Owning a Supercar in America: Gas Guzzler Tax, Sales Tax, Registration and Emissions Rules

The one federal tax aimed squarely at supercars is the gas guzzler tax. It applies to new passenger cars with a combined fuel economy below 22.5 mpg, and it scales with thirst — from $1,000 for cars just under the threshold to $7,700 for anything rated below 12.5 mpg. Most V8, V10 and V12 exotics sit somewhere in the middle of that range.

Two details matter for buyers. First, the tax is paid by the manufacturer or importer and simply built into the window sticker, so you will see it as a line item rather than a separate bill. Second, it is a one-time charge on the first sale: buy the same car used and the gas guzzler tax is already paid and gone. Notably, the tax only applies to cars — SUVs and trucks are exempt, which is why high-performance SUVs escape it.

In the US the cost that dwarfs everything else at purchase is state and local sales tax, and it varies enormously. Five states — Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon — charge no statewide sales tax on vehicles at all. At the other end, combined state and local rates in parts of California, Tennessee, Louisiana and Washington exceed 9 or 10 percent, which on a $300,000 car is a $30,000 bill before you have driven a mile.

Critically, sales tax is generally charged by the state where you register the car, not where you buy it, which closes the obvious loophole of shopping in a no-tax state. You will hear about owners registering exotics through a Montana LLC to avoid tax; be aware that many states now actively pursue residents who do this, with back-tax demands and penalties, so treat it as a legal and financial risk rather than a clever trick.

Annual registration is usually a modest few hundred dollars, though some states calculate it on the car’s value or weight and it can climb accordingly. The far larger annual hit, where it exists, is personal property tax on vehicles. States such as Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri, Kansas and several others levy an annual tax based on the car’s assessed value — on a six-figure exotic that can mean thousands of dollars every year for as long as you own it.

This is the closest American equivalent to Britain’s high VED bands, and it is the cost most often overlooked by buyers moving between states. If you are choosing where to garage a collection, the presence or absence of vehicle property tax can matter more than the sales tax rate.

America has no city emissions zones and no daily charge for driving a thirsty car anywhere. What it does have is a split emissions regime. Federal EPA standards apply nationwide, but California sets stricter rules through the California Air Resources Board, and a group of other states have adopted the CARB standards. A car certified only to federal standards — a “49-state” car — can be difficult or impossible to register as new in a CARB state.

For buyers of modern cars from major manufacturers this is rarely a problem, because almost everything is built to 50-state specification. It becomes relevant with low-volume manufacturers, grey-market imports and certain modified cars. Many states also require periodic smog or emissions inspections, so a car with an aftermarket exhaust that deletes catalysts can fail and become unregistrable until it is returned to stock.

Finally, if the car you want was never sold in the US, the 25-year import rule applies: non-US-spec vehicles generally cannot be imported until they are 25 years old, with a narrow Show or Display exemption for a short list of historically significant cars.

Compared with the UK, the US is a cheaper place to own a supercar once the car is in your driveway: no zones, no emissions-based road tax and, in most states, low annual fees. The money is front-loaded instead — sales tax at purchase is the number to plan around, and in property-tax states that bill keeps coming. Buying used sidesteps the gas guzzler tax and, as everywhere, the steepest depreciation.

The ownership costs that do not change with geography — servicing, tyres, insurance and depreciation — are covered in our real running costs of a modern supercar. If budget is the constraint, our round-up of the cheapest supercars you can actually buy is the place to start, and if you are still weighing up whether you need a supercar at all, read supercar vs sports car first.