Maine charges sales and use tax of 5.5% 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 Maine. 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 Maine; 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 in Maine.
Manufacturer rebates assigned to the dealer are part of the taxable sale price; only dealer discounts reduce it.
Leases of one year or more: sales tax is due at lease inception on the total of all lease payments plus any capitalized cost reduction (Maine Revenue Services Instructional Bulletin 28).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Portland, 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 | $33.00 |
| Registration (est., flat based) | $35.00 |
| In all | $68.00 |
Maine taxes a lease up front: the tax on the total of all your lease payments is due in full at signing, not spread across the payments.
Pick your city for the exact combined rate where you register, plus what title and registration run there.
5.5%. Maine applies one rate statewide on vehicles, so it does not change from city to city.
Trade-in allowance for a motor vehicle traded toward another motor vehicle reduces the taxable sale price (36 M.R.S. 1765).
On a $35,000 new car with a $37,000 sticker, registered in Portland: Title fee $33.00, Registration (est., flat based) $35.00, about $68.00 in all. Passenger vehicle registration $35 per year (standard plates included); municipal excise tax must be paid to the town first. Agent fees of a few dollars apply at town offices.
No. Maine sets no statutory cap. Each dealership sets its own documentary fee (not a government fee), and each car shows its dealership's fee.
Maine taxes a lease up front: the tax on the total of all your lease payments is due in full at signing, not spread across the payments.