Delaware has no sales tax on a vehicle, but it charges a 5.25% vehicle document fee when you title one.
Type your own numbers and see the same car priced as cash and as a loan, with the taxes and state fees for Delaware. Nothing you type leaves this page.
To see a lease, pick a vehicle. A lease is priced on one car: what it is expected to be worth at the end (its residual) and the leasing company's money factor change by model and by month.
An estimate on the numbers you type, not an offer of credit or a quote from any dealership. Starting loan rates are Rateous's rates for each credit range and term; they are not an offer from any lender. The documentary fee starts at an example figure, the state's legal cap where it has one or $599 where it does not, not any dealership's fee; each dealership sets its own. Taxes and state fees are estimates for Delaware; the dealership's paperwork and your motor vehicle agency have the final numbers. Nothing you type is sent, saved, or used to check your credit.
Delaware has no sales tax; the state instead collects a 5.25% 'document fee' at the DMV when a vehicle is titled, which functions like a vehicle tax.
Vehicles sold before October 1, 2025 but titled on or after November 1, 2025 pay the new 5.25% rate.
Title and registration amounts are from the DMV fee schedule as updated October 2025 (fees increased October 1 and 10, 2025).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Wilmington, no trade-in: the same figures the calculator above uses. The dealership's documentary fee is its own and is not included.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Title fee | $35.00 |
| Registration (est., flat based) | $40.00 |
| In all | $75.00 |
Delaware taxes the vehicle's price when the leased car is titled. The leasing company pays it and it is carried in the lease, so it shows up in your payment rather than as a separate tax on each payment. DMV document fee is charged when the leased vehicle is titled; Delaware has no sales tax on lease payments.
Pick your city for the exact combined rate where you register, plus what title and registration run there.
There is no sales tax on a vehicle in Delaware. Delaware has no sales tax; the state instead collects a 5.25% 'document fee' at the DMV when a vehicle is titled, which functions like a vehicle tax.
The DMV document fee is computed on the purchase price after the trade-in allowance for a vehicle traded to the dealer (21 Del. C. 2915).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Wilmington: Title fee $35.00, Registration (est., flat based) $40.00, about $75.00 in all. Passenger vehicle registration $40 per year (up to 5,000 lbs). Alternative fuel vehicles (EV/PHEV) 6,000 lbs or less pay an additional $110 per year since October 2025.
No. Delaware sets no statutory cap. Each dealership sets its own documentary fee (not a government fee), and each car shows its dealership's fee. The dealership's own documentation fee is separate from the 5.25% document fee the DMV charges at titling.
Delaware taxes the vehicle's price when the leased car is titled. The leasing company pays it and it is carried in the lease, so it shows up in your payment rather than as a separate tax on each payment. DMV document fee is charged when the leased vehicle is titled; Delaware has no sales tax on lease payments.