Arizona car sales tax and fees

How Arizona taxes a car purchase, what registration costs, and how our documentation fee fits in.

As of October 2026, Arizona taxes a car sale at 5.6% for the state, plus county and city rates set by where the dealership is. For an Arizona resident buying from us in Tucson, the total is 8.7%, charged on the price after your trade-in. Registering the car adds Arizona’s vehicle license tax and a few small state fees.

See your out-the-door price.

Every vehicle on pretoy.com has a checkout page that shows the full price, including tax, title and license fees, and our $649 documentation fee.

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Buying from out of state?

What you pay depends on your home state and where you take delivery.

How it works

Questions?

Our sales team is here seven days a week.

Call (520) 795-5565

How Arizona taxes a car sale.

Arizona’s tax on a vehicle sale has three parts: a state rate, a county rate, and a city rate.

Arizona resident buying from us in Tucson Rate
State of Arizona 5.6%
Pima County 0.5%
City of Tucson 2.6%
Total 8.7%

For an Arizona buyer, the rates come from where the dealership is, not where you live. If you live in Oro Valley, Marana, or Green Valley and buy from us, you pay Tucson’s rate. For anywhere else in Arizona, the Arizona Department of Revenue publishes every city’s rate in its monthly rate table. Leases and out-of-state buyers follow different rules, explained below.

Used cars bought from a dealer are taxed the same way as new ones.

Arizona’s official name for this tax is the transaction privilege tax. For a car buyer, it works the same as a sales tax.

What’s taxed, and what isn’t.

Part of the deal How Arizona taxes it
The vehicle’s price Taxed, along with any accessories added at the sale.
Your trade-in Its full value comes off the taxed amount, even if you still owe money on it.
A Toyota rebate Comes off the taxed amount when it’s applied to your purchase.
Our documentation fee Not taxed. Arizona doesn’t tax a documentation fee that’s reasonable for the work and kept separate from the vehicle price on the invoice and in the dealer’s records. Ours is its own line on the purchase order.
A vehicle service agreement Not taxed when it’s sold and listed separately.
Arizona’s waste tire fee Not taxed.

Registration and the vehicle license tax.

Registering a vehicle adds Arizona’s vehicle license tax, which is based on the vehicle’s original list price, not on what you paid.

The vehicle license tax is the state’s yearly tax on a vehicle, charged in place of a personal property tax. Its taxable value starts at 60% of the manufacturer’s base retail price. In the first 12 months after the vehicle is first registered, the tax is $2.80 for every $100 of that value. Each year after, the value drops 16.25% and the rate is $2.89 per $100, with a $10 minimum. It’s not affected by discounts, rebates, or trade-ins.

Example: One-year registration of a gas or hybrid vehicle in the Tucson area Amount
Vehicle license tax, first year, on a $30,000 base retail price $504.00
Registration fee $8.00
Title fee $4.00
Air quality fee $1.50
Air quality compliance fee (Tucson and Phoenix areas) $0.25
Standard license plate No charge

We file your title and registration with ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division, so you pay these with your purchase. You drive away on a temporary plate that’s good for up to 45 days, and your registration and tabs arrive by mail. In Arizona your license plate can stay with you, not the car, so give us its number if you’d like to move it to your new vehicle.

Putting it together.

Say you’re an Arizona resident buying a new gas or hybrid vehicle listed at $30,649, and you trade in a paid-off car worth $10,000.

Example purchase in Tucson Amount
Vehicle price, including our $649 documentation fee $30,649.00
Trade-in −$10,000.00
Tax, 8.7% of $20,000 (the documentation fee isn’t taxed) $1,740.00
Vehicle license tax, first year, on a $30,000 base retail price $504.00
Registration, title, and air quality fees $13.75
Total, before postage and the waste tire fee $22,906.75

On pretoy.com, each vehicle’s listed price already includes our documentation fee, and its checkout page shows the full out-the-door price for that vehicle.

If you lease.

On a lease, Arizona taxes the lease payments, not the vehicle’s full price.

Each monthly payment is taxed, and so is any down payment or rebate applied when you sign; a trade-in applied to the lease isn’t taxed. The rate on the payments can depend on the leasing company and on your address, so your lease contract shows the exact tax. If you buy the vehicle when the lease ends, that purchase is taxed separately. Our leasing guide covers the rest of what a lease costs.

Buying from out of state.

If you live in another state, the Arizona tax you pay depends on where you take delivery and on your home state’s tax.

Your situation Arizona tax
We ship the vehicle to you in another state, with a transport company we arrange None.
You take delivery here, and your state gives no credit for Arizona tax Tucson’s 2.6% city tax only. According to the Arizona Department of Revenue, the states that give no credit are Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
You take delivery here, and your state credits Arizona tax but charges less than 5.6%, or nothing Arizona’s state tax is lowered to match your state’s, the county tax shrinks with it, and Tucson’s 2.6% applies in full.
You take delivery here, and your state credits Arizona tax and charges more, as California and Texas do The full 8.7%. Your state gives you credit for Arizona’s state tax when you register.
You live in another country and take delivery here The full 8.7%.

Shipping counts only when we arrange it. If you hire your own transport, Arizona treats the sale as delivered here. Any lower tax also depends on Arizona’s nonresident paperwork. For buyers from another U.S. state, that includes an affidavit of nonresidency (Form 5011) and a copy of your out-of-state driver’s license. If you then register the vehicle in Arizona within 365 days, you owe the Arizona tax that wasn’t collected, plus penalty and interest.

We regularly sell to out-of-state buyers and take care of this paperwork with you. Your home state’s motor vehicle agency can tell you what it charges when you register there.

Our fees, in full.

The only fee we add is our $649 documentation fee.

It covers the work of completing your sale that’s separate from the vehicle itself: legal compliance, consumer protection, anti-theft measures, vehicle history checks, certifications, and official filings. It’s charged on every vehicle we sell, and the price we show for each vehicle already includes it.

Accessories and protection products are your choice, and each one is listed on your purchase order. A few special or limited-edition Toyotas require certain accessories, and those vehicles’ pages say so. How we price our vehicles

Questions, answered.

What is the sales tax on a car in Arizona?
As of October 2026, it’s the state’s 5.6% plus a county rate and a city rate, set by where the dealership is. For an Arizona resident buying from us in Tucson, the total is 8.7%: 5.6% for the state, 0.5% for Pima County, and 2.6% for the City of Tucson.
Do you pay sales tax on a used car in Arizona?
Yes, when you buy from a dealer: used cars are taxed at the same rates as new ones. A private sale between two individuals isn’t taxed.
Does a trade-in lower the sales tax in Arizona?
Yes. The full value of your trade-in comes off the price before tax, even if you still owe money on it, so a $10,000 trade-in lowers the taxed amount by $10,000.
What is the vehicle license tax in Arizona?
It’s Arizona’s yearly tax on a vehicle, paid with your registration in place of a personal property tax. It’s based on 60% of the manufacturer’s base retail price: $2.80 per $100 in the first 12 months after the vehicle is first registered, then $2.89 per $100 on a value that drops 16.25% a year, with a $10 minimum. On a vehicle with a $30,000 base retail price, that’s $504 the first year, $435.67 the second, and $364.87 the third.
How much are title and registration in Arizona?
For a one-year registration, registration is $8 and the title is $4, plus a $1.50 air quality fee and, in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, a $0.25 air quality compliance fee. Electric vehicles skip both air quality fees. The vehicle license tax is added on top, and a standard license plate costs nothing extra.
Do I need an emissions test in Tucson?
Not for a new vehicle’s first five registration years. After that, testing applies if your vehicle is registered in the Tucson testing area or you commute into it, and most Tucson vehicles are tested every year. Hybrids are tested; electric vehicles never are. Any used vehicle we sell has already passed any test it needs. Arizona’s Department of Environmental Quality has a ZIP code lookup at myazcar.com.
Do hybrids and electric vehicles pay different fees in Arizona?
Hybrids pay the same vehicle license tax and fees as gas vehicles. Electric vehicles first registered in 2023 or later pay the same vehicle license tax too, but skip the air quality fees and emissions tests. Arizona has no separate electric-vehicle registration fee.
I spend winters in Arizona. Do I have to register my car here?
Only if you count as an Arizona resident. ADOT treats you as one if, for example, you stay in Arizona seven months or more in a calendar year, work here (with some seasonal exceptions), or are registered to vote here. A winter visitor who stays less than seven months and meets none of the other tests can keep a valid home-state registration. Whether a purchase from us qualifies for the out-of-state tax rules is a separate check, made on Arizona’s nonresident affidavit.
I live in another state. Do I pay Arizona sales tax?
It depends on where you take delivery and on your home state. If we ship the vehicle to you in another state with a transport company we arrange, no Arizona tax applies. If you take delivery here, Tucson’s 2.6% city tax applies. Arizona’s state and county tax is waived if your home state gives no credit for Arizona tax, reduced if it gives credit but charges less than 5.6%, and charged in full if it charges more.
I bought a car in another state. Do I owe Arizona tax?
You may owe Arizona use tax if you bought it from an out-of-state dealer and register it here: the state’s 5.6% plus your city’s use tax, with no county use tax. ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division collects it when you register. Bring proof of the sales tax you paid in the other state; it’s credited, so you owe only any difference. A car bought from a private seller owes no use tax.
Will my price change when I come in?
No. The price quote we give you is a real price on a real vehicle you can buy.
Is the price lower if I pay cash?
No. The vehicle’s price is the same whether you pay cash or finance.
Do your prices include rebates most people can’t get?
No. Our prices don’t include limited programs, such as Toyota’s College Graduate Rebate, that only some buyers qualify for. If you qualify for one, we’ll apply it for you.

We can’t wait to welcome you.

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Where these numbers come from

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Precision Toyota of Tucson, a Toyota and used vehicle dealership. 700 W Wetmore Road, Tucson, AZ 85705. A documentation fee of $649 is charged on every vehicle sale. Tax rates and government fees on this page are as of October 2026, from the Arizona Department of Revenue and ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division, and can change. This page is general information, not tax advice, and may contain errors; your purchase order shows the exact amounts. Serving Tucson, Oro Valley, Marana, Green Valley, Sahuarita, Oracle, Casas Adobes, and Sierra Vista.