South Dakota vehicle excise tax and registration fees

One 4% tax, collected by the county

A car bought in South Dakota is not subject to the sales tax. It pays the motor vehicle excise tax of 4% of the purchase price when you title it at the county treasurer, within 45 days of the purchase. Dealers do not collect it. The law deducts the trade-in on a new car, on a used car from a dealer and on a private sale, as long as a vehicle is taken in trade. A car eleven or more model years old sold for $2,500 or less before trade-in is exempt. Late titles pay interest from the purchase date and, after 60 days, a penalty of 10% of the tax or $10, whichever is greater.

Plates priced by weight and age

The yearly license fee depends on the manufacturer's shipping weight: $36 up to 2,000 lb, $72 up to 4,000 lb, $108 up to 6,000 lb and $144 above. Once the car is ten years old on January 1, it pays 70% of that. Renewal month follows the first letter of your last name, from January for A and B to November for T through Z, so the first registration is prorated to that month; our calculator shows the full twelve months. Each registration adds $1 for the highway patrol, $1 for solid waste and a $2 technology fee, and plates sent by mail cost $12 more.

Wheel tax and the electric car fee

Counties may levy up to $5 per wheel with a $60 cap per vehicle. The Department of Revenue wheel tax table lists $4 a wheel in Minnehaha, $5 in Pennington and Lincoln, $2 with an $8 cap in Beadle and Codington, and nothing in Harding, Hyde, Jones, McPherson and Oglala Lakota. Electric cars pay $100 a year more, hybrids nothing. South Dakota has no inspection. Neighboring Nebraska and Montana handle car taxes very differently.

What sets South Dakota apart

• South Dakota replaces the sales tax on cars with a 4% motor vehicle excise tax on the purchase price, paid to the county treasurer at titling (SDCL 32-5B-1).
• The trade-in allowance is deducted before the 4% is applied, on a new car, a used car from a dealer and even a private sale (SDCL 32-5B-4).
• A car eleven or more model years old sold for $2,500 or less before trade-in pays no excise tax (SDCL 32-5B-2).
• The yearly license fee depends only on the manufacturer's shipping weight: $36 up to 2,000 lb, $72 up to 4,000 lb, $108 up to 6,000 lb and $144 above (SDCL 32-5-6).
• Once a car is ten years old on January 1, its license fee drops to 70% of the normal amount (SDCL 32-5-30).
• Counties may add a wheel tax of up to $5 per wheel, with a maximum of $60 per vehicle (SDCL 32-5A-1).
• Minnehaha County charges $4 per wheel, Pennington County $5, and five counties, among them Harding and Jones, charge no wheel tax at all (South Dakota DOR).
• A battery electric car pays an extra $100 every year at registration (SDCL 32-5-188).
• Plates are renewed in a month set by the first letter of the owner's last name, from January for A and B to November for T through Z (South Dakota DOR).
• The title costs $10 and recording a lien another $10 (South Dakota DOR).

What the South Dakota calculation cannot know

• The first registration is prorated by month up to the owner's renewal month, which depends on the first letter of the last name; the calculator shows the full twelve-month license fee.
• A dealer documentation fee stated separately from the price is not subject to the 4% excise tax but to state and municipal sales tax; the calculator does not add that sales tax (South Dakota sets no doc fee cap that was found, so the fee defaults to $0).
• The $2 technology fee applies to certain title and registration transactions; the calculator counts it once per yearly registration.
• Wheel tax rates use the 2,001 to 6,000 lb column of the county table, which is the same as the lighter column everywhere except Custer County ($2 per wheel under 2,001 lb); trucks over 6,000 lb pay higher rates in several counties.
• A private sale without the approved bill of sale is taxed on the retail value of a national dealers' guide; the calculator uses the price you type.
• Plate and registration mailing fees ($12 per set of plates, $2.50 per decal) are only due when the county mails them and are not included.