The California smog abatement fee explained

The short answer

The smog abatement fee is a charge DMV adds to your registration while a gas, hybrid or alternative fuel car is new. It is $20 a year in model years one to six and $25 a year in years seven and eight. It takes the place of the biennial smog check for those first eight model years. After year eight, the fee stops and the smog checks start.

This guide explains each line item, why years seven and eight cost more, where the extra $8 goes, when it ends, and how the fee compares with paying for tests.

What the smog abatement fee is

California law lets a new car skip the smog check at renewal. Health and Safety Code section 44060 sets a fee for those exempt years. The base fee is $12. In 2008, Health and Safety Code section 44060.5 added another $8. That makes $20 a year. DMV's fee table lists the smog abatement fee as $20.

The fee shows up on the DMV registration renewal notice. You pay it with your other registration fees.

It is easy to confuse with a few other smog charges. The table sorts them out.

DMV's registration fee page and your renewal notice show the exact lines for your car. Read each line by name, because the amounts are close.

$20 or $25 a year

The fee depends on the age of the car, counted in model years.

• Model years one to six cost $20 a year.
• Model years seven and eight cost $25 a year. AB 1274, passed in 2017, set the higher fee when it stretched the exempt window from six years to eight. The change took effect on January 1, 2019.
• After year eight there is no abatement fee. The car is on the regular schedule, with a smog check at renewal every two years in biennial areas.

The rule of thumb from BAR is to add 8 to the model year. A 2020 model year car is in its eighth year in 2027, so it pays its last abatement fee in 2027 and has its first smog check in 2028.

Where the money goes

The $8 add on from section 44060.5 is split in half. Four dollars goes to the Air Quality Improvement Fund. The other four dollars goes to the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund.

The add on has an end date. AB 126, passed in 2023, sets the sunset at July 1, 2035. After that date, the law as written no longer collects the extra $8.

The base $12 comes from section 44060(d)(1) of the same code.

Is the fee a good deal

You can compare the fee with the cost of testing a car in the same years. A car that is not exempt would face roughly four biennial smog checks in eight years. BAR reports a statewide average inspection price of $67.20 for 2025. Add the $8.25 certificate fee that you pay when the car passes, and each check runs $75.45.

Four checks would cost about $301.80. The fee total is $170. So the fees cost about $132 less than testing. The comparison is rough, since testing is not needed in every county, but it shows what the fee replaces.

There is one more way to see it. A new car also avoids the risk of a failed smog check and the repair bills that follow. BAR's 2025 data shows an average reported emissions repair of $756.68. Newer cars fail less often. In 2025, model year 2023 cars failed 4.4 percent of first tests, against 11.2 percent for model year 2005.

How many cars pay the fee

DMV's fleet file lets us size the group. In the snapshot taken at the end of 2024, 9.97 million gas, hybrid, flex fuel, plug in hybrid and natural gas vehicles sat in model years 2018 to 2025. These are the cars in their fee years in 2025.

Model year 2025 is still filling in because the snapshot ends in December 2024. The biggest single group is model year 2018 with 1,598,689 vehicles. The groups for the years that pay $25, model years 2018 and 2019, hold 3,183,710 vehicles together. Treat the table as a size check, not an exact count of fee payers.

What changed when the window grew to eight years

Before January 1, 2019, the exempt window was six model years. A car in its seventh and eighth years was on the biennial schedule. Since 2019, those two years are covered by the $25 fee instead.

Think of one biennial check that falls inside those two years. It would have cost about $75.45, counting the average price and the certificate fee. The two years of fees at $25 cost $50. The owner pays about $25.45 less, and the car does not have to visit a station.

First test failure rates for cars in the fee years run from 4.4 to 5.6 percent in BAR's 2025 data, depending on the model year. That is well below the 8.5 percent rate for all cars.

What the fee does not do

• It is not a smog check. Paying the fee does not certify that your car is clean. The car can still be flagged later.
• It does not protect against special orders. BAR can still require a check on an exempt age car if remote sensing flags it, if it is registering from out of state, if it is specially constructed or if it was randomly selected.
• It does not cover a first registration from another state. A car that comes in from out of state needs its smog check even in its fee years. See moving to California.
• It does not replace the sale rule. A car in years five to eight still needs a smog certificate at sale.

How to read your renewal notice

1. Find the model year. It is on your registration card. Count the age of the car from it.
2. Find the fee lines. Look for the smog abatement fee, the Alternative Fuel/Technology Smog Fee and any smog transfer fee.
3. Match the amount to the year. $20 in years one to six, $25 in years seven and eight.
4. Check the smog line. If the notice says a smog certification is required, the car is past its exempt years or was flagged.
5. Ask DMV about odd amounts. The fee table on the DMV site is the reference to compare against.

A short history of the fee

1. Before 2008. The fee is the $12 base amount set in section 44060.
2. July 1, 2008. Section 44060.5 adds $8, so the yearly fee becomes $20.
3. 2017. AB 1274 extends the exempt window to eight model years and sets $25 for years seven and eight.
4. January 1, 2019. The eight year window and the $25 fee take effect.
5. 2023. AB 126 sets the sunset of the $8 add on at July 1, 2035.

The 2035 date is the one to watch. Check DMV's fee table when you renew, since the amounts there are the ones DMV actually charges.

Who does not pay

• Diesel owners. Diesels get neither the four year sale exemption nor the eight year renewal exemption. The fee does not stand in for their smog checks.
• Owners of older cars. Once a car is past year eight, the abatement fee is gone and the smog check is back.
• Owners of cars 1975 and older. These cars are exempt from smog checks entirely.

Read the model year lookup table to see where your car sits.

The $8 smog transfer fee

A different $8 appears when a car is sold. When a gas vehicle that is four model years old or newer changes hands, it does not need a smog check. The buyer pays an $8 smog transfer fee to DMV instead. Vehicle Code section 4000.1(d)(7) sets this rule. Diesel is carved out of it.

The transfer fee does not replace the abatement fee. Both can apply to the same car, the yearly abatement fee while it is registered and the transfer fee once when it is sold. Read more in the buying and selling guide.

What happens when the fee years end

1. Year nine arrives. The abatement fee falls off your renewal notice.
2. The notice adds a smog line. It says "Smog Certification Required" or "Smog Certification Required at a STAR station."
3. You may test up to 90 days early. Do it any time within 90 days before the due date.
4. You pay the station and the state. That means the station's price plus the $8.25 certificate fee when the car passes.

If your car is directed to a STAR station, read our STAR station guide. If you are not sure the rules apply to you, start with do I need a smog check.