referencesource/vehicle-trade-in-sales-tax-credit-by-state

Vehicle trade-in sales tax credit rules by state -- full price taxed, or only the difference

Canonical, always-current version: https://referencesource.org/vehicle-trade-in-sales-tax-credit-by-state/ Machine-readable: https://referencesource.org/vehicle-trade-in-sales-tax-credit-by-state/data.json — this mirror is a point-in-time copy.

• —Last verified: 2026-08-20
• —Stale after: 2027-08-20 (past this date, prefer the canonical copy — it re-verifies on a cadence this snapshot does not)
• —Records: 47

When you trade a car in, does the state charge sales tax on the full price of the new car, or only on the price left after the trade-in is deducted? On a $40,000 car with a $15,000 trade-in, that choice is about $900 in a 6% state. This covers 47 states, each taken from that state's own Department of Revenue, DMV or statute, with the sentence that states the rule quoted on every record. Most states deduct the trade-in in full. Four charge tax on the whole price: California, Virginia, Oklahoma and Oregon. Four allow the deduction only in part, and these are the ones commonly reported wrongly -- Michigan caps it in dollars, Ohio allows it on new vehicles but not used, Georgia allows it on dealer sales but not private-party sales, and Rhode Island allows it on passenger vehicles, motorcycles and motor homes only. Alaska, Delaware and Montana charge no state sales tax on a vehicle at all. The District of Columbia, Hawaii, Mississippi and New Hampshire are not covered: no official page for those states states a trade-in rule we could quote.

Provenance — what every record carries

Every record carries source (the URL the value was read from) and source_quote (a verbatim quote from that page stating it). A value you cannot check against its page is indistinguishable from an invented one; these can all be checked. Each record is also individually addressable on the canonical site at its url.

Licence position

Facts taken from official state government (DOR/DMV/Treasury) pages, cited with short attributed quotes. Facts are not copyrightable (Feist, 1991); no state tax guidance page's text is reproduced beyond a short quote.

Facts are not copyrightable; what this dataset takes from each source is a fact plus a short attributed quote linking back to the page that states it.

Sources

• —https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AutomotiveSalesUseLeaseTax_Guide.pdf
• —https://www.legfin.akleg.gov/Overview/Overview2025.pdf
• —https://azdor.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/RULINGSTPT1996_tpr96-1.pdf
• —https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=33&levelType=section&partID=971&sectionID=62989&subChapterID=241&subPartID=9365&titleID=26
• —https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/140-0500.html
• —https://tax.colorado.gov/sales-use-tax-topics-motor-vehicle-sales
• —https://portal.ct.gov/dmv/vehicle-services/sales-tax-registrations
• —https://revenue.delaware.gov/business-tax-forms/exemption-certificates/
• —https://floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/brochure/gt800030.pdf
• —https://dor.georgia.gov/title-ad-valorem-tax-tavt-faq
• —https://tax.idaho.gov/taxes/sales-use/transportation/motor-vehicles/dealers/sales-price/
• —https://tax.illinois.gov/forms/sales/vehicleusetax/st-556-sales-tax-transaction-return-instructions.html
• —https://www.in.gov/dor/files/sib28s.pdf
• —https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/701.250.pdf
• —https://www.ksrevenue.gov/pub1526.html
• —https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53526
• —https://revenue.louisiana.gov/tax-education-and-faqs/faqs/sales-tax-reform/what-is-included-in-sales-price/
• —https://www.maine.gov/future/sites/maine.gov.revenue/files/inline-files/IB42OriginalRegistrationofVehicles10282019.pdf
• —https://mva.maryland.gov/your-mva-guide/businesses/bulletins-businesses/taxable-price
• —https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64H/Section26
• —https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/-/media/Project/Websites/taxes/Forms/SUW/TY2026/485_11-25.pdf
• —https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/guide/motor-vehicle-sales
• —https://dor.mo.gov/forms/5687.pdf
• —https://revenue.mt.gov/taxes/general-sales-tax
• —https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/legal/regs/1-020.pdf
• —https://tax.nv.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Motor-Vehicle-and-Vessel-Dealers-Packet-1.pdf
• —https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/documents/pdf/guides/New-Jersey-Consumer-Automotive-Tax-Guide.pdf
• —https://www.tax.newmexico.gov/all-nm-taxes/2020/10/22/motor-vehicle-excise-tax/
• —https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/sales/pub838.pdf
• —https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter105/Article5A.pdf
• —https://www.tax.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/guidelines/business/sales-use/gl-21963.pdf
• —https://tax.ohio.gov/business/sales-and-use-tax/taxability
• —https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/tax/documents/resources/rules-and-policies/motor-vehicle-policy/Chapter60-MotorVehicles.pdf
• —https://www.oregon.gov/dor/programs/businesses/pages/vehicle-privilege-and-use-taxes.aspx
• —https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F061%2Fchapter31%2Fs31.44.html
• —https://dmv.ri.gov/registrations-plates-titles/sales-tax
• —https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/Documents/Policy%20Manuals/sales-and-use-tax-auto-and-truck-dealers-guide.pdf
• —https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/32-5B.html?all=true
• —https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/tax_manuals/june-2025/auto-dealership-manual.pdf
• —https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/motor-vehicle/sales-use.php
• —https://tax.utah.gov/forms-pubs/pub-05/
• —https://dmv.vermont.gov/sites/dmv/files/documents/VD-119i-RegistrationTaxTitle_Instructions.pdf
• —https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/taxes-fees/sut
• —https://dor.wa.gov/education/industry-guides/auto-dealers/trade-ins
• —https://dmv.wv.gov/titles
• —https://www.revenue.wi.gov/DOR%20Publications/pb202.pdf
• —https://www.dot.state.wy.us/files/live/sites/wydot/files/shared/Motor%20Vehicle%20Services/WYSalesUseTaxStatementForMotorVehicleSales_08.01.22.pdf

Fields

See any record in data/records.jsonl — field names are self-describing, and the canonical page for each record renders them with labels: https://referencesource.org/vehicle-trade-in-sales-tax-credit-by-state/