Illinois Vehicle Tax Calculator
Work out the tax, title and registration cost of buying a car in Illinois. The calculator handles both routes — the flat Form RUT-50 tables for a private sale and the percentage rate on a dealer purchase after trade-in.
Illinois Vehicle Tax Calculator
Form RUT-50 and RUT-25 rules, 2026- Purchase price$0
- Trade-in allowance$0
- Taxable amount$0
- Vehicle tax $0
- Title fee$165
- Registration includes the $100 EV surcharge$151
- Documentary fee$0
Illinois taxes cars two completely different ways
Most states apply one sales tax rate to every vehicle purchase. Illinois does not, and the difference between the two systems is large enough to change which car you buy and from whom.
| Private seller | Dealer | |
|---|---|---|
| Form | RUT-50 | ST-556 |
| Method | Flat rate by model year | 7.50% of the price |
| Tax on a 2020 model | $165 | $900 |
| Title fee | $165 | $165 |
| Registration | $151 | $151 |
| Total | $481 | $1,216 |
That $735 gap is entirely a function of how the tax is structured, not of the car. It shrinks as prices rise — above $15,000 the private-party tables switch to price bands that climb steeply — and it reverses in one important case: a dealer purchase with a large trade-in can end up cheaper, because the trade-in comes off the taxable amount and a private sale gives you no trade-in at all.
The Form RUT-50 tables in full
Private-party purchases are taxed by a flat dollar amount, not a percentage. Which table applies depends on the purchase price.
Table A — purchase price under $15,000
| Model year | Tax |
|---|---|
| 2025 or newer | $465 |
| 2024 | $365 |
| 2023 | $290 |
| 2022 | $240 |
| 2021 | $190 |
| 2020 | $165 |
| 2019 | $155 |
| 2018 | $140 |
| 2017 | $125 |
| 2016 | $115 |
| 2015 or older | $100 |
Table B — purchase price of $15,000 or more
| Purchase price | Tax |
|---|---|
| $15,000 – $19,999.99 | $850 |
| $20,000 – $24,999.99 | $1,100 |
| $25,000 – $29,999.99 | $1,350 |
| $30,000 – $49,999.99 | $1,600 |
| $50,000 – $99,999.99 | $2,600 |
| $100,000 – $999,999.99 | $5,100 |
| $1,000,000 and above | $10,100 |
$15 for a transfer from a spouse, parent, brother, sister or child, for a gift to a beneficiary, or for certain business reorganizations. $25 for a motorcycle or ATV, whatever its value.
Notice the cliff at $15,000. A car bought for $14,999 with a 2018 model year costs $140 in tax; the same car bought for $15,000 costs $850. It is one of the few places in the tax code where a single dollar of purchase price changes the tax by more than seven hundred.
Dealer and out-of-state purchases
Buy from a dealer and the tax becomes a percentage of the price after the trade-in allowance and any manufacturer rebate. Home-rule municipal sales taxes do not apply to titled vehicles, which is why the rates below are lower than the general sales tax rates on the sales tax calculator — but county, transit and home-rule use taxes do apply.
| Where the vehicle is registered | Rate |
|---|---|
| Chicago | 8.75% |
| Suburban Cook County | 7.50% |
| DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry or Will County | 7.25% |
| Anywhere else in Illinois | 6.25% |
The trade-in deduction is where the real money is. Illinois removed its $10,000 cap for sales on or after January 1, 2022, so the full trade-in allowance now comes off the taxable price. Trading a $20,000 car against a $45,000 purchase in Chicago saves $1,750 in tax — which is worth remembering when a private buyer offers you slightly more for the old car than the dealer will.
Selling your old car privately for $2,000 more than the dealer's trade-in offer is not automatically better. In Chicago you would lose $175 of tax saving on the new purchase, so the real gain is $1,825 — before the effort of advertising, meeting strangers and handling the title transfer yourself.
Title, registration and dealer fees
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of title | $165 | Every purchase |
| Passenger registration | $151 / year | Standard plates |
| Electric vehicle surcharge | $100 / year | Takes EV registration to $251; plug-in hybrids exempt |
| Documentary fee cap | $377.63 | 2026 figure — a $300 base indexed to inflation since 2020 |
None of this touches your paycheck — vehicle tax is a one-off at purchase, unlike the deductions that come out every payday. The documentary fee is the one to negotiate. It is a dealer charge for paperwork, not a government fee, and while Illinois caps it, nothing requires a dealer to charge the maximum. It is also taxable — it forms part of the selling price for sales tax purposes.
Buying across the state line
Illinois taxes the vehicle where it will be registered, not where it was bought. Buy in Indiana and bring the car home to Illinois, and you file Form RUT-25 and pay Illinois tax at your own address's rate, with a credit for tax properly paid to Indiana. Because Indiana charges 7.00% statewide with no local add-on, an Indiana purchase registered in Chicago at 8.75% means writing Illinois a check for the 1.75-point difference — the saving people expect from crossing the border usually does not survive registration. The Illinois versus Indiana comparison covers the wider picture.
The reverse trip is worth knowing too: an Indiana resident buying from an Illinois dealer generally pays Indiana's rate, because the dealer collects for the state of registration.
What you actually have to file
- Private-party purchase: Form RUT-50 within 30 days, filed with the title and registration application at a Secretary of State facility or through a title service.
- Illinois dealer: nothing. The dealer files Form ST-556 and collects the tax at the point of sale.
- Out-of-state purchase: Form RUT-25, filed within 30 days, with proof of any tax paid to the other state.
- Gift or family transfer: still Form RUT-50, claiming the $15 exception and stating the relationship.
The Secretary of State will not issue a title until the Department of Revenue confirms the tax has been settled, so a missed RUT-50 does not go unnoticed — it simply stops the title.
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People also ask about Illinois vehicle tax
It depends entirely on who you buy from. A private-party purchase uses the flat Form RUT-50 tables — $100 to $465 by model year if the price is under $15,000, and $850 to $10,100 by price band above that. A dealer purchase is taxed as a percentage of the price after trade-in: 6.25% downstate, 7.25% in the collar counties, 7.50% in suburban Cook and 8.75% in Chicago. Buying privately is usually dramatically cheaper in tax.
Yes, and in full. Illinois deducts the trade-in allowance from the taxable price with no cap. The $10,000 trade-in credit limit that applied from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021 was repealed for sales on or after January 1, 2022. On a $45,000 car with a $20,000 trade-in in suburban Cook County, tax is charged on $25,000 rather than $45,000 — a saving of $1,500.
Below a $15,000 purchase price it is a flat amount set by model year, from $465 for a 2025 or newer vehicle down to $100 for anything 2015 or older. At $15,000 and above it switches to a flat amount by price band, starting at $850 and rising to $1,600 for the $30,000 to $50,000 band. It is reported on Form RUT-50 within 30 days of the purchase, and local add-ons apply in Chicago and Cook County.
$15, if the transfer is between close family members — spouse, parent, sibling or child — or is a gift to a beneficiary. That flat rate also covers certain business reorganizations. A gift between unrelated people does not qualify: it falls back to the normal RUT-50 tables based on the vehicle's fair market value, so labeling a sale a "gift" to reduce tax does not work and is treated as evasion.
A title fee of $165 and standard passenger registration of $151 a year. Electric vehicles pay an additional $100 surcharge, taking registration to $251; plug-in hybrids are exempt from the surcharge. Illinois dealers may also charge a documentary fee capped at $377.63 for 2026 — the cap is a $300 base set in 2020 and indexed to inflation each year, so it rises annually.
Yes. Bring a vehicle into Illinois and you file Form RUT-25 and pay Illinois tax at the rate for your own address, not the seller's. You receive a credit for sales tax properly paid to the other state, so you are not taxed twice — but if the other state's rate was lower, you make up the difference. Buying in Indiana at 7.00% and registering in Chicago at 8.75% means paying Illinois the 1.75-point gap.
Yes, on both routes. On a dealer purchase, Chicago residents pay a 1.25% home rule use tax on top of the state and county components, and Cook County adds 1% for residents buying from dealers outside the six-county region. On a private-party purchase, Chicago charges a flat municipal amount of up to $80 depending on vehicle age, and Cook County a flat amount between $90 and $225. Those local private-party amounts are not included in the calculator above.
Within 30 days of the purchase date for a private-party sale, filed on Form RUT-50 alongside the title and registration application. A dealer handles the paperwork and collects the tax at the point of sale on Form ST-556, so you never file anything yourself. Late filing brings penalties and interest, and the Secretary of State will not issue a title until the Department of Revenue confirms the tax has been paid.
Sources
- Illinois Department of Revenue — vehicle use tax and Form RUT-50
- IDOR Form RUT-6 — RUT-50 reference guide and local rate tables
- IDOR — Form ST-556 instructions, including the trade-in rule
- Illinois Secretary of State — title and registration
Estimates only. The calculator models the state vehicle tax and the standard title and registration fees; it does not include the Chicago and Cook County flat municipal amounts on private-party sales, county wheel taxes, specialty plate charges or dealer-specific fees. Confirm with the Illinois Department of Revenue or the Secretary of State before relying on a figure.