Vehicle Registration Violation Information

The Town of Kittery loses thousands of dollars each year in excise tax revenue on vehicles which are registered out of State, but whose owners actually live in Maine. 

While some vehicle owners may be truly unaware of their obligation to register their vehicles in Maine, especially if they are recent transplants, there are those who intentionally ignore the law in order to save a few dollars. While New Hampshire does have state and local registration fees, vehicle insurance is not required in New Hampshire as it is in Maine.

Maine law states that: “An owner of a vehicle who becomes a resident of this State shall register that vehicle in this State within 30 days of establishing residency.”  To read the full Title 29-A §351 please click here.

• If a new resident misses that deadline, they could be cited for a traffic infraction and subject to a $70 fine.
• If the vehicle goes unregistered in Maine for more than 150 days, the infraction becomes a Class E crime with stiffer penalties and a higher fine.
  • In addition, under Maine law, violators may be charged with evasion of registration fees and excise taxes, which means an additional fine of $500 to $1,000.

Violators could be looking at as much as $2,000 in fines. The law regarding evasion of registration fees and excise taxes can be found by clicking here.

If you know or suspect someone is not complying with the law and their duty to register their vehicles in this State, we urge you to contact us.  We will assign an officer to look into the claim and investigate whether or not a violation of the law is present.