Massachusetts car registration fee calculator

Massachusetts vehicle fees at a glance (2026)

What this estimate does and does not include

• Registration: the RMV schedule of fees (revised May 2025) lists a standard passenger registration at $60, renewed every two years. The schedule marks it as pro-rated by month, so a first registration can cost less than $60; we show the full $60 because the RMV does not publish the pro-rating method.
• Electric vehicles: the schedule lists electric registration at $60 every two years, the same as a standard passenger car, and no separate EV or plug-in hybrid fee.
• Plates: the schedule lists no separate charge for a standard passenger plate. Transferring a plate from a car you sold or traded costs $25 (Transfer Registration). Whether the RMV adds a pro-rated registration charge on a transfer is not published, so that part is shown as not available.
• Inspection: you must get an inspection sticker within 7 days of registering. The annual inspection fee is $35, paid at the inspection station, not to the RMV.
• Sales tax is 6.25%. At a dealer registered with the Department of Revenue, it is charged on the price minus any trade-in you paid tax on. If the dealer is not registered with the Department of Revenue, the RMV uses the price or the NADA book value, whichever is higher. In a private sale, tax is on the price or the NADA clean trade-in value, whichever is higher, and no trade-in deduction is allowed.
• Family transfers between spouses, parents and children, and brothers and sisters are exempt from sales and use tax with Form MVU-26, as long as the previous owner paid any Massachusetts sales or use tax due on the car.
• New residents must register as soon as they become Massachusetts residents; there is no grace period. A car bought and registered in your old state for more than 6 months is exempt from Massachusetts sales tax (Form MVU-29). If you bought it less than 6 months before moving, use tax may be due with a credit for tax paid to some states; that case is not covered here (not available).
• Excise: every year your city or town bills a motor vehicle excise of $25 per $1,000 of value (MGL ch. 60A, s. 1). The value is a share of the manufacturer's list price: 50% the year before the model year, 90% in the model year, then 60%, 40%, 25% and 10% from the fifth year. A car first registered after January pays only the months from its registration month to December. The minimum bill is $5. The excise is optional in this calculator because it is billed later, not paid at the RMV.
• Not included: special and vanity plates (a $40 to $50 special-plate fee; vanity plates renew yearly), adding or removing a lienholder ($25), duplicate title or registration ($25), late excise payment fee ($20) and reinstatement fees.

Massachusetts registration questions

Massachusetts guides

• Do you pay sales tax on a car every year, or just once?No. Car sales tax is paid once, when you buy and title the car. What comes every year is registration, and in some states a local value-based car tax.
• EV registration fees by state in 202641 states charge an extra yearly fee to register an electric car in 2026, from $50 to $270. See every state's EV, plug-in hybrid and hybrid fee, with sources.
• Moving? How long you have to register your car, by stateDeadlines to register a car after moving: Florida 10 days, California and Pennsylvania 20, Texas, New York, Georgia and Virginia 30, Maryland 60.
• Is car registration tax deductible?Only the part of your car registration based on value and charged yearly, and only if you itemize. California's VLF counts; flat fees don't.

Other state calculators

• CACalifornia
• FLFlorida
• GAGeorgia
• ILIllinois
• MDMaryland
• MIMichigan
• NYNew York
• PAPennsylvania
• TXTexas
• VAVirginia