Utah seems like a nice enough place. Lots of mountains, clean air, and Salt Flats that are home to some of Earth's greatest land speed records. Oh yeah, and it hosted the Olympics that one time. But if you are a resident and want to register your car online, you are looking at a California-like smog requirement, and you might even need a state safety inspection depending on what you drive.
Well, we at Dirt Legal don’t care for that answer. We don’t believe you should have to worry about smog checks or state inspections at all, no matter where you live. So let’s compare Utah’s vehicle registration process to some much more palatable alternatives that are also available to Utah residents.
A Little Utah History
Utah is a threshold state to the Wild West, bordering other mountainous western states that get cold. It is a relatively large state, thirteenth in total area, yet it is the eleventh least densely populated state. It sounds pretty awesome.
Anyway, Utah was inhabited by many indigenous groups, including the Navajo and Ute tribes. The area making up Utah was annexed by the U.S. after the Mexican-American War and was hinterland.
There is a lot of history in Utah as it trudged on toward statehood, which it did not achieve until 1895. Utah is not a thriving agricultural community because it is a mostly barren wasteland. However, they do have a lot of mining, and tourism is the other thriving industry. In addition, the Wasatch mountains are home to some of the best skiing snow in the world.
Living in Utah
The state is booming, with a growth rate of 18.4 percent from 2010 through 2020. I have no data to support this, but I’d bet it will continue to go up with the advent of Zoom work being the new normal.
The overall cost of living in Utah is about ten percent above average, and housing is pretty high comparatively. But with all things being equal, housing cost in Utah is about a third that of the Bay Area, so if you are a young tech worker, you can trade in a $1 million mortgage for half of that and come away with a better view and access to some of the freshest powder in the world. Snow that is. For skiing and stuff.
Going back to what I said about Utah being a barren wasteland, I didn’t mean that as a dig. It was a geographically correct statement. Eighty percent of Utah’s population lives along the front range of the lovely Wasatch Range. This makes up the Salt Lake City - Provo - Ogden Combined Area, an area that is less than three percent of the state's total area yet it houses some 2.2 million people. So, over ninety percent of Utah holds just fourteen percent of the population. Sparse.
Driving in Utah
That sparse spread means residents of Utah had better get used to spending time on the road. If you live somewhere outside of the SLC metro, or if you ever want to see something different, you will probably do a lot of driving. Unfortunately, there is not a lot outside of SLC.
Not unless you love mountains, wide-open spaces, and going really, really fast on a salt track. The more I look at it and think about it, Utah looks like the best place in the world to own a street-legal side-by-side.
All this geography does tie into vehicle registrations, I promise. Because while a majority of the state’s physical area is rural, statewide laws are often still written with an urban focus in mind.
The Utah Vehicle Registration Process
Auto Sales Taxes In Utah
Registration isn’t usually a big deal; we walk in, maybe have a couple of hundred in fees, and move on. However, it is the taxes that kill. While far from the insanity of New York and California, Utah has a sub-optimal auto sales tax rate of 6.85 percent.
Like I said, not quite in the ballpark of LA, which sits around ten percent in most of the metro, or NYC that is 8.88 percent, but almost seven percent will add up fast.
How fast? Let’s take a look at some examples.
If you are in the market for a new car, you are well aware that:
There are no new cars available. Not literally none, but not all that far from it either. Many people are choosing to hold onto their whips for the time being because used car prices are up at least forty percent. Sure, you can make a killing on selling a used car right now (I sure did), but you might not find anything to replace it with.
The average price for a new car is now past $47,000. Okay, a few months ago, we were writing about this, and the new car price was breaking past $43,000. So do not be surprised when it crests $50,000.
Ok, so let’s consider a brand new car for $47,000. Your tax bill in Utah will look something like $3,219.50. That stings.
Used car prices are also way up right now so that 6.85 percent chunk will be much more significant. As of January, the average price of a used car has broken $28,000. If you want an idea of how insane all of this is, the average price of a new auto loan at the end of 2018 was $31,455. New car prices have been up 49.4 percent since then. To make matters worse, the average price of a used car right now is 89 percent of the price of a new car just three years ago.
The car market is getting worse. Why all of the depressing news? Hey, I’m just the messenger here. I don’t like being the bearer of bad news, but it’s out there.
In 2018, the tax bill for an average-priced new car ($31,455) in Utah at 6.85 percent was $2,154.67.
The tax note for a $28,000 used car is $1,918.
Not only has a new car price gone up almost fifty percent these days, but your tax bill is a grand higher now than a few short years ago.
How about the rest of the bill?
Utah has a uniform age-based fee structure, meaning they have specific age brackets corresponding to what you must pay. Note these only apply to passenger vehicles.
Less than three years old: $150.
Three to less than six years old: $110.
Six to less than nine years old: $80.
Nine to less than 12 years old: $50.
Twelve years old or older: $10.
Tagging & Registration in Utah
Besides the relatively high tax rate, the registration process is not complicated. But again, the issue here is the tax rate. Why should you be obligated to hand over almost seven percent of your hard-earned money to the state over a car that is already inflated far beyond any natural value?
There are two other components of registering a vehicle in Utah that can be prohibitively expensive or difficult for certain vehicles: safety inspections and smog checks.
Safety Inspections
Utah is a state that requires smog inspections and vehicle safety inspections, although not necessarily on all vehicles. According to DMV.org, safety inspections are required for the following vehicles:
Salvaged vehicles whose owners are requesting a rebuilt vehicle title
Commercial vehicles
Street-legal ATVs
School buses
Buses or vans for hire
Ground transportation service providers
Vehicles with three axles or more
These safety inspections can be difficult for certain vehicles to pass, Especially some modified vehicles.
Smog Checks
This is the big one. A bad smog check is not only a hassle, but it can/will end up costing you a lot of money to fix the problem. In addition, if you cannot fix the problem, you cannot complete your Utah car registration.
Utah smog checks are generally only required in counties that make up the SLC metro. These include:
Davis
Salt Lake
Utah
Weber
Cache
Passenger vehicles are tested biennially, with slightly different variations among these counties on when, so check your local resources for details.
Thankfully, if you are having trouble passing or don't want to pass your local Utah safety inspection or emissions test, there are alternative ways to get on the road.
The Dirt Legal Advantage
We are the experts at getting people set up with titling and registering their vehicles in states that are amenable to cutting people a break.
Montana LLC
Our best option for reducing your sales tax burden takes it down to zero. It is our Montana LLC Service, where you will own your vehicle under an asset-holding LLC in Montana. The LLC meets the criteria necessary to register a vehicle in Montana, as Montana requires proof of residence in the state to title and register vehicles there. And because your LLC is established in Montana, you don't actually have to live there. No smog testing, no inspection, and major savings are on the table.
Everyone’s tax bill and savings are going to look a little different, but here are some rough estimates:
For the average-priced brand new car, your savings by registering with our Montana LLC program will be about $2,500.
With a used car priced at $28,000, you will reduce your cost by over $1,200.
Any opportunity to keep anywhere from $1,200 to $2,500 in your pockets is a win. More so now than anytime in the past four decades based on the record-setting inflation. And if you are registering a high-price car, truck, or exotic, your savings will be even more.
South Dakota Registration
Maybe setting up an LLC isn’t the level of commitment you are looking for. Or maybe you want fewer steps.
Our South Dakota Registration Service is another popular option due to its hardline against state inspections of any kind and a low, fixed tax rate of four percent. Also, we can hook you up with online vehicle registration for your annual renewal.
Back to our case study of the brand new car: in South Dakota, the sales tax on $47,000 at four percent is $1,880, a savings of $1,339.50. For the used car, the tax savings on a $28,000 used car will be $800, which is an amount that anyone can agree with saving. Plus, consider that we aren’t factoring in smog check fees because South Dakota does not require smog testing.
Even though the smog checks themselves won’t cost much, the potential for repairs can and eventually will cost you. Of course, the longer you own a car, the more it pays for itself, but there is the converse action that at some point, the emissions equipment will wear out and must be replaced, and you can easily be looking at a four-figure bill to repair it.
You Will Save Money Either Way
With either of the services mentioned, you will never need to worry about inspections or smog testing again. An added perk of registering in Montana is permanent vehicle registration. Once the vehicle is eleven years old or older, it is no longer required to renew; the owner is registered for life.
Utah is a special place, filled with absolute beauty and plenty of wide-open spaces. It has one of the fastest racing flats globally and is steeped in automotive and cultural history. But if you live where most residents do, you may feel like you are paying too much on registration and being hassled with inspections and smog checks.
Dirt Legal is your one-stop shop to slash your tax burden and put smog checks and safety inspections away forever. So give us a call today to go over the specifics for your vehicle, and we’ll discuss your options, or you can put one of our services in your shopping cart and get started right now!
John McCoy is a lifelong car and truck enthusiast and has a strong mechanical background off the road. He spent over 13 years in the U.S. Air Force as a crew chief, assigned to the B-1B Lancer, affectionately known as the Bone to those in the community, and the KC-135R Stratotanker. He resides on a small farm in Eastern Kansas where he (sometimes) enjoys fixing ancient farm equipment.