Car Title Transfer Fees by State
The title fee is rarely the expensive part of a transfer. The fee table below runs from Colorado's $7.20 state title fee to Florida's $75.25 and Illinois's $190 combined title-and-transfer charge — and in every state the tax dwarfs the fee. Texas charges 6.25 percent motor vehicle sales tax on the greater of the price or 80 percent of the Standard Presumptive Value. New York collects 4 percent state tax plus local rates at registration. Oregon tiers the title fee itself by fuel economy, up to $192 for an all-electric passenger vehicle. Compare the whole transaction — fee, tax, registration, and any lien or late charge — not the headline fee alone.
The fee table
| State | Title transfer fee | Tax at transfer |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | $28 title fee, or $33 in a Clean Air Act nonattainment or affected county | 6.25% motor vehicle sales tax on the greater of the sales price minus trade-in or 80% of the Standard Presumptive Value. A $2.50 fee transfers current registration to the new owner; gift transfers carry a $10 gift tax with the Comptroller's joint affidavit. |
| California | $15 transfer fee (Vehicle Code section 9255), plus an $8 smog transfer fee | Use tax collected at transfer; the guide states the fee and tax rules separately. |
| Illinois | $165 title fee plus $25 transfer fee ($190 combined); $316 total with registration and plates ($165 title plus $151 registration) | Private-party use tax in a separate 30-day window from the 20-day title rule. |
| New York | $50 title certificate fee; license plates add $25 | 4% state tax plus 3%–4.75% local tax depending on county, city, and school district, plus 0.375% in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District; combined rates run roughly 7% to 8.875%. |
| Colorado | $7.20 state title fee; $40 lien filing fee separately if the title carries a lien | 2.9% state sales tax plus county and city taxes, collected once at titling on private-party purchases. |
| Florida | $75.25 for the title transfer on an electronic title; add $2.50 for a paper title print and $2 if a lien is recorded | 6% state sales tax plus the county discretionary surtax, which applies only to the first $5,000 of the price. |
| Oregon | $101 (0–19 MPG), $106 (20–39 MPG), $116 (40+ MPG), $192 (all-electric passenger vehicles) | No sales tax; the fee tier is the price signal. |
| Washington | $39.50 for a title-only transfer ($15 title application fee, $6.50 filing fee, $18 service fee) | Use tax on fair market value at the address's sales tax rate, plus a 0.3% motor vehicle sales and use tax. |
Three sums that must never be added
Illinois teaches the discipline for the whole table: $190 is title plus transfer only, and $316 is title plus registration only — never add the $25 transfer fee into the $316, and never add the $151 registration into the $190. The same discipline applies everywhere: the title fee, the registration fee, the plate fee, the lien fee, and the tax are separate charges from separate authorities, and a secondary guide that adds them into one "total cost" has invented a figure. Confirm each charge with the office that collects it, and keep the receipt for each.
Late charges are separate from fees
The fees above are the on-time fees. Late filing adds the penalties on the how-long page: Texas's escalating $25-to-$250 delinquent transfer penalty plus the tax penalty, Washington's $50-plus-$2-a-day penalty, Florida's $20 late title fee, Oregon's $25 and $50 late fees, and California's $15 transfer penalty. Budget the penalty separately from the fee, and file inside the deadline where the penalty is avoidable.
Source
Fees and taxes from the published state title-transfer guides on this site (registry-current, verified 2026-10-24 to 2026-10-29). Texas fee, tax, gift-tax, and registration-transfer figures corroborated by Form 130-U (Rev 01/25), opened 2026-10-30. Illinois fee decomposition from the ILSOS Vehicle Services FAQ as carried in the Illinois guide fix, verified 2026-10-29. This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to your state motor vehicle agency or court.
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