Checked for Maine against the sources linked below, as of 2026-08-24 — and the one question that decides everything: does Maine bill the years you missed?
This state does not bill lapsed years.
Maine splits the bill in two and only the smaller half is the state's. The town collects an annual excise tax FIRST, and the BMV (or the town acting as its agent) then collects a flat $35 passenger registration fee. The excise is imposed 'with respect to each registration year' and, on the statute's own words, is paid before registration and buys a one-year period running forward from that payment - so nothing in Maine's published law bills a lapsed year. But the state does not say that in so many words, the town is the assessor, and 36 M.R.S. sec. 1485 exempts a vehicle from municipal PERSONAL PROPERTY tax only for a year in which excise was actually paid, which leaves a town a lawful hook into the unregistered years. A three-year lapse therefore has no statewide number.
On new registrations of automobiles, trucks and truck tractors, the excise tax payment must be made prior to registration and is for a one-year period from the date of registration.
Not published as a follow-the-vehicle rule. Maine excise is levied on the person registering, in the place where that person resides, so the tax attaches to the registrant rather than travelling with the car.
None published. Maine has no non-operation or planned-non-use affidavit equivalent to California's PNO or Florida's dead-storage affidavit. The exemptions in 36 M.R.S. sec. 1483 are all status-based (state vehicles, dealers' stock in trade, certain veterans, charities), not use-based.
Fee rules change and some figures depend on your county or town — confirm with the agency above before paying anything. This is plain-language help with a lapse, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.
Back to all Maine seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Maine involves. Compare every state on the 50-state lapse table.