Texas tax, title and license — priced by your county
Two of the four charges are set locally: the title fee is $28 or $33 depending on your county’s air quality, and the county fee runs from nothing to $21.50. This uses the real 2026 fee chart, all 254 counties.
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Texas tax, title and license calculator
Pick how you are getting the vehicle and which county you live in. Every line in the result names the fee chart or the code section it comes from, so you can check it rather than trust it.
What you are actually paying for the vehicle.
Texas taxes the price less the trade-in allowance, so a trade-in genuinely lowers the tax.
Sets both the local registration fee and the $28-or-$33 title fee.
The ordinary case. Fee Chart 1C sets $50.75 for a passenger vehicle, motor bus, private bus or truck at a gross weight of 6,000 lb or less.
Quick Answer
- How much is tax, title and license in Texas?
- On an ordinary car there are four moving parts: 6.25% motor vehicle sales tax on the price less any trade-in allowance, a title application fee of $28 or $33 depending on your county, a $50.75 annual registration fee for a vehicle at 6,000 lb or less, and a local county fee that runs from nothing at all up to $21.50. On an $18,000 car in Harris County that lands a little over $1,200. The calculator above does it for your own county.
- Why does the county matter so much?
- Because two of the four numbers are set locally. Texas Transportation Code section 501.138(a) charges $33for a title where the applicant lives in a Clean Air Act nonattainment county or a statutory “affected” county, and $28 everywhere else. Separately, each of the 254 county tax assessor-collectors adds its own registration fee, published in the TxDMV fee chart. Eight counties add nothing; Bexar and Cameron add $21.50.
- Does a trade-in actually reduce the tax?
- Yes. The Comptroller computes the 6.25% on the sales price minus the trade-in allowance, so trading a car in against the purchase lowers the taxable amount rather than just the amount financed. That is a real saving, and it is the single largest lever most buyers have over the tax line.
What the three letters actually stand for
“TTL” hides four separate charges that are set by three different authorities. Knowing which is which is the difference between checking a quote and accepting one.
Tax — 6.25%, with five exceptions
The headline rate is 6.25% of the sales price less the trade-in allowance. But the Comptroller replaces it with a flat charge in specific situations: $90 if you are a new Texas resident bringing in a vehicle already registered in your name elsewhere, $10 on a gift, and $5 on an even exchange of one vehicle for another. Bringing in a vehicle bought out of state without having registered it pays 6.25% use tax, less credit for sales or use tax already paid to the other state.
Title — $28 or $33, decided by air quality
Not by the vehicle, not by the price. Section 501.138(a) sets $33 where the applicant's residence is a county inside a Clean Air Act section 107(d) nonattainment area or an affected county under Health and Safety Code section 386.001, and $28 in every other county. The extra $5 is routed to the Texas emissions reduction plan fund, which is why an air-quality rule is deciding a paperwork fee.
License — a state fee plus a local one
The state fee is flat by weight class: $50.75 for a car, SUV or light truck at 6,000 lb or less, $54 from 6,001 to 10,000 lb, $45 for a small trailer and $30 for a motorcycle or moped. On top of that sits the local fee your county collects with the registration, which is where the totals diverge across the state.
The fee nobody budgets for
If the vehicle is fully electric, Transportation Code section 502.360 adds $400 at first registration of a new vehicle and $200 on a used one or at renewal. It applies to vehicles of 10,000 lb or less that use electricity as their only source of motor power, and it deliberately excludes autocycles, mopeds, motorcycles and neighbourhood electric vehicles. On an EV it is larger than the tax on a cheap car.
When the 6.25% does not apply at all
Three situations replace the percentage with a flat amount. They are the most commonly missed saving on this page, and each one is the Comptroller’s own rule rather than a concession you have to negotiate.
New Texas resident
In lieu of use tax, where the vehicle was previously registered in your name in another state or country.
Gift
Replaces the 6.25% entirely.
Even exchange
One vehicle traded straight across for another.
The tax is not the expensive mistake
Paying $1,300 in tax and fees on a car with an undisclosed salvage brand is how a good deal becomes a bad one. Run the VIN before the money moves.
The state registration fee, by weight class
From TxDMV Fee Chart 1C, effective 1 January 2026 and expiring 31 December 2026. Your county’s local fee is added on top of every figure in this table.
| Car, SUV or light truck, 6,000 lb or less | $50.75 |
| Any vehicle, 6,001 lb to 10,000 lb | $54.00 |
| Trailer or travel trailer, 6,000 lb or less | $45.00 |
| Motorcycle or moped | $30.00 |
| 10,001 lb to 18,000 lb | $110.00 |
| 18,001 lb to 25,999 lb | $205.00 |
| 26,000 lb to 40,000 lb | $340.00 |
| 40,001 lb to 54,999 lb | $535.00 |
| 55,000 lb to 70,000 lb | $740.00 |
| 70,001 lb to 80,000 lb | $840.00 |
A truck’s gross weight is its empty weight plus the heaviest load it will carry during the registration year, so two identical pickups can sit in different classes. Weight-based figures above 10,000 lb exclude diesel fees for commercial vehicles.
Why an air-quality rule decides your title fee
Transportation Code section 501.138(a) sets the title application fee at $33 where the applicant’s residence is a county within a nonattainment area under section 107(d) of the federal Clean Air Act, or an affected county as defined by Health and Safety Code section 386.001, and at $28 in any other county. The same section routes $20 of the higher fee, against $15 of the lower one, to the comptroller — and that money is deposited to the Texas emissions reduction plan fund. The $5 difference is an environmental levy wearing a paperwork fee’s clothing.
Health and Safety Code section 386.001 names 24 counties outright: Bastrop, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Ellis, Gregg, Guadalupe, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Nueces, Parker, Rockwall, Rusk, San Patricio, Smith, Travis, Upshur, Williamson, Wilson. It also lets the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality add more by rule where air quality deteriorates, so the list is capable of growing without the legislature meeting.
The other half of the rule points at the EPA, which currently lists 28 Texas counties as nonattainment for at least one criteria pollutant — the ozone areas around Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and El Paso, plus a scattering of sulphur dioxide and particulate designations elsewhere. Put the two lists together and roughly 45 of the 254 counties fall on the $33 side.
Read that count as a derivation. TxDMV does not publish a list of $33 counties. What exists is a statutory rule and two separate published lists, and the figure above is what you get by applying the first to the other two. Several EPA designations cover only part of a county, which the statute does not squarely address. Confirm with your own county tax assessor-collector before treating it as settled.
The private-sale trap: Standard Presumptive Value
The most common surprise at a Texas county counter is being taxed on a number nobody agreed to.
- The Comptroller says the taxable value of a used vehicle bought from a private party may be based on its Standard Presumptive Value, not on the price you agreed.
- That means an unusually cheap private sale does not automatically produce an unusually cheap tax bill.
- It also means a low price invites a question at the counter about why the car sold for what it did.
- Buying from a licensed Texas dealer is different: the dealer collects the tax and remits it to the county tax assessor-collector, and for vehicles at 11,000 lb gross or less it is the dealer's job, not yours.
There is a useful inversion hiding in this. Standard Presumptive Value is the state’s estimate of what a clean example of that year, make and model is worth. If a seller is asking far below it, the state will still tax you near it — and the gap is worth explaining before you hand over the money, not after. A salvage or flood brand is the usual explanation, and it is visible from the VIN.
Where every number here comes from
Fees change. Each source below is linked so you can confirm the figure yourself, and each was read on 18 September 2026.
The chart in force for the current year: effective 1 January 2026, expiring 31 December 2026. Source for every state registration fee quoted here and for the local fee of all 254 counties. Read 18 September 2026.
Source for the 6.25% rate on sales price less trade-in allowance, the use-tax credit for tax paid to another state, the $90 new resident tax, the $10 gift tax, the $5 even exchange tax, Standard Presumptive Value on private-party sales, and the dealer's collection duty at 11,000 lb gross or less. Read 18 September 2026.
The title application fee itself: $33 in a Clean Air Act section 107(d) nonattainment county or an affected county, $28 in any other county, and the breakdown of where each part of it goes. Read 18 September 2026.
Names the 24 counties that count as affected for the purposes of the title fee, and allows the TCEQ to add more by rule. Read 18 September 2026.
The federal list the statute points at. Texas appears with 28 counties across ozone, particulate matter and sulphur dioxide designations, several of them covering only part of the county. Read 18 September 2026.
The automation fee, set by board rule at not less than 50 cents and not more than $1; the $1 financial responsibility fee; and the electric vehicle fee of $400 on a new registration or $200 otherwise. Read 18 September 2026.
Always check the VIN before you buy
The free preview shows title brands, theft status and open recalls in seconds, and flags whether accident and odometer records exist. The full history is $14.99 — one-time, no subscription.
Next steps for a Texas purchase
Texas tax, title and license — questions people actually ask
How much is tax, title and license on a $20,000 car in Texas?
Taking Harris County and an ordinary car at 6,000 lb or less: $1,250 motor vehicle tax at 6.25%, a $33 title fee because Harris County is on the EPA nonattainment list, $50.75 state registration, $11.50 Harris County local fee, $1 financial responsibility fee and an automation fee between 50 cents and $1. That comes to roughly $1,347. Change the county and both the title fee and the local fee can move. Trade a car in and the tax line falls, because Texas taxes the price less the trade-in allowance.
Is the Texas title fee $28 or $33?
It depends on where you live, not on the car. Transportation Code section 501.138(a) charges $33 if your county of residence sits within a Clean Air Act section 107(d) nonattainment area or is an affected county under Health and Safety Code section 386.001, and $28 in any other county. Applying that rule to the EPA Green Book list and the statutory list of affected counties produces 45 counties at $33. That is our derivation from the two published lists, not a roster TxDMV publishes, so confirm with your county tax assessor-collector.
What is Standard Presumptive Value and will it raise my tax?
Standard Presumptive Value is the value Texas attributes to a used vehicle independently of what you paid for it. The Comptroller states that the taxable value of a used vehicle purchased from a private party may be based on SPV. In practice that means agreeing a low price with a private seller does not reliably produce a low tax bill, and a price well below book tends to draw a question at the counter. A vehicle priced far under the market usually has a reason, and that reason is often in its history.
Does a trade-in lower the sales tax in Texas?
Yes. The Comptroller computes the 6.25% on the sales price less the trade-in allowance. Trading in a vehicle worth $6,000 against a $20,000 purchase reduces the taxable amount to $14,000 and the tax from $1,250 to $875. That is a genuine saving rather than a financing trick, and it is worth comparing against what a private sale of the same car would fetch after tax.
What do I pay if I just moved to Texas with my car?
A flat $90 new resident tax instead of use tax, provided the vehicle was previously registered in your name in another state or another country. You still pay the title fee for your new county, the state registration fee for the vehicle's weight class, your county's local fee and the $1 financial responsibility fee. The $90 replaces only the tax component.
What about a car given to me by a family member?
A gift is taxed at a flat $10 rather than 6.25% of anything. An even exchange, where one vehicle is swapped straight across for another, is $5. Both still carry the ordinary title, registration and local fees, so the paperwork cost does not disappear even when the tax almost does.
Do electric vehicles pay more in Texas?
Considerably more at registration. Transportation Code section 502.360 adds $400 when a new electric vehicle is first registered and $200 on a used one or at renewal. It covers vehicles of 10,000 lb or less that use electricity as their only source of motor power, and specifically excludes autocycles, mopeds, motorcycles and neighbourhood electric vehicles, so a plug-in hybrid does not pay it.
Which fees does this calculator not include?
Anything a county sets for itself beyond the published local fee. Counties charge for inspection-related items, particular plate styles and deputy or processing services, a lienholder recording fee applies where the vehicle is financed, and a transfer filed late carries a penalty. Texas has also replaced the annual safety inspection for most non-commercial vehicles with a charge collected at registration, and that amount does not appear on TxDMV Fee Chart 1C, so no figure for it is quoted here. Treat the result as a close estimate and confirm the exact total with your county tax assessor-collector.
Should I check the vehicle's history before I pay the tax?
Before, not after. Tax, title and license on an ordinary used car runs well over a thousand dollars, and none of it is refundable because the car turned out to have been in a flood, written off in another state, or rolled back on the odometer. Standard Presumptive Value tells the county what a clean example of that vehicle is worth; it says nothing about whether yours is one. Our preview is free and shows whether title-brand, salvage or odometer records exist for the VIN, and the full report is $14.99, paid once.
Know what you are titling
The county will take the tax whether the car is sound or not. A VIN check costs a fraction of the title fee and answers the one question the fee schedule cannot.
Related VIN Checks
More tools to verify any vehicle's history