How much is tax, title and license in Michigan?

On a $40,000 new car it comes to about $2,648 — $2,400 of sales tax and $248 of title and registration fees. The tax scales with the price, the fees mostly do not, so a cheaper car pays much less tax but roughly the same fees.

What is the car sales tax rate in Michigan?

6% statewide. Michigan charges 6% statewide with no city or county add-on, so where you live does not change the tax.

Does a trade-in lower the sales tax in Michigan?

Yes. Michigan charges tax on the price after the dealer's trade-in allowance is deducted, so a $10,000 trade-in on a $40,000 car saves you 6% of $10,000 in tax. This only works when the dealer takes the trade in the same transaction — selling your old car privately first does not count.

What is the title fee in Michigan?

$10. It is charged once, to put the car in your name, and it is the same for everyone — it is not a dealer charge and it is not negotiable.

How much is car registration in Michigan each year?

About $248 is due at signing for the title and first registration, and roughly $0 a year after that for a gas car. Electric cars pay more in most states because of road-use fees that replace fuel tax.

Is the dealer documentation fee included in this?

No, and that is deliberate. The documentation fee is the dealership's charge, not the state's, and Michigan does not publish it — so there is no figure we could cite. It is also the one line on the paperwork worth questioning. Everything in the total above is fixed by law.

Free calculator · Michigan

Michigan Car Tax, Title and License Calculator

Tax, title and license on a $40,000 new car in Michigan comes to about $2,648 — $2,400 of that sales tax and $248 government fees. Put your own price in below and every charge is itemized, with a link to the agency that publishes each figure.

Fill in two things and you have your answer. Everything below is prefilled with the most common case, so change only what applies to you.

Price you agreed to pay

Prefilled with $40,000, the median price of the 81 new models we track. Use the price on your quote.

Trade-in allowance

Michigan taxes the price after your trade-in comes off, so this lowers your tax. Leave it at 0 if you are not trading a car in.

What it runs on

Florida charges no extra fee on electric cars.

Paying cash or financing?

Financing adds a small fee to record the lender’s lien on your title.

Tax, title and license in Michigan

$2,648

on top of the $40,000 price — $2,400 of it tax, $248 government fees. Then $238 a year to keep it registered.

Every charge, itemized
Charge	When	At signing
State sales tax (6%)	Once, at signing	$2,400.00
Certificate of titleAn instant title, printed at the counter instead of mailed, costs $5 more.	Once, at signing	$10.00
License plate registrationSet from the manufacturer’s base list price when the vehicle is first titled, and it stays with the car. Above $30,000 the fee rises $6 for every $1,000 of list price, or part of one.	Every year	$238.00
Total due at signing		$2,648.00

The short answer

Michigan charges 6% sales tax on the price after your trade-in comes off, plus $248 in title and registration fees on a typical new car. Michigan sets your yearly plate fee from the car’s sticker price when it is first titled — and it never resets. Buy a $60,000 truck used for $22,000 and you still register it against $60,000.

Michigan charges 6% statewide with no city or county add-on, so where you live does not change the tax.
Only the first $12,000 of a trade-in comes off the taxable price in 2026. The limit rises $1,000 each January and disappears from 2029.
Since 1 January 2026 gasoline and diesel are exempt from the 6% sales tax, replaced by a higher per-gallon fuel tax. That does not change the tax on the car itself.
Keeping it on the road afterwards costs $238 a year in Michigan.
This covers the charges that go to the government. What the dealer adds on top — the documentation fee especially — is a separate fight; see which dealer fees are negotiable.

What each charge on a Michigan car actually is

Four kinds of money change hands when you buy a car, and only two of them are fixed by law. Knowing which is which is the difference between paying the right amount and paying whatever the paperwork says.

Who charges what
Charge	Who sets it	Can you argue with it?
Sales tax	Michigan law — 6% statewide	No. The rate is fixed. What you can change is the taxable amount, by negotiating the price down or the trade-in up.
Title fee	Michigan, to put the car in your name	No. It is the same figure for everyone.
Registration and plates	Michigan, to put it on the road	No, though the amount depends on the vehicle and where you live.
Dealer documentation fee	The dealership	Yes — this one is the dealer's, not the state's. It is not in the total above.

First time buying? The short version: the price you agree on is not the money you hand over. Add roughly $2,648 in Michigan on a $40,000 car before the dealer adds anything of their own. Budget for it up front, because it is due at signing and it cannot be talked down.

What this calculator leaves out, and why

Everything above is a charge Michigan publishes. These are the ones it does not, so we do not guess at them — an invented number would be worse than a missing one.

The step-down in later years. Michigan charges the full ad valorem fee for the first registration, then 90% of it for the second, 90% of that for the third, and holds at that level from the fourth onward. This model prices the first year, which is the one collected at purchase — a fourth-year renewal is about 73% of the figure shown.
The difference between the manufacturer’s base list price and the price you actually agree. Michigan charges the fee on the sticker; this model uses the price entered above as the closest available stand-in, which is accurate for a new car bought near list and low for one bought well below it.
Senate Bill 593, pending as of August 2026, which would reduce the electric and plug-in hybrid surcharges below the $267 and $113.50 shown here.
The dealer documentation fee, consistent with every other state in this tool.
Used, private-party and lease transactions. A used vehicle’s plate fee still keys off its original list price, which this model has no way to look up from a sale price.

Where these numbers come from

Every figure on this page is published by the agency that charges it. Nothing is estimated, averaged or copied from another calculator. Here is each document and the date we last read it.

Michigan sources, last checked 2026-08-01
Document	Published by	Last verified
Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.801 — Registration taxes	Michigan Legislature	2026-08-01
Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.806 — Certificate of title fee	Michigan Legislature	2026-08-01
General Sales Tax Act, MCL 205.51 — Definitions, trade-in allowance	Michigan Legislature	2026-08-01
Notice Concerning Inflation Adjusted Fuel Tax Rate Effective January 1, 2026 (52.4 cents per gallon, effective 2026-01-01 (MCL 207.1008))	Michigan Department of Treasury	2026-08-01

We re-check every state once a year and show the date here rather than quietly serving an old figure. Fee schedules move with legislative sessions, so if you are reading this well after the date above, confirm the total with your county tax office before you sign.

Frequently asked questions

How much is tax, title and license in Michigan?: On a $40,000 new car it comes to about $2,648 — $2,400 of sales tax and $248 of title and registration fees. The tax scales with the price, the fees mostly do not, so a cheaper car pays much less tax but roughly the same fees.
What is the car sales tax rate in Michigan?: 6% statewide. Michigan charges 6% statewide with no city or county add-on, so where you live does not change the tax.
Does a trade-in lower the sales tax in Michigan?: Yes. Michigan charges tax on the price after the dealer's trade-in allowance is deducted, so a $10,000 trade-in on a $40,000 car saves you 6% of $10,000 in tax. This only works when the dealer takes the trade in the same transaction — selling your old car privately first does not count.
What is the title fee in Michigan?: $10. It is charged once, to put the car in your name, and it is the same for everyone — it is not a dealer charge and it is not negotiable.
How much is car registration in Michigan each year?: About $248 is due at signing for the title and first registration, and roughly $0 a year after that for a gas car. Electric cars pay more in most states because of road-use fees that replace fuel tax.
Is the dealer documentation fee included in this?: No, and that is deliberate. The documentation fee is the dealership's charge, not the state's, and Michigan does not publish it — so there is no figure we could cite. It is also the one line on the paperwork worth questioning. Everything in the total above is fixed by law.

The same calculator for other states

We build these one state at a time, because each one is a different fee architecture rather than the same table with different numbers. 7 states are live so far.