Official fees
Maine tax, title & license fee chart
Excise tax (year 1, current model year)
24 mills
= 2.4% of original MSRP
Excise tax (year 2)
17.5 mills
Excise tax (year 3)
13.5 mills
Excise tax (year 4)
10 mills
Excise tax (year 5)
6.5 mills
Excise tax (year 6+)
4 mills
Sales tax
5.5%
of price minus qualifying trade-in
Title application fee
$33.00
flat statewide, no county tiers
Registration (passenger vehicle)
$35.00/yr
Town agent fee
$4–$6
set by each town
Figures verified July 2026 against official sources (listed below). Always confirm the final amount with your town office (Maine BMV) - counties can add small local fees.
Step by step
How to title and register a car in Maine
- 1
Get a signed-over title from the seller, or the paperwork from your dealer.
- 2
Bring the title (or bill of sale for a private sale), proof of Maine insurance, and ID to your town office.
- 3
The clerk calculates excise tax from the vehicle's original MSRP and its model-year age.
- 4
Pay excise tax, the $33 title fee, 5.5% sales tax (if not already collected by a dealer), $35 registration, and the town's agent fee in one visit.
- 5
Walk out with your plates/sticker - most towns issue on the spot.
- Excise (yr 1)
- 24 mills on MSRP
- Sales tax
- 5.5% flat
- Title fee
- $33 flat
- Registration
- $35/yr
- Pay at
- Your town office
Overview
Add Maine's flat 5.5% sales tax, a $33 title fee, $35 registration, and a small town agent fee, and you have the full picture. Almost none of this happens at a state BMV counter - most Mainers do the whole transaction at their town office, which doubles as the municipal registration agent. Enter your numbers below for the real total.
Same state, other costs
More Maine vehicle costs
Common questions
Maine tax, title & license FAQ
- How much is tax, title and registration on a new $45,000 truck in Maine?
- About $3,629 the first year: $1,080 excise tax (24 mills), $2,475 sales tax (5.5%), a $33 title fee, $35 registration, and roughly $6 in town agent fees. The excise line drops sharply in later years even though the other fees stay flat.
- Do I pay this at the BMV or at my town office?
- Your town office, in almost every case. Maine towns act as registration agents - you pay excise tax, title fee, sales tax, and registration all in one visit there. Only towns that don't offer the service route you to a BMV branch instead.
- Why is excise tax based on MSRP instead of what I paid?
- State law (36 M.R.S. §1482) fixes the excise base to the manufacturer's original suggested retail price for that model and trim - not your negotiated price, and not the car's current value. A heavily discounted new truck and one bought at sticker price owe the identical excise tax.
- Does a trade-in lower my Maine sales tax?
- Yes, but only when you're trading one self-propelled road vehicle for another - the tax applies to price minus the trade-in allowance. Trading a boat, a lawnmower, or cash-equivalent property toward a car gets no such credit; the full price is taxed.
- My car is 10 years old - why is excise still hundreds of dollars?
- Because excise never disappears, it just locks at 4 mills of the ORIGINAL MSRP from year six onward. A $50,000 luxury sedan bought new keeps owing $200/year in excise indefinitely, even though the car itself is worth a fraction of that.
- Does Maine charge electric vehicles an extra registration fee?
- Not currently. Several bills proposing EV surcharges - including a $250/year plan (LD 622) - have been introduced and died in the Legislature as recently as 2025. As of this writing, EVs pay the same excise, sales tax, and registration as any other passenger vehicle.
- I don't know my car's original MSRP - how does the town figure excise?
- You don't need the window sticker. Town clerks pull MSRP from a state-supplied vehicle valuation guide keyed to the VIN, so the excise bill is calculated for you at the counter.
Receipts
Official sources
Every number on this page comes from these documents - check them yourself.
