.A. 2002(a)(1), (3))
• Registration (1 year) — $89.00. One year of registration for a car, SUV or pickup under 6,100 lbs. Vermont also sells a two-year registration for $163 (plus the fees below, doubled). The registration and plates run one year from the first day of the month after you register. (23 V.S.A. 361(a), 305(a); DMV registration fee table)
• Annual emission fee — $2.00. A $2 fee the DMV collects with every registration of a car that is not fully electric (the DMV's table calls it the Clean Air Fund fee). It is already inside the DMV's $91 figure. (3 V.S.A. 2822(m)(1), (3))
• Electric vehicle infrastructure fee — $89.00. A battery electric car pays a second $89 on top of the $89 registration (equal to the annual fee). From January 1, 2027 this becomes a road usage charge of the same amount; see the next line. (23 V.S.A. 361(b))
• Electric vehicle road usage charge — $89.00. From January 1, 2027 a battery electric car newly registered or renewed pays a one-time $89 road usage charge (one-year registration) in place of the infrastructure fee. Vermont then bills a 1.4 cent per mile fee after the first annual inspection and credits what you already paid. (2026 Act 168, sec. 10(b)(2); 23 V.S.A. ch. 43 (4302(e)))
• Plug-in hybrid infrastructure fee — $44.50. A plug-in hybrid pays half of the $89 annual registration fee as an electric vehicle infrastructure fee. A regular hybrid without a plug does not. (23 V.S.A. 361(c))
• Registration transfer fee — $30.00. Moving your current registration and plates to this car instead of buying a new registration. It covers the time left on the old registration. If this car's fee is higher than the old car's, you also pay the difference. (23 V.S.A. 323, 324)
• Electric vehicle fee difference on a plate transfer — $89.00. When you move plates from a gas car to a battery electric car you pay the difference in registration fees. This assumes the old car was not electric, so the difference is the $89 infrastructure fee. Ask the DMV for the exact figure. (23 V.S.A. 323)
• Plug-in hybrid fee difference on a plate transfer — $44.50. When you move plates from a gas car to a plug-in hybrid you pay the difference in registration fees. This assumes the old car was a gas car, so the difference is the $44.50 infrastructure fee. Ask the DMV for the exact figure. (23 V.S.A. 323)
• New vehicle warranty fee — $8.00. A state fee charged when a new car is first registered. The DMV calls it the motor vehicle warranty fee. (23 V.S.A. 476)
• Lien fee — $14.00. Recording your lender's lien on the Vermont title. The dealer files it with the title application. (23 V.S.A. 2002(a)(2))

• Vermont does not tax a car as property every year. Motor vehicles are exempt from the property tax, and the one-time 6% purchase and use tax is the vehicle tax. There is no annual excise bill.
• A Vermont car has to pass a state inspection within 15 days of registration, then once a year. The inspection station sets its own price, subject to DMV approval, and the charge is not in this total. Ask the dealer whether the inspection is done before you take the car.
• Registration renews every year (or every two years) for the same fee, and the $2 emission fee comes with each renewal. A registration issued in October runs to the first day of November the next year.

• Starting January 1, 2027, a battery electric car pays a 1.4 cent per mile fee, billed after each annual inspection from the odometer reading. The $89 charge paid at registration is credited against the first bill. A car driven 11,000 miles a year owes about $154 a year in total, so the first bill can be more than what was paid at registration.
• The $44.50 plug-in hybrid infrastructure fee comes back with every one-year registration renewal ($89 with a two-year renewal). A plug-in hybrid does not pay the per-mile fee.

• 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.
• 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.

Source: Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles - Tax & Title (Vehicle Taxation) · rules last verified Oct 11, 2026. Methodology.