Changes Coming for Missouri Motor Vehicle Buyers

Due to the passage of Senate Bill 28, purchasing a motor vehicle in Missouri will look different down the road - in late 2026 or early 2027.

The law will take effect August 28 - but the change to paying vehicle sales tax will only be implemented once the second phase of the Department of Revenue‘s new FUSION system is operational.

​Once the system is in place, motor vehicle buyers - when purchasing through a dealership, will be required to pay sales tax at the point of sale.  If purchasing from a private party, buyers will continue to take their bill of sale to any Missouri license office to pay sales tax. In both scenarios, buyers will get a paper copy of their new license plate. The permanent metal plate, with the same number configuration, will be mailed to the buyer. Receiving a temporary tag will no longer be an option.

“This change to the way we collect sales tax will eliminate temporary license tags which rob the state of millions of dollars each year because of drivers who never pay their sales tax,” said Missouri Director of Revenue Trish Vincent. “Though the law goes into effect on August 28, the sales tax changes cannot take effect until our new FUSION system is up and running.”

FUSION is an acronym for Fifty Unique Systems In One Nexus. Its purpose is to combine older mainframe systems and software applications that can no longer communicate with each other into one core system that will significantly increase speed and efficiency in performing motor vehicle and driver licensing functions. The first phase, which centered on driver licensing, was implemented on November 12, 2024.

“This new law affects both the seller and the buyer,” Vincent said. “We are going to work with dealers to get everyone trained on the new system and prepared to collect sales tax. Buyers will need to be ready to pay the full sales tax amount at the time of purchase.”

Until FUSION is fully operational, the current sales tax collection process will remain in effect for both dealerships and private vehicle purchases.