Texas Car Sales Tax Calculator

How the 6.25% is figured at a dealership

The tax is 6.25% of the car's total consideration, which for a dealer sale is the selling price minus your trade-in, as long as the trade happens in the same deal. Rebates are subtracted too. The Comptroller's guide says both manufacturer and dealer rebates passed directly to the customer reduce the taxable value, and a factory rebate the dealer passes on to you is treated as a cash discount.

Several charges on a buyer's order are not taxed when the dealer lists them separately: the documentary fee, a reimbursement of the dealer's vehicle inventory tax (VIT), extended warranties and service contracts, credit insurance and debt cancellation (GAP) products, roadside assistance and delivery after the sale. Accessories the dealer sells with the car are part of the price and are taxed.

The VIT line confuses many buyers. Texas dealers prepay property tax on every vehicle they sell, filing a monthly statement with the county, and they may pass that cost on as a separate line on the sales agreement. It is figured on the sales price after rebates. Because it's listed separately, it doesn't add to your 6.25% tax.

There is no city or county sales tax on Texas cars

Texas cities, counties and transit authorities can add up to 2% to the general sales tax, which is why receipts in Houston or Dallas show 8.25%. That local tax does not apply to cars. Motor vehicles pay the separate motor vehicle sales tax of 6.25%, the same in every county. Some online calculators still apply a city rate to cars, which overstates the tax by up to $700 on a $35,000 car.

Check the tax on your dealer's quote

Enter the numbers from your buyer's order. The checker works out what 6.25% should be and, if your quote is different, tells you the most likely reason, such as a taxed doc fee or a rebate that wasn't subtracted.

Private sales and the 80% SPV rule

When you buy from a private seller, the county tax office compares the price on the bill of sale with the vehicle's standard presumptive value (SPV), a value TxDMV sets for each year, make and model. You pay 6.25% of whichever is higher: the price you paid or 80% of the SPV. The TxDMV lookup shows the full SPV, so multiply it by 0.8 yourself, or enter it in the calculator above and it does that for you.

If the car is worth less than its SPV because of damage or high mileage, you can get a certified appraisal from a licensed dealer, adjuster or appraiser and pay tax on the appraised value instead. Even trades, gifts and new resident transfers are not subject to the SPV comparison.

Title and registration fees by county

Three parts of the bill depend on your county of residence. The title application fee is $33 in the 42 counties covered by the state's air quality programs and $28 in the other 212. The local registration fee is set by each commissioners court and runs from $0 to $21.50 on TxDMV's 2026 fee chart; most counties charge $10 or $11.50, while Bexar and Cameron charge $21.50 and Hidalgo, El Paso and Webb charge $20. And 18 counties require a yearly emissions test, paid at the inspection station.

The rest is the same statewide. Base registration is $50.75 for cars and light trucks up to 6,000 pounds and $54 for vehicles from 6,001 to 10,000 pounds, plus $1 for TexasSure insurance verification and a $4.75 processing and handling fee. Since January 1, 2025, most cars no longer need a safety inspection; instead you pay a $7.50 inspection program replacement fee, or $16.75 on a new car registered for its first two years.

The table below adds those pieces up for a used gas car of 6,000 pounds or less. We couldn't confirm the local fee for counties marked with a dash, so their total uses $10.

Doc fees and the $225 rule

Texas doesn't cap the documentary fee, but it does regulate it. Since July 11, 2024, a dealer can charge a doc fee of $225 or less without telling the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner. To charge more, the dealer has to file a notice and a cost analysis with the OCCC first, and can't charge more than the amount it filed. If your dealer's doc fee is above $225, it's fair to ask whether they've filed it.

Whatever the amount, a doc fee listed separately on the buyer's order is not part of the taxable price, so it shouldn't raise your sales tax.

Electric vehicles and emissions testing

Since September 1, 2023, a new electric car pays a $400 fee at its first registration, which covers two years, and then $200 at each yearly renewal. A used EV pays the $200 fee when its registration is renewed. Hybrids and vehicles that can run on more than one fuel don't pay it.

Emissions tests are required for gasoline vehicles 2 to 24 years old in 17 counties around Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and El Paso, and in Bexar County since November 1, 2026. In Bexar the station fee is up to $18.50. Electric cars are exempt.

New residents, gifts and even trades

If you move to Texas and bring a car that was already registered in your name in another state, you pay a flat $90 new resident tax instead of 6.25%. You have 30 days from your first use of the car in Texas to title it, or 60 days for active-duty military. A car you bought out of state but never registered in your name there is taxed like any other purchase, at 6.25% of the price or 80% of the SPV, with credit for sales tax you paid to the other state.

A true gift from an eligible family member, with no money changing hands, is taxed at a flat $10 and needs a signed gift affidavit (Form 14-317). Swapping one car for another with no cash or loan payoff involved is an even trade, taxed at $5 per vehicle. If either side adds money or takes over a loan, the deal becomes a sale taxed at 6.25%.

Deadlines and late penalties

You have 30 calendar days from the purchase date to title the car and pay the tax. A dealer files the paperwork for you. If you bought from a private seller, it's your job. Active-duty military members get 60 days. Paying late adds a penalty of 5% of the tax if you're 1 to 30 days late and 10% after that, with a minimum penalty of $1.

What other Texas calculators get wrong

Before building this page, we reviewed the Texas pages of several popular online car tax calculators in November 2026. These were the mistakes we found most often, and what each one does to the estimate. Our calculator handles each of them the way the Comptroller and TxDMV describe.