JANUARY 24, 2007

New plate fee calculator reduces paperwork hassles

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today announced that auto dealers will have an easier time completing the paperwork for vehicle purchases thanks to the Department of State's new online plate fee calculator.

The calculator eliminates the hassles of manually computing license plate fees and plate expiration dates. Dealers are required by law to apply for a vehicle's title and registration on behalf of their customers. Because plate fees and expiration dates are based on several factors, they can be difficult and time-consuming to work out.

"Customers and auto dealers benefit from our new online plate fee calculator," Land said. "It's easy to use, free and involves no extra paperwork. A dealer simply enters the required information and the calculator does the rest. This great new tool will help minimize errors and ensure a quicker turnaround time when the vehicle's paperwork is processed."

The plate fee calculator is found on the department's Web site at www.Michigan.gov/sos under "Services to Businesses." The application is convenient and efficient. Screen prompts appear if data is incorrectly entered or missing, allowing dealers to fix input errors quickly.

In addition to its ease of operation, the new application has other benefits. It is always current. Any changes made to plate fees on the department's mainframe system immediately

update to the plate fee calculator. The system also accepts all plate types, including personalized, fundraising, commercial, motorcycle and trailer.

Before the development of the plate fee calculator, dealers had to rely on paper license plate fee charts or an earlier plate fee calculator that was limited by the software that could operate it and had to be completely reproduced whenever updates were needed.

There are about 6,700 licensed auto dealers in Michigan. The department processes about 1.4 million title and registration transactions each year.

License plate fees for model years 1984 and newer are based on the vehicle's original base price - or "window sticker price." Fees for earlier models are based on the vehicle's weight.

For more information about the plate fee calculator, vehicle registrations or other department services, visit www.Michigan.gov/sos.

RELATED LINKS
> Plate Fee Calculator
> List of all Online Services