Massachusetts / ordinary passenger vehicle
Massachusetts Car Registration Fee & Excise Calculator
The RMV charges $60 for a two-year standard registration and $75 for a title when you buy. Your city or town bills excise every year at $25 per $1,000 of statutory value, and a purchase owes 6.25% sales or use tax.
RMV fees reviewed October 1; statutes rechecked October 6, 2026.
Normal passenger registration at the RMV
About the two-year PAN plate fee
For a normal PAN passenger plate, the published registration and renewal fee is $60, and the renewal period is two years. This is $60.00 at renewal before any special circumstances. It is not $60 every year. A reserved passenger plate is $100 biennially; vanity and year-of-manufacture plates follow separate annual schedules. The calculator below models the normal PAN plate only.
These bills have different periods and payees.
Switch to Purchase to see the $75 certificate-of-title component for an ordinarily titled car. Confirm title eligibility, sales or use tax and any dealer or agent charges before using the subtotal as a budget.
Estimate the separate annual motor vehicle excise
Massachusetts assesses $25 per $1,000 of statutory vehicle value for a full calendar year, with a $5 minimum. Statutory value uses the manufacturer’s original list price, multiplied by a model-year percentage. It is unrelated to your purchase price or current resale value. The city or town where the vehicle is principally garaged sends the bill.
Example: $30,000 manufacturer list price in the second year has a statutory value of $18,000. Its full-year excise is $450.00. This is separate from the RMV registration charge. A vehicle first registered partway through a year may receive a prorated bill; abatements and exemptions require municipal review.
What changes when buying or transferring a car?
An ordinary first registration and title has the $60 PAN registration charge and a $75 certificate-of-title charge, a $135.00 known RMV subtotal. That excludes purchase tax. A private sale generally uses 6.25% of the higher of purchase price and applicable NADA clean trade-in value; dealer sales and qualifying gifts or family transfers have different bases or exemptions. Do not apply a purchase tax to a normal renewal.
Massachusetts normally requires a newly purchased motor vehicle to be titled within ten days, and the RMV requires proof of insurance for registration. The RMV’s purchase instructions say to obtain a vehicle inspection sticker within seven days after registration. Confirm the vehicle and plate class before assuming the normal passenger amounts.
Worked example, first year after a private purchase: a car that listed at $30,000.00 new, bought in its second excise year, has the $135.00 RMV subtotal ($60 registration + $75 title) and a full-year excise of $450.00 on an $18,000.00 statutory value, $585.00 known before sales or use tax. The tax is 6.25% of the higher of the price paid and the NADA clean trade-in value, so it cannot be fixed from the list price alone. A registration taken out mid-year can bring a prorated excise bill instead of the full-year figure.
If a dealer’s bill already contains registration or title amounts, do not add those same charges again in a separate quote worksheet. The owner’s notice, RMV and municipality control the actual amounts.
Massachusetts parameters and sources
| Parameter | Value | In force | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal passenger (PAN) registration | $60 per two-year term | RMV schedule (page updated May 2025), reviewed October 1, 2026 | RMV fees |
| Reserved passenger plate | $100 per two-year term | Same schedule | RMV fees |
| Certificate of title | $75 | RMV private-sale instructions, reviewed October 1, 2026 | RMV private-sale process |
| Motor vehicle excise rate | $25 per $1,000 of valuation, each calendar year | Current statute text, read October 6, 2026 | M.G.L. c. 60A, §1 |
| Statutory valuation | 50% of list price the year before the model year, then 90, 60, 40, 25 and 10% from the fifth year | Same section | M.G.L. c. 60A, §1 |
| Minimum excise | $5 | Same section | M.G.L. c. 60A, §1 |
| Sales and use tax rate | 6.25% | Current statute text, read October 6, 2026 | M.G.L. c. 64H, §2 |
Massachusetts sources
- RMV passenger fee schedule: normal PAN $60 biennially, other plate types separately listed; page last updated May 2025.
- Division of Local Services excise guidance: statutory depreciation, $25 per $1,000, $5 minimum and proration.
- RMV private-sale title and registration process: $75 title, tax, insurance and inspection timing.
- Department of Revenue motor-vehicle tax guidance: 6.25% and casual-sale valuation.
Updated · Published by DMV Fee Calculator Editorial Team.