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Motor Vehicle Exemption — $45 Off, Not the Whole Registration

A veteran with a 100% service-connected rating is exempt from the $45 state registration fee. The rest of the registration bill still has to be paid, and the paperwork starts at the veterans office, not the DMV.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

A veteran with a 100% service-connected rating is exempt from the $45 state registration fee. The rest of the registration bill still has to be paid, and the paperwork starts at the veterans office, not the DMV.

What it's worth: $45 off the state registration fee each year — the balance is still due

  • The office states the limit plainly: the exemption entitles you to a $45.00 state registration fee exemption only, and you must still pay the balance due.
  • Its worked example is a $245 registration becoming $200 after the $45 is deducted.
  • All three requirements must be met: a service-connected 100% disability VA rating, residence in this state, and a discharge other than dishonorable.
  • The measure was signed on 2 July 2019 as Act 188 (HB 601), and the office notes that one earlier requirement was removed at that point, widening the pool of veterans who can claim it.

This record exists to correct a myth. It is $45, not the registration. The office’s own example — a $245 bill becoming $200 — is the clearest statement of that anywhere in this corpus, and it is worth reading before budgeting around a full waiver.

Who is entitled to it

  • The office asks for a 100% service-connected disability rating.
  • The office asks for a characterisation other than dishonorable.
  • Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: At registration renewal
  1. 1Go to the Office of Veterans’ Services first, not the DMV. The office writes the letter that the DMV needs; without it the counter has nothing to act on.
  2. 2Bring three things: your state driver’s licence, the car registration, and a current VA verification decision letter showing the 100% rating.
  3. 3A receptionist or counsellor prepares the letter for you.
  4. 4Give that letter to the DMV when you pay your registration fees, and check the bill afterwards — only the $45 state component should have come off.
File with
Office of Veterans’ Services, then the county DMV
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
Annual
Claimed once a year.
CorrectionIt is $45, not the registration. The office’s own example — a $245 bill becoming $200 — is the clearest statement of that anywhere in this corpus, and it is worth reading before budgeting around a full waiver.
CorrectionThe DMV is the second stop, not the first. The exemption runs on a letter written by the veterans office after seeing your licence, registration and VA decision letter.
Known gapWhether the exemption is limited to one vehicle, and whether it must be re-established each year or only once, is not stated on the page read here.
Worth knowingA separate county measure exists alongside this one. From 1 July 2026 the City and County of Honolulu began exempting veterans aged 65 and over who were not dishonorably discharged from its $20 motor vehicle registration fee, for one non-commercial vehicle annually. That is a county programme with its own gate and is not part of this record.

Sources

Why only one source type: The office’s own page states the rating gate, the residency and discharge tests, the exact $45 figure with a worked example, the documents to bring and the two-step process. The session law text itself was not read alongside it — every host in this jurisdiction refuses automated fetching and this page was opened in a browser.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.