Buying guide

The tax bill on an exotic or collector car: Illinois private-sale, dealer, and out-of-state rules, plus the gas guzzler tax

Updated October 27, 2026 · Written by the Only for the Wealthy editors · General information, not legal or financial advice

A Ferrari from a private collector in Lake Forest, a Porsche from a dealer in Scottsdale, a McLaren delivered to a Gold Coast garage: three acquisitions, three very different tax bills. Here is how Illinois, Cook County, and the City of Chicago tax a car at this level, what changed in 2026, and the federal tax many buyers never see itemized.

Why this matters now

The price on the bill of sale is only the first number. When an exotic or collector car is titled in Illinois, the state, and often the county and the city, each take a turn, and which taxes apply depends less on the car than on who sold it to you and where. The rules moved again this year. The Illinois Department of Revenue’s current instructions for out-of-state dealer purchases tell Cook County buyers to use a 7.5 percent rate for transactions beginning August 1, 2026, up from 7.25 percent before that date, and buyers in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties to use 7.25 percent, up from 7.0 percent [5]. The private-party tax chart in force runs from January 1 through December 31, 2026 [1].

None of this should change which car you buy. It should change how you read the paperwork, how you budget the last line of the deal, and what you file in the 30 days after the car arrives. Here is what the official sources say, so the tax bill is as considered as the purchase.

Three ways to buy, three different Illinois taxes

Illinois has two complementary taxes that together make up what most people call sales tax: a tax on retailers’ gross receipts and a use tax on the privilege of using property in the state that was bought at retail anywhere [7]. For a car, the form you file and the way the tax is measured depend on the seller [2][5][6]:

The Department’s own summary puts the general use tax rate at 6.25 percent of the purchase price, with automobiles and other titled items included [4]. Either way, the title office wants proof: the Secretary of State will not process your title and plates without a printed copy of a RUT-50 filed online [2], and a RUT-25 has to be filed with proof of payment or exemption before a title or registration is issued [5].

Buying from a private collector: the RUT-50 chart

The private sale is where the Illinois system surprises buyers of serious cars, because the tax is a flat amount by price band, not a percentage. For 2026, when the price (or fair market value) is $15,000 or more, the state chart reads [1]:

Below $15,000 the tax depends on the car’s age instead, from $465 for a car a year old or newer down to $100 at eleven years or older [1]. A motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, ATV, or motorized pedalcycle is a flat $25 [1], which is worth knowing if your next acquisition has two wheels (see our premium motorcycle guide).

Some transfers carry a nominal tax or none. The tax is $15 when the car comes from a spouse or civil-union partner, parent, brother, sister, or child (step-relations, in-laws, and grandparents don’t qualify), as an estate gift to a beneficiary other than a surviving spouse, or in a business reorganization [1][2]. It is $0 for an estate gift to a surviving spouse, and for an individual who was an out-of-state resident and used the car outside Illinois for at least three months [1].

Three rules matter most at the top of the market:

• No trade-in deduction. The chart is applied to the price without any trade-in allowance [1][2].
• Price means everything given. The purchase price is the value given in money or otherwise, including cash, credits, property, or service; with no stated price, as in a gift or an even swap, fair market value is used, and a licensed dealer can supply it [1][2].
• The state can look past the bill of sale. If the Department believes the price reported was low, it can send a notice increasing the tax based on fair market value. Its advice is to answer with a signed copy of the bill of sale or a fair market value appraisal from a licensed dealer, and Form RUT-49, the Vehicle Transaction Affidavit, can verify or add details [6]. Attaching the bill of sale when you file may prevent notices in the first place [2].

The local layer: Chicago and Cook County

Where you title the car matters as much as where you bought it. The state administers some local private-party taxes on the same RUT-50, based on the address on your title or registration application, and if that address is in both a listed city and a listed county you pay both [3]. For 2026 the reference guide lists [3]:

• City of Chicago: $80 for a car three years old or newer, $65 at four to eight years, $50 at nine to fourteen years, and $0 at fifteen years or older. A motorcycle or ATV is $15 regardless of age.
• Cook County: $225 at three years or newer, $175 at four to eight years, and $90 at nine years or older. A motorcycle or ATV is $90.

Buying from a dealer brings two more local taxes that don’t appear on the state forms at all:

• Cook County Use Tax. If the car is bought from a retail dealer, not a private individual, and titled or registered to a Cook County address, the county tax is 1 percent of the purchase price. A Cook County dealer should collect it; a dealer outside Cook County may not tell you about it or collect it, and then it is yours to pay [8]. The county says amounts on the state ST-556 or RUT-25 do not show that its tax was paid [8]. If you haven’t received a notice, the county asks you to file a self-assessment through its online taxpayer portal, with the bill of sale or state tax form attached [9].
• Chicago Use Tax for Titled Personal Property. The city taxes the purchase of titled property for use in Chicago from a vendor located outside Chicago, at 1.25 percent of taxable purchases on the city’s tax page [10]. A Chicago resident who buys from a suburban or out-of-state dealer should expect it.

Buying out of state: the rules for bringing it home

The car you want is rarely around the corner, and a purchase in Florida, California, or Arizona is common at this level. If the dealer is not registered to collect Illinois tax, you file the RUT-25 within 30 days after the car is brought into Illinois [5]. What goes into the taxable price is broad: accessories, federal excise taxes, freight and labor, documentary fees, and any rebates or incentives for which the dealer is reimbursed from any source [5]. A trade-in credit must appear on the dealer’s bill of sale, and rebates are not deducted [5].

Tax already paid elsewhere can count. You may claim credit for tax previously paid to another state or through a retailer, but only if it was properly due and is separately stated on your proof of payment, which you must attach [5]. The Department accepts a bill of sale, dealer’s invoice, letter from the selling dealer, or a lease document as that proof [6]. Ask the out-of-state dealer, before you sign, to show any tax collected as its own line.

Two situations reduce or remove the Illinois use tax:

• Moving to Illinois with a car you already drove elsewhere. A nonresident individual who used the car outside Illinois for at least three months owes no Illinois use tax but still files the RUT-25 to show it; the exemption does not apply to businesses relocating into Illinois, or to military members whose home of record is Illinois [5][6].
• Shorter out-of-state use. Where out-of-state use was shorter, or the buyer is a relocating business, depreciation of 1.67 percent per whole month of out-of-state use is allowed [5].

Moving the car is its own project; our guide to shipping an exotic car covers how to verify the broker and the carrier.

The federal gas guzzler tax: already in the price

Many of the most desirable engines carry one more tax that most buyers never see itemized. The federal gas guzzler tax applies to new passenger cars that don’t meet required fuel economy levels; trucks, minivans, and sport utility vehicles are not covered [11]. It is imposed on the sale, use, or lease by the manufacturer or importer [13], so on a new car bought from a dealer it is the manufacturer’s liability, built into the price chain rather than billed to you separately. The IRS form sets the tax by the model’s EPA fuel economy rating, from $1,000 at 21.5 to 22.5 mpg up to $7,700 below 12.5 mpg, and nothing at 22.5 mpg or more [12]. It applies to four-wheeled gasoline or diesel automobiles rated at 6,000 pounds or less unloaded gross weight [12].

Two practical consequences follow. First, to see whether a model is subject to it, the EPA says to look up the car on fueleconomy.gov and check the “Specs” tab [11]. Second, if you import a car yourself, the importer is you: automobiles imported for business or personal use are subject to the tax, and an individual who doesn’t import cars as a business may make a one-time filing of Forms 720 and 6197 and pay with the return. The IRS example is a car rated 15 mpg, which owes $4,500 [12]. Our guide to importing a classic or exotic car covers the rest of that paperwork.

A worked example, using the published numbers

To see why the seller matters, take a hypothetical $250,000 car titled to an address in the City of Chicago. This is arithmetic on the published rates and charts, not a quote, and it leaves out title and registration fees:

• From a private collector: $5,100 to the state from the 2026 chart [1], plus the Chicago and Cook County private-party amounts for the car’s age (for a car three years old or newer, $80 and $225) [3].
• From an unregistered out-of-state dealer: Cook County’s RUT-25 rate of 7.5 percent for transactions from August 1, 2026 [5] works out to $18,750, less any credit for tax properly paid to the other state [5]. The 1 percent Cook County Use Tax ($2,500) [8] and Chicago’s 1.25 percent titled property tax ($3,125) [10] are separate local taxes.

The gap is real, but it is not a reason to prefer a private sale for its own sake. A private sale gives up the dealer’s obligations and puts the whole job of verifying the car, the title, and the payment on you. Run our exotic car buying checklist and the title checks first, and never wire money to an “escrow” you didn’t choose (see fake escrow and wire-fraud scams).

Deadlines and penalties

The clock starts with possession. The RUT-50 is due within 30 days of acquiring the car, or of bringing it into Illinois if acquired elsewhere [2]; the RUT-25 within 30 days after the car is brought into Illinois [5]; a dealer’s ST-556 within 20 calendar days after delivery [6]. The Department charges a late filing penalty when a processable return isn’t filed by the due date and a late payment penalty when the tax isn’t paid by the original due date [2][5]. The RUT-50 can be filed and paid electronically through MyTax Illinois, but amended RUT-50 returns must be filed on paper [2].

Before you sign: a checklist for the discerning buyer

1. Decide where the car will be titled, because the city and county taxes follow that address [3][8][10].
2. Ask whether the seller is an Illinois dealer, an out-of-state dealer registered to collect Illinois tax, an unregistered out-of-state dealer, or a private party, and match the form: ST-556, RUT-25, or RUT-50 [5][6].
3. For a private sale, find your band on the 2026 chart and remember there is no trade-in deduction [1].
4. Get a bill of sale that states the true price, signed by both parties, and keep it with your filing [2][6].
5. For an out-of-state dealer, ask that any tax collected be separately stated, so you can claim credit for it [5].
6. If you title in Cook County and the dealer is outside it, budget the 1 percent county use tax and file the self-assessment if no notice arrives [8][9].
7. If you title in Chicago and the dealer is outside the city, budget the city’s titled property use tax [10].
8. Importing a car yourself? Check its fuel economy rating and the gas guzzler schedule before you commit [11][12].
9. Put the 30-day deadline in your calendar the day you take possession, or the day the transporter delivers [2][5].

Leasing instead? On a lease longer than one year, the Department says the lessor owes the use tax up front on the car’s selling price, and most lessors recover it through higher lease payments [7]; read our leasing guide for the disclosures you are owed.

Sources

1. Illinois Department of Revenue: RUT-5, Private Party Vehicle Use Tax Chart for 2026 (PDF)
2. Illinois Department of Revenue: RUT-50, Private Party Vehicle Use Tax Transaction Instructions
3. Illinois Department of Revenue: RUT-6, Form RUT-50 Reference Guide (local private party vehicle use taxes)
4. Illinois Department of Revenue: Use Tax Rates
5. Illinois Department of Revenue: RUT-25, Vehicle Use Tax Transaction Return Instructions (R-07/26, PDF)
6. Illinois Department of Revenue: Vehicle Tax FAQs
7. Illinois Department of Revenue: Sales & Use Taxes
8. Cook County Department of Revenue: Use Tax synopsis (PDF)
9. Cook County Department of Revenue: Use Tax and Individual Use Tax
10. City of Chicago Department of Finance: Use Tax for Titled Personal Property (8400, 8400R)
11. U.S. EPA: Gas Guzzler Tax
12. IRS: Form 6197, Gas Guzzler Tax, with instructions (Rev. October 2023, PDF)
13. IRS: About Form 6197, Gas Guzzler Tax

Related guides

• Exotic car buying checklist
• Shipping an exotic or collector car
• Importing a classic or exotic car into the U.S.