Georgia title transfer fees: TAVT, the $18 title fee and late penalties (2026)

Updated October 22, 2026 · Figures checked against the official sources listed below

The short answer

TAVT: what you actually pay

The title ad valorem tax is 7.0% of the car's fair market value, paid once by the buyer to the county tag agent when the title application goes in (§48-5C-1(b)). It replaced both sales tax and the old yearly ad valorem ("birthday") tax for vehicles titled on or after March 1, 2013.

On a private sale, fair market value isn't the price on your bill of sale. By law it's the average of the retail and wholesale values in the state's assessment manual (§48-5C-1(a)(1)(B)). The tag agent can adjust it for mileage or condition if you apply with documents, and you can appeal the value. On a dealer purchase, TAVT is based on the retail price less any trade-in instead. Our Georgia calculator works out TAVT, title and plate together.

Three deadlines

What happens if you miss the 30-day window

Two separate penalties apply, and they stack:

• Late title application: $10. Another $10 if rejected documents aren't properly resubmitted within 60 days (§40-3-32(b), §40-3-21(a)).
• Late TAVT: 10% of the TAVT owed when the title application is more than 30 days late. Interest of 1% a month is added once the TAVT and penalty are still unpaid 60 days after the required registration date. The law states no cap (§48-5C-1(d)(9)(A)).

On a $20,000 car the TAVT is $1,400, so the late TAVT penalty is $140. It's 10% of the tax, not 10% of the car's value. At least one county's website states it as 10% of fair market value, which would be $2,000, but the statute says 10% of the TAVT.

Plates

Plates stay with the owner, so you can't use the seller's plate. A new plate costs $20, which is also the yearly registration fee. Moving your own plate to a vehicle of the same class that you own costs $5 (§40-2-42(b)).

Family transfers and inherited cars

Georgia lowers the rate for family; it doesn't waive it. Transfers between immediate family (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild) pay TAVT at 0.5% of fair market value (0.25% state + 0.25% local), with Form MV-16, when the car is already in the TAVT system. A car inherited from immediate family gets the same 0.5% rate, with Form T-20.

The catch: if the car is still in the pre-2013 yearly ad valorem system, the 0.5% rate doesn't apply. The person receiving it either stays on the yearly tax or chooses to move into TAVT at the full 7%.

A gift to anyone outside immediate family pays the full 7%. Georgia has no general gift exemption.

Moving to Georgia with a car

New residents pay TAVT at 3% of fair market value when they title the car in Georgia (since July 1, 2019). You must title and register within 30 days of moving. Splitting it into "half now, half within 12 months" was the rule before 2019 and no longer applies to cars.

Forms

• MV-1: Title/Tag Application.
• The title, signed by buyer and seller.
• T-22B: VIN inspection, for vehicles from 1985 or earlier without a title and for transfers from states that don't title vehicles.
• MV-16: immediate family affidavit.
• T-20: inheritance affidavit.
• T-17: when a lienholder holds the title.

Bring a Georgia driver's license or ID and proof of insurance to the counter.

Other states

Title transfer guides for other states: Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Washington. If your registration has run out, see expired registration in Georgia.

What this guide doesn't cover

Dealer sales in detail, emissions inspection prices, specialty plates and vehicles still on the pre-2013 yearly ad valorem tax.

Frequently asked questions

See title transfer fees for all 50 states

General information, not tax or legal advice. Fees and tax rules change; confirm with the agency listed before you pay.