District of Columbia excise tax and DMV fees

How the excise table works since February 2025

The Motor Excise Tax Amendment Act of 2024 replaced the old 6%, 7% and 8% weight rates with a grid. The DC DMV excise tax page multiplies the fair market value by a percentage read from two columns: unladen weight (up to 3,499 lb, 3,500 to 4,999 lb, 5,000 lb or more) and EPA city MPG rounded down (20 or less, 21 to 25, 26 to 30, 31 to 39, 40 or more). Electric cars, exempt until 2025, now have their own column at 1%, 2% or 3%, and DMV specifies that MPGe does not count as MPG. A heavy SUV rated 18 MPG pays 11%; a light hybrid rated 50 MPG pays 1.5%. Residents who received the DC earned income tax credit may keep the old weight rates if they cost less.

Registration by weight, with a break for electric cars

The registration schedule that took effect on March 30, 2026 charges a passenger car $70 a year up to 3,499 lb, $175 from 3,500 to 4,999 lb, $300 from 5,000 to 5,999 lb and $550 from 6,000 lb. A brand-new battery electric car under 5,000 lb pays $40 for its first two years; afterwards it subtracts 1,000 lb from its shipping weight before the class is chosen, so a 4,200 lb electric car is billed as a 3,200 lb car. Hybrids get neither advantage. The same page lists a $30-a-year registration card fee among additional fees, which the calculator shows as a possible extra.

Inspection fees are prepaid with the registration

A brand-new passenger car receives a four-year sticker for $10 without visiting the station, and gasoline cars then pass an emissions inspection every two years for $35, both collected with the registration. Fully electric cars get a sticker that never expires. Across the line in Maryland and Virginia, the purchase tax is a flat percentage of the price, whatever the car burns.

What sets District of Columbia apart

• DC has no sales tax on cars: it charges an excise tax at titling, on the car's NADA fair market value (DC DMV).
• Since February 17, 2025, the excise rate depends on both unladen weight and city MPG, from 1% for a light electric car to 11% for a car of 5,000 lb or more rated 20 MPG or less (DC DMV).
• Electric cars lost their excise tax exemption in 2025 and now pay 1%, 2% or 3% depending on weight (DC DMV).
• Registration fees by weight rose on March 30, 2026: $70 a year up to 3,499 lb, $175 from 3,500 to 4,999 lb and $300 from 5,000 to 5,999 lb (DC DMV).
• A brand-new battery electric car under 5,000 lb pays $40 a year for its first two registration years, then subtracts 1,000 lb from its weight to find its class (DC DMV).
• The title fee rose to $30 on March 30, 2026, and each lien adds $20 (DC DMV).
• Inspection fees are collected with the registration: $10 for a new car's four-year sticker, then $35 every two years (DC DMV).
• Brand-new passenger cars are not taken through inspection, and fully electric passenger cars receive a non-expiring inspection sticker (DC DMV).
• Since December 15, 2025, DC DMV adds a 2.5% service fee to every card payment (DC DMV).

What the District of Columbia calculation cannot know

• The excise tax rate of a gasoline, hybrid or plug-in hybrid car depends on its city MPG (EPA rating, rounded down), which the form does not ask; the engine shows the official range of the car's weight class, from the 40-MPG-or-more rate to the 20-MPG-or-less rate. Electric cars have one rate per weight class and are computed.
• The excise tax is charged on the fair market value from the NADA guide for the Eastern region, not on the price; the engine applies the rate to the price typed. Many vehicles are exempt, and residents who received the DC earned income tax credit may pay the older 6%, 7% or 8% weight rates instead.
• The summary rate of 6% is the excise rate of a 3,500 to 4,999 lb car rated 21 to 25 city MPG; actual rates run from 1% to 11%.
• DC DMV lists a $30-a-year registration card fee among additional fees without saying that every registration pays it; it is shown as a range of $0 to $30.
• Electric cars get a non-expiring inspection sticker; its price is not published on the fee page, so no inspection line is added for them.
• No official DC page read for this release caps the dealer processing fee; type the dealer's figure.