# Vehicle Registration / Property Tax — USA

Source page: https://valem.run/calculators/usa/car-tax

US annual vehicle cost varies by state: a value-based fee like California's VLF, or a county personal-property tax.

**Tax year:** 2026

## How it is calculated

The USA has no national car tax; the annual cost depends on the state. California charges a Vehicle License Fee of about 0.65% of value; Virginia levies a county personal-property tax of around 4%; Texas charges a flat fee.

Pick California or Virginia from the dropdown to load its rate, or choose "Other" and enter the rate your state or county charges. Estimate, not tax advice.

## Worked example

With Vehicle value of 30,000 USD, this model computes Annual fee/tax of 195 USD.

## Inputs

| Name | Label | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `value` | Vehicle value | number |
| `state` | State | string |
| `customRate` | Rate if "Other" | number |

## Sources

- [CA DMV VLF](https://www.dmv.ca.gov) (checked 2026-08-02)
- [California DMV — registration fees (VLF 0.65% of value)](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/registration-fees/) (checked 2026-10-17)
- [Virginia Tax — PPTRA](https://www.tax.virginia.gov) (checked 2026-08-02)

## What this page claims

The Valem engine reproduces this model's formula through 2 self-test cases. That shows internal consistency, not that the formula matches current law; the cited sources are the evidence for that. Estimate, not tax advice.

## For agents

- Model manifest (formula, constants, test vectors): https://valem.run/calculators/usa/car-tax.json
- Compute by URL: https://valem.run/calculators/usa/car-tax.json?value=30000
- MCP: https://valem.run/mcp/calculators (call `calculate` with calculator `usa/car-tax`)