Free calculator · Tennessee
Tennessee Car Tax, Title and License Calculator
Tax, title and license on a $40,000 new car in Tennessee comes to about $2,917 — $2,868 of that sales tax and $49 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.
Prefilled with $40,000, the median price of the 81 new models we track. Use the price on your quote.
Tennessee 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.
In Tennessee, a fully electric car owes $200 a year, plug-in hybrids $100 a year and regular hybrids $100 a year to replace the fuel tax they do not pay.
Financing adds a small fee to record the lender’s lien on your title.
Tax, title and license in Tennessee
$2,917 – $2,937
on top of the $40,000 price, so you drive away having paid $42,917 – $42,937.
Sales tax
$2,868 – $2,888
7% state rate
Title + registration
$49
One-time and first-year charges
Then every year
$27
To keep it registered
See every charge, itemized
| Charge | When | At signing |
|---|---|---|
| State sales tax (7.00%) | Once, at signing | $2,800.00 |
| State single article tax (2.75%)Charged only on the part of the price between $1,600 and $3,200. Nothing above $3,200 is subject to it, so on any car over that the charge is a flat $44. | Once, at signing | $44.00 |
| Local sales taxCharged on the first $1,600 of the price only. Rates run from 1.5% to 2.75%. | Once, at signing | $24.00 – $44.00 |
| Certificate of title | Once, at signing | $11.00 |
| Noting a lien on the titleCharged only when the car is financed, to record the lender on the title. | Once, at signing | $11.00 |
| Registration and license plateThe state plate fee. Your county clerk adds a wheel tax on top of this — see what is left out below. | Every year | $26.50 |
| Total due at signing | $2,916.50 – $2,936.50 |
- Local tax is shown as a range because rates vary by jurisdiction. It can only reach the first $1,600 of the price, so the whole spread is worth about $20 — look yours up at https://www.tn.gov/revenue/taxes/sales-and-use-tax/local-sales-tax.html if you want it exact.
What most calculators get wrong here: Tennessee’s local sales tax stops at the first $1,600 of the price and the single article tax stops at $3,200. Calculators that apply a 9.25% combined rate to the whole price overstate a $40,000 car by about $820.
What each charge on a Tennessee 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.
| Charge | Who sets it | Can you argue with it? |
|---|---|---|
| Sales tax | Tennessee law — 7% 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 | Tennessee, to put the car in your name | No. It is the same figure for everyone. |
| Registration and plates | Tennessee, 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 $2,917 in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 county wheel tax. Every Tennessee county clerk collects one alongside the state plate fee, each county sets its own — from nothing at all to about $100 a year — and the state publishes no combined schedule we could cite. Davidson County charges $55 and Shelby County $50, to give you a sense of scale. Ask your county clerk, and add it to the yearly figure above.
- Your exact local sales tax rate, shown here as the statewide range. Because the local rate can only reach the first $1,600 of the price, picking the right one moves your total by about $20 at most.
- County clerk service charges, which are added at the counter and differ by county.
- The dealer documentation fee, consistent with every other state in this tool.
- Used, private-party and lease transactions.
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.
| Document | Published by | Last verified |
|---|---|---|
| Single Article and Special Tax Rates (State single article 2.75% on $1,600–$3,200; local tax limited to the first $1,600) | Tennessee Department of Revenue | 2026-08-04 |
| VR-4 — Registration Fees (Standard passenger plate fee $26.50) | Tennessee Department of Revenue | 2026-08-04 |
| VR-5 — Registration Fees for Hybrid or Electric Vehicles (All-electric $200 through 2026, $274 from 2027; hybrid and plug-in hybrid $100) | Tennessee Department of Revenue | 2026-08-04 |
| LIEN-10 — Fee to Note a Lien ($11 title fee, $11 to note a lien) | Tennessee Department of Revenue | 2026-08-04 |
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 Tennessee?
- On a $40,000 new car it comes to about $2,917 — $2,868 of sales tax and $49 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 Tennessee?
- 7% statewide. Tennessee’s local sales tax reaches only the first $1,600 of a car’s price, so it is worth about $24 to $44 no matter what the car costs — not a percentage of the whole bill.
- Does a trade-in lower the sales tax in Tennessee?
- Yes. Tennessee charges sales 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 7% of $10,000. 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 Tennessee?
- $11. 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 Tennessee each year?
- About $49 is due at signing for the title and first registration, and roughly $27 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 Tennessee 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. 12 states are live so far — the national calculator compares all of them side by side on the same car, and tells you how to work yours out if it is not here yet.
Each link opens that state's own tax, title and license calculator.