The Estonian car registration fee: when it is due, how much, and how to book it

The registration fee is paid before a passenger car or van is first registered in Estonia, or before the first change of owner of a car already registered here if no fee was ever paid for it (Traffic Act § 190¹⁸). For a company it is a non-refundable tax on the acquisition, so it is added to the cost of the car and depreciated with it.

This page is part of the guide vehicle tax, registration and fleet insurance. To compute the fee, use the car tax calculator.

When the fee arises

The fee is set in chapter 12³ of the Traffic Act and administered by the Transport Administration (Traffic Act § 190²⁰). It applies to passenger cars (M1) and vans (N1) (§ 190¹⁷). The obligation arises (§ 190¹⁸(2)):

• on the first registration of the vehicle in the traffic register; or
• on the first change of owner of a vehicle for which no fee was paid on registration.

So a car registered in Estonia before 2025 triggers the fee on its first sale after 01.01.2025. That also covers a sale between two companies of the same group.

No fee arises when a lessee entered as responsible user buys the car out at the end of a lease, or on inheritance. A later sale of such a car counts as the first change of owner (§ 190¹⁸(4)-(5)).

Who pays, and when

The fee is paid by the person in whose interest the register entry is made, which in a sale is normally the buyer (Traffic Act § 190¹⁸(1)). The Transport Administration fixes the amount after the pre-registration inspection and before the change of owner, and the fee must be paid before the entry is made (§ 190¹⁸(3), § 190¹⁹). The Transport Administration asks buyer and seller to agree who pays it, so write it into the sale contract (Transport Administration: motor vehicle tax and registration fee).

The rates

Passenger car (Traffic Act § 190²²):

A fully electric car pays 150 euros plus 2 euros for each kg above 2,400 kg, at most 2,200 euros (§ 190²²(8)).

Van (Traffic Act § 190²³): a base of 300 euros plus a CO2 part of 2 euros for each gram from 1 to 204 g/km, 30 euros from 205 to 250, 35 euros from 251 to 300 and 40 euros from 301 g/km. There is no mass part. An electric van pays 200 euros.

Reclassification. Since 01.01.2026 a passenger car with more than seven seats pays the van rate, and a van with a specific power above 0.20 kW per kg of payload pays the passenger car rate (§ 190²²(10), § 190²³(10)). These are the same rules as for the annual motor vehicle tax.

Age factor. Everything above the base is reduced by a factor that goes from 0.87 for a vehicle of 1 year to 0.05 for a vehicle of 20 years (§ 190²⁴).

Example

A new petrol car at 130 g/km and a full mass of 1,900 kg:

• base: 150 euros;
• CO2 part: 117 grams x 5 euros = 585 euros, plus 13 grams (118 to 130) x 10 euros = 130 euros;
• mass part: none.

Fee: 150 + 585 + 130 = 865 euros.

State fees that the registration fee replaces

Passenger cars and vans never pay the separate registration state fee of 120 or 150 euros (State Fees Act § 142⁷²(1)). On a change of owner, the change-of-owner state fee is not charged when the registration fee is due (§ 142⁷⁴(1¹)).

How a company books it

• Cost of the car. The acquisition cost of a fixed asset includes non-refundable taxes and the state fees directly linked to the acquisition (Accounting Standards Board guideline RTJ 5, paragraphs 11 and 12). So the fee is capitalised and depreciated with the car. For a dealer, it is part of the cost of the inventory.
• No VAT. The fee carries no VAT and gives no input VAT.
• A dealer that pays for the buyer. If the dealer pays the fee as the buyer's obligation, in the buyer's name and for the buyer's account, and books it on a transit account, the reimbursement is not part of the VAT base (VAT Act § 12(9)). Only a fee the dealer owes itself, for example on registering the car in its own name, and then passes on, is taxed with the car (§ 12(6¹)).

When the fee comes back

Only in set cases, and only in part. When the car is deleted from the register to be used outside Estonia (Traffic Act § 190²⁷):

• apply within 60 days of the deletion;
• the car must be less than ten years old from its first registration;
• the refund is not the amount paid, but the fee recalculated on the deletion day, after the age factor, at the rates in force when it was paid;
• the base part is kept if the car leaves within one year of its first registration;
• amounts below 300 euros are not refunded.

Apart from that, only an overpaid fee is refunded, on application.

Rates rise in 2028 and 2031

The registration fee rates rise by law on 01.01.2028 and again on 01.01.2031 (Motor Vehicle Tax Act § 25(6)-(7), which bring into force amendments to the Traffic Act). Check the current rate before you time a purchase, or the first sale of a car registered before 2025.

General information, not advice for your situation. The law as in force on 30.09.2026.