Dealer Doc Fees by State: Which States Cap Them and What to Do Where They Don't

The documentation fee, also called a doc fee, processing fee, or conveyance fee, is what a dealer charges for preparing and filing the paperwork on a sale. It is set by the dealer, not the government, and it appears on nearly every deal. Whether there is any legal limit on it depends entirely on your state.

The table

Each state name links to a page with the rule in full and the official source.

State	Doc fee limit	The rule
Alabama	Check with the state	Check with the state
Alaska	No cap	Alaska requires a dealer's advertised price to include all dealer fees and charges, including document fees, except title, licensing, and registration fees paid to the state. The Alaska Department of Law's consumer guidance does not set a dollar limit on the fee.
Arizona	No cap	Arizona law (A.R.S. 44-1371) requires a dealer that charges a document fee to disclose clearly in its vehicle advertisements that the fee will be charged. The statute does not set a maximum amount.
Arkansas	$129	Arkansas Motor Vehicle Commission Rule 8 limits the dealer service and handling fee to no more than $129. A dealer that charges the fee must charge it uniformly to all retail customers and disclose the amount in writing.
California	$85	California Vehicle Code 4456.5 limits the document processing charge to $85 for a dealer that is a DMV private industry partner and $70 for any other dealer. The amounts are fixed in the statute and do not adjust annually.
Colorado	Check with the state	Check with the state
Connecticut	No cap	Connecticut law (C.G.S. 14-62) does not set a dollar limit on the dealer conveyance or processing fee. The dealer must state the fee separately in the quoted price, say that it is negotiable and not payable to the state, and may not add it when the order is signed.
Delaware	Check with the state	Check with the state
District of Columbia	Check with the state	Check with the state
Florida	No cap	Florida law (section 501.976) does not set a dollar limit on dealer fees. A dealer's advertised price must include all fees the customer must pay other than taxes and government fees, and documents listing a predelivery service charge must state that it represents costs and profit to the dealer.
Georgia	Check with the state	The Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division requires advertised vehicle prices to include all dealer fees, such as doc fees, with only government charges like TAVT, tag, and title fees left out. No official statement on whether the amount of the fee is limited was found.
Hawaii	Check with the state	Check with the state
Idaho	No cap	Idaho's dealer rules do not set a maximum; they require any documentation fee to be listed separately from other fees and identified as a dealer document preparation fee that is subject to sales tax.
Illinois	Limited	State law sets a base documentary fee of $300 as of January 1, 2020, adjusted each year by the change in the Consumer Price Index. The adjusted maximum for 2026 could not be confirmed from an official source.
Indiana	$261.72	The Secretary of State's Auto Dealer Services Division, citing IC 9-32-13-7, says it will not take enforcement action over document preparation fees at or below $261.72 as of July 1, 2026. The figure is adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index.
Iowa	$180	Iowa Code section 322.19A allows a dealer to charge a documentary fee of no more than $180 for each vehicle sold. The dealer must disclose the full amount of the fee in any advertised price.
Kansas	Check with the state	Check with the state
Kentucky	Check with the state	Check with the state
Louisiana	$436	The maximum documentary fee under La. R.S. 6:969.18(A)(2) is $436 for calendar year 2026. The base amount of $425 is adjusted each year for inflation, by no more than 3%, and published by the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission.
Maine	No cap	Maine law does not set a maximum; it requires a dealer to post on the vehicle any document preparation fee that will be added to the sale price. Failing to post it is prima facie evidence of an unfair trade practice.
Maryland	$800	A dealer processing charge must be reasonable and may not exceed $800 on and after July 1, 2024. The sales contract must show it as a dealer processing charge that is not required by law.
Massachusetts	No cap	Massachusetts does not set a dollar limit on the dealer documentary preparation fee, but the Attorney General requires any mandatory doc fee to be included in the advertised price. Dealers may not charge more than $5 for title preparation.
Michigan	$280	The documentary preparation fee may not exceed 5% of the vehicle's cash price or $280, whichever is less. The dollar limit is adjusted for inflation every two years; the $280 figure was set in January 2025.
Minnesota	$350	For sales or leases on or after July 1, 2025, the documentary fee may not exceed the lesser of $350 or 10% of the value of the sale or lease. The fee must be stated separately on the sales agreement and does not adjust automatically.
Mississippi	$425	Mississippi Motor Vehicle Commission Regulation 8.1 says a dealer document or service fee may not exceed $425. The fee must be charged to all buyers and shown as a separate itemized charge on the buyer's order.
Missouri	$620.79	The maximum dealer administrative fee is $620.79 for 2026. The cap rises each year with the Consumer Price Index, and the new amount takes effect February 1.
Montana	Check with the state	Check with the state
Nebraska	Check with the state	Check with the state
Nevada	Check with the state	Check with the state
New Hampshire	Check with the state	Check with the state
New Jersey	No cap	New Jersey rules do not set a dollar limit on the documentary service fee, but a dealer must itemize each documentary service and its price in writing on the sale document. A dealer may not represent that a government agency requires the service.
New Mexico	Check with the state	Check with the state
New York	$175	A dealer may charge up to $175 for processing the registration and title paperwork, in addition to the state fees.
North Carolina	No cap	State law sets no dollar limit on dealer administrative or documentary fees. A dealer may charge one only if the amount is posted on a sign at the dealership, disclosed in price advertising and listed separately on the buyer's order or bill of sale.
North Dakota	Check with the state	Check with the state
Ohio	Limited	The documentary service charge may not exceed the lesser of a dollar maximum or 10% of the price. The dollar maximum starts from $250 and is adjusted for inflation each September by the registrar of motor vehicles for the following calendar year.
Oklahoma	Check with the state	Check with the state
Oregon	Limited	A dealer's document processing fee may not exceed $250 if the dealer uses an electronic integrator or $200 if it does not. The buyer may negotiate the fee.
Pennsylvania	Limited	For 2026 a dealer's documentary preparation fee may not exceed $490 when the paperwork is processed electronically or $409 when it is not. The limits are adjusted every year for inflation.
Rhode Island	Check with the state	Check with the state
South Carolina	No cap	State law sets no fixed limit on a dealer's closing fee, but the dealer must file its maximum fee with the Department of Consumer Affairs. A fee of $225 or less is automatically approved, and a higher fee may be reviewed against the dealer's actual costs.
South Dakota	Check with the state	Check with the state
Tennessee	Check with the state	Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission advertising rules require a dealer to disclose the amount of any document preparation or processing fee and to state that it is excluded from the advertised price. No official statement on whether the amount is limited was found.
Texas	No cap	Texas does not set a fixed maximum for the documentary fee on financed sales. A dealer may charge up to $225 without filing; to charge more, the dealer must first notify the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner and provide a cost analysis, which the agency reviews for reasonableness.
Utah	No cap	Utah does not limit the amount of a dealer documentation fee. A dealer that charges one must list it separately from state-mandated fees and post a sign stating that the fee represents costs and profit to the dealer and is not set by the state.
Vermont	Check with the state	Check with the state
Virginia	No cap	The Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board states that Virginia law has no restrictions on the amount a dealership can charge for a processing fee. The fee is an elective charge by the dealership.
Washington	$200	A dealer may charge a documentary service fee of up to $200 per sale or lease. The fee must be disclosed in writing as negotiable, listed separately from the price, and not represented as required by the state.
West Virginia	Check with the state	West Virginia Code 17A-6-18a gives the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, advised by the Motor Vehicle Dealers Advisory Board, authority to set the documentary charges dealers may charge consumers. The amount currently set was not found on an official source.
Wisconsin	No cap	Wisconsin rules do not set a dollar limit on the dealer service fee, but the fee must be reasonable, must be disclosed to the buyer in advance, and cannot be increased after disclosure. The purchase contract must state that the service fee is not required by law.
Wyoming	Check with the state	Check with the state
"Check with the state" means we could not confirm the rule from an official source. We leave those blank rather than repeat figures from unofficial lists, which are often out of date because several caps adjust every year.

What a cap does and does not mean

In a state with a cap, the figure is a ceiling, not a required charge. Most dealers charge exactly the maximum. A fee above the cap is a problem worth raising with the dealer and, if it is not corrected, with the state agency named on that state's page. Some caps rise each year with inflation, so last year's number may be wrong today.

In a state with no cap, the dealer chooses the amount. Some states still regulate how it is charged: for example, by requiring that it be disclosed in a set way, labelled as a dealer charge rather than a government fee, or charged equally to every customer. A fee is not illegal there simply because it is high.

Either way, the fee is real money in your total, and dealers a few miles apart can differ on it by hundreds of dollars.

Why dealers will not take it off

Dealers generally charge the same doc fee to every buyer. Many say that removing it for one customer would expose them to claims of treating customers differently, and in some states the law does require uniform charging. In practice this means the line itself rarely moves.

The price of the car does move. A dealer who will not touch a doc fee can lower the selling price by the same amount, and the total you pay is identical.

What to do about it

Ask for the doc fee before you visit. Put it in your first email: "What is your documentation fee, and are there any other dealer fees?" A dealer that will not say is telling you something.
Compare totals, not prices. Get an itemized out-the-door price from each dealer. A car that is $300 cheaper with a doc fee $500 higher is the more expensive car.
Negotiate the total. Use this line: "I understand the doc fee is fixed. I need the out-the-door number to be X, so please adjust the selling price." The email method makes this easy across several dealers at once.
Check it against your state's rule. If your state has a cap, confirm the fee is at or under it.
Watch for a second fee doing the same job. An "administrative fee", "dealer service fee", or "electronic filing fee" on top of a doc fee deserves a question. Government title and registration charges are separate and legitimate; see dealer fees explained for which is which.

Is the doc fee taxed?

In many states, yes: it is treated as part of the sale price. Where the state's own guidance says so, the state page notes it. This is one reason the tax line on a quote can be higher than the price times the rate. Car sales tax by state covers the rest.

If you would rather not referee the fees yourself

Comparing fee structures across several dealers is exactly the kind of work that is tedious to do once and routine to do daily. If you want a person to collect the itemized quotes and push on the totals for you, that is what the concierge service does.

This guide explains how documentation fees generally work. It is not legal advice, and your state's consumer protection office is the final word on what a dealer may charge.