Kentucky charges motor vehicle usage tax (MVUT) of 6% statewide on vehicles, with no local add-on. A trade-in does reduce the taxable price, which is real money on the deal.
Type your own numbers and see the same car priced as cash and as a loan, with the taxes and state fees for Kentucky. 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 Kentucky; 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.
No local sales tax on vehicles in Kentucky.
Manufacturer rebates cannot be deducted from MSRP or the affidavit price (DOR MVUT guidance).
Leases: the lessor holding a U-Drive-It permit remits 6% usage tax on each lease payment rather than on the vehicle price.
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Louisville, 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 | $9.00 |
| Registration (est., flat based) | $21.00 |
| In all | $30.00 |
Kentucky taxes a lease one payment at a time: the tax is added to each monthly payment, so you pay it as you go.
Pick your city for the exact combined rate where you register, plus what title and registration run there.
6%. Kentucky applies one rate statewide on vehicles, so it does not change from city to city.
A motor vehicle traded in at the time of purchase reduces the taxable retail price when attested in a notarized affidavit (KRS 138.450).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Louisville: Title fee $9.00, Registration (est., flat based) $21.00, about $30.00 in all. Annual registration $21 (prorated to the owner's birth month) plus county clerk fees (about $6) and the annual ad valorem property tax collected at registration.
No. Kentucky sets no statutory cap. Each dealership sets its own documentary fee (not a government fee), and each car shows its dealership's fee.
Kentucky taxes a lease one payment at a time: the tax is added to each monthly payment, so you pay it as you go.