Reviewed and updated October 12, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every fact on this page was read from the California DMV's own pages that day, and the DMV page each fact came from is linked where it appears.
The money side of the California DMV after the fee itself: how the DMV takes payment and what a card costs, which payments it refunds and which it never does, the Application for Refund and the three-year limit, the DMV's own list of refund cases with the papers each one needs, the vehicle license fee refund on a stolen or totaled vehicle, what happens when a check bounces and the Demand for Payment letter arrives, the reissue fees that reinstate a suspended license, and the rules on unpaid tickets and missed court dates. The fee schedule itself is on the California DMV fees page.
In this guide: How the DMV takes payment, What the DMV refunds, and the three-year limit, The DMV's refund cases, one by one, The vehicle license fee refund on a stolen or totaled vehicle, When a payment bounces: the Demand for Payment letter, What the DMV answers about dishonored checks, Reissue fees, Unpaid tickets and missed court dates, Questions about DMV refunds and payments in California
How the DMV takes payment
Fees are paid online, over the phone, at a kiosk, by mail or in person at a DMV office, depending on the application type and eligibility, per the DMV's payments and refunds page. The method table, which payment works on which channel, is on the fees page under how the DMV takes payment; in short, cash works only in an office or at a kiosk, a bank account works everywhere but a kiosk, and a card works everywhere but the mail. The service fee on a card depends on where it is used and on which DMV page states it: the DMV's licensing fees page gives 1.95 percent online, at a kiosk and by phone and 2.1 percent in an office, the kiosk FAQ repeats 1.95 percent for every kiosk card payment, the Virtual Office replacement plates application says 2.3 percent for a credit or debit card on that application, and the dishonored check page says a digital wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay paid in an office costs 2.1 percent. Each figure is given here as the DMV gives it on that page.
Paying from a bank account is different from paying by card in a way that matters later: the DMV explains that a bank account payment uses the routing and account numbers and is verified with the bank after the transaction is finished, while a card payment is authorized before the transaction finishes. A bank account payment that cannot be verified becomes a dishonored check, described below, even though no paper check was written.
What the DMV refunds, and the three-year limit
The DMV refunds vehicle registration, driver's license, ID card, insurance and other fees and penalties it collected when the wrong fee was paid by mistake or a fee was paid that was not required. Its payments and refunds page lists the circumstances that may qualify: renewal fees paid after the vehicle was sold; a vehicle wrecked, junked, salvaged or stolen before the first day of the new registration period; a nonresident service member or nonresident spouse who paid the vehicle license fee in error; a vehicle that left California before the first day of the new registration period; and a decision, made before the first day of the new period, not to operate the vehicle and to file planned nonoperation, in which case the PNO fee is deducted from the refund.
The request is an Application for Refund (ADM 399) mailed with the supporting papers to the address on the form. The DMV says to have the vehicle identification number or hull identification number, the driver's license number for a license fee refund or the plate or vessel registration number for a registration refund, the date the fees were paid, the name of the location where they were paid and the payment method. The ADM 399 must be filed within three years of the payment; a refund or a request for more information arrives in about 30 days; and the DMV answers two questions with a flat no: a refund request paired with a stop payment on the check, and a refund request paired with a credit card dispute. Questions about registration refunds not covered on the DMV's page go to (916) 657-8035, weekdays 8 am to 5 pm Pacific; a license or ID card refund starts with a call to 1-800-777-0133, weekdays 7 am to 7 pm.
The DMV's refund cases, one by one
The DMV's FAQ walks through the situations people ask about. Each row gives the DMV's answer and the papers it asks for; every yes starts with a completed and signed ADM 399.
| Situation | The DMV's answer | What to send with the ADM 399 |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal fees paid after the vehicle or vessel was sold | Yes, refundable | A signed Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138) or the confirmation page of the online release; the registration card or certificate of number and the unused sticker, or a Statement of Facts (REG 256) explaining why they cannot be returned |
| Renewal fees paid before the sale | No; the fees are tied to the vehicle, not the owner | Nothing to send |
| Paid the renewal, then decided not to operate the vehicle | Yes, within 90 days after the registration period starts, if the vehicle was not operated; the PNO fee is subtracted. Not for vessels or coach trailers, which cannot go on PNO | A signed planned nonoperation certification (REG 102); the registration card and the unused sticker, or a REG 256 |
| Paid the registration fees twice | Yes | Copies of the DMV receipts showing two payments, or the front and back of the cancelled checks, or the card statements with the DMV transactions highlighted |
| Paid on time, then paid a second billing notice with penalties | Yes | A REG 256 stating the fees were paid and mailed before the expiration date |
| Never received the renewal notice and was charged late fees | Yes, the late fees | A REG 256 stating the notice was not received |
| Returned a leased vehicle | Yes, if the fees were paid after the return | The REG 138 or online confirmation page; the card and unused sticker, or a REG 256 |
| Paid early, then moved out of state | Yes | Proof the vehicle was registered in the other state before the California registration expired, such as the current registration there; the California card, sticker and plates, or a REG 256 for anything missing |
| Nonresident military member paid full renewal fees | Yes, the vehicle license fee and transportation improvement fee only; not for vessels or coach trailers; may be requested more than three years later | A Nonresident Military Vehicle License Fee Exemption (REG 5045) or NATO Status of Forces Agreement (REG 5046) completed and signed by the commanding officer |
| California resident in the military, paid early and was deployed out of state | A penalty waiver, for penalties incurred during the deployment only | A REG 256 stating membership in the armed forces, reserve or National Guard and the date the deployment ended |
| Qualified for the disabled veteran exemption after paying | Yes, the current year's renewal fees once the exemption is established; one vehicle | The ADM 399 with disabled veteran fee exemption written in the Other field |
| Bought replacement plates, stickers or documents, then found the originals | No; items voluntarily requested are not refunded | Nothing to send |
| Returned a used vehicle shortly after delivery and paid use tax to the DMV | Not from the DMV; the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration handles use tax refunds at 1-800-400-7115 | Nothing to send the DMV |
| Paid parking citations with the renewal that were already paid | Contact the court or parking or toll agency that issued them | Nothing to send the DMV |
| Paid early, then the vehicle was stolen, wrecked or junked | Yes, if it happened before the renewed registration period | The REG 138 or online confirmation page, except for a stolen vehicle; the card and unused sticker, or a REG 256 |
| Donated the vehicle to a junkyard or nonprofit | No | Nothing to send |
| Started a driver's license application and stopped | No; license application fees are not refunded | Nothing to send |
Refunds of occupational license fees go through two phone lines on the DMV's page: 1-916-229-3126 for dealer, lessor-retailer, dismantler, registration service, transporter and driving and traffic violator school licenses, and 1-916-229-3128 for salesperson, representative, vehicle verifier, vessel agent and employer testing program licenses, both weekdays 8 am to 5 pm.
The vehicle license fee refund on a stolen or totaled vehicle
California law gives back a prorated share of the vehicle license fee, the part of the registration that stands in for property tax, when a vehicle becomes one of three things the DMV defines. An unrecovered total loss is a vehicle that was stolen and not recovered within 60 days after the police report date, and it must be transferred to the person or company that paid for the loss, the insurer in the DMV's example, under Revenue and Taxation Code section 10902. A constructive total loss is a vehicle wrecked, destroyed or damaged so badly that the owner or the insurer considers it uneconomical to repair and it is not repaired by or for the owner, under Vehicle Code section 544; a Salvage Certificate must be issued before the refund is processed, under Vehicle Code section 11515 and the same tax code section. A non-repairable vehicle has no value except as parts or scrap, or was found completely stripped after a theft, or was completely burned, under Vehicle Code section 431, and needs a Non-Repairable Vehicle Certificate first. The certificates themselves are on the salvage and junk vehicles guide.
The owner of the salvage vehicle requests the refund. The DMV says the insurer is the owner when you received a settlement and the insurer or its agent kept the vehicle, and you are the owner when you kept the vehicle after the insurer found it uneconomical to repair, no repairs were started by you or for you, and you applied for the Salvage or Non-Repairable Certificate; if you are not sure whether the refund was part of your settlement, the DMV says to ask the insurer, because the DMV does not have that information. A driver cited for driving under the influence in connection with the loss, under Vehicle Code sections 23152, 23153 or 23103 as specified in 23103.5, is not eligible. The amount is one-twelfth of the annual vehicle license fee for each full month left until the registration expires; the registration fee, weight fee and miscellaneous fees are not refunded; a total loss partial refund service fee, $28 on the DMV's registration fees page, is deducted, and if the service fee is more than the refundable amount no refund is issued. The form is the Application for Vehicle License Fee Refund (REG 65), Part A for a stolen vehicle and Part B for a constructive total loss or non-repairable vehicle, mailed to the address on the form only after the certificate has been issued.
When a payment bounces: the Demand for Payment letter
A payment is dishonored, in the DMV's words, when for any reason the DMV cannot deduct the funds from your account; the dishonored check service fee, $30 on the DMV's licensing fees page, is due at that point, and the DMV mails a Demand for Payment letter. The letter carries a ten-digit account number in its upper right corner, and the DMV's dishonored check payment page gives three ways to pay. Online, with the letter and either the license or ID card the check related to, or the plate number or vessel CF number plus the last five digits of the vehicle or hull identification number. By mail, with a cashier's check or money order payable to DMV, the account number written on the front, and a copy of the letter, to DMV, Revenue Services Support Unit, Mail Station C140, PO Box 825341, Sacramento, CA 94232-5341; the DMV says not to mail cash and not to send a personal check or card information, because a dishonored check cannot be paid by personal check or by credit card. In person at a DMV office, with cash, an ATM or debit card, a credit card, a digital wallet at a 2.1 percent service fee, or a cashier's check or money order, again never a personal check, plus a copy of the letter; if the letter is lost, bring the plate number for a vehicle check or the license or ID card for a license or ID check.
The amount demanded is more than the check. The DMV says it includes the face amount of the original check, the dishonored check service fee and, when the check paid vehicle registration, the maximum late penalties for that registration, because the fees become subject to penalties if the dishonored check is still unpaid after the registration expiration date, no matter when the letter arrived. If the full amount is mailed and postmarked before the expiration date the registration penalties are refunded, and a portion may be refunded when it is postmarked within 30 days after the expiration date. The penalty amounts themselves are on the fees page.
What the DMV answers about dishonored checks
A bank error. Send the Revenue Services Support Unit a letter from the bank on its letterhead giving the check number and amount and explaining the error, with a money order or cashier's check for the full amount demanded, your full name, the account number from the letter, the plate number for a vehicle check, and the license or ID number for a license or ID check; the DMV then decides whether the service fee, and for a registration the penalties, can be refunded in full or in part.
Not your check. If you did not submit the check and are not the registered owner of the vehicle or the person the license or ID card was issued to, mail a written explanation with copies of any papers that prove it to the same unit, which researches the claim and contacts you; the unit also answers at (916) 657-8101. If someone else wrote the check for your fees and it bounced, the DMV holds you responsible for the fees and any penalties.
You know the money is not there. Once the bank returns the payment the DMV sends the letter automatically and cannot stop the dishonored check from occurring, but paying the fees another way before the registration expires may avoid the penalties; the service fee is still due. The DMV says to submit the registration payment as soon as possible, keep the receipt, and when the letter arrives send it with a money order or cashier's check for the service fee and a copy of the repayment receipt. A second letter arriving within 30 days of a full payment can be disregarded, because the letters are printed in advance. A license or ID card cancelled over a dishonored check is a question for the Driver Safety Mandatory Action Unit at (916) 657-6525 even after the fees are paid.
The bank shows nothing. The registration card and sticker, or the license or ID card, are mailed before the bank verifies the account information, so a record with a typo produces a card in the mail and, later, a dishonored check account, with no inquiry or withdrawal ever showing at the bank. The mistakes the DMV names: keying the routing number from a deposit slip, including the check number with the account number, and entering card information in the check field.
Reissue fees
A reissue fee is paid to reinstate a driving privilege that has been suspended or revoked. The DMV's payments and refunds page lists them: $15 to add a court restriction, $20 to remove a license restriction, $24 for a drug suspension, the $55 reissue fee the DMV calls the most common, a $55 administrative fee that anyone with a suspended or revoked license pays to have it reissued, $100 for a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) suspension, $100 for an Admin Per Se (APS) suspension, and $85 and $45 as partial payments of the $100 APS fee. The DMV's online reissue fee application takes three of them online, the $55 reissue fee, a $125 Admin Per Se reissue fee and a $15 DMV administrative fee. The DMV's licensing fees page reconciles the two Admin Per Se figures: $100 for a driver under 21 under the zero tolerance law and $125 at 21 and older; it also lists the DUI reissue fee at $55, the DUI second offender fees to add or remove a court restriction at $15 and $20, the financial responsibility reissue fee at $55 with a $250 financial responsibility penalty fee, the DMV administrative service fee at $15 and the dishonored check service fee at $30. The online application wants the full name as it appears on the license in last name, first name, middle name, suffix order, a phone number, an email address, a current mailing address and the license number, and the DMV says to use it only when a DMV representative has told you to. What each suspension is and when the fee comes due is on the DUI guide and the points guide.
Unpaid tickets and missed court dates
Since Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 103 on June 27, 2017, the DMV no longer accepts failure to pay notices from the courts and cannot suspend or withhold a license because a ticket fine or court fee went unpaid. The DMV has not noted a failure to pay on driver records since that date, removed every past notation and every suspension that rested on one, and sent notices to the affected drivers in spring 2018; the fine is still owed to the court. A driver whose only suspension was a failure to pay and who holds a valid license can drive without further steps; one whose license expired or is gone applies for a renewal or duplicate at a field office, pays the fee, and may face vision or knowledge tests. A driver with other suspensions or holds is not restored until those are resolved, a DUI suspension among them, and the DMV charges a reissue fee to restore the privilege in those cases. To see what is on the record the DMV points to the driver record, $2 online, $5 by mail on a Request for Your Own Driver's License Identification Card or Vehicle/Vessel Registration Information Record (INF 1125) or $5 at an office, explained on the driving record guide; the address on file can be updated online, and the phone line is 1-800-777-0133.
A failure to appear is different. The court can still send a failure to appear notification, and the DMV can still suspend for it, but after the appellate decision in Hernandez v. Department of Motor Vehicles, which held that suspending on certain reported failures to appear was contrary to Vehicle Code section 13365(a), the DMV now imposes the suspension only on a court finding that the driver willfully failed to appear. The DMV says it removed suspensions from approximately 555,000 records, including non-misdemeanor failures to appear from before the decision, and sent notices to most of those drivers; drivers with another unrelated open suspension or revocation did not get a notice.
Questions about DMV refunds and payments in California
How long do I have to ask the DMV for a refund?
Three years from the payment, per the DMV: an Application for Refund (ADM 399) filed later cannot be processed because of the statute of limitations. The one exception the DMV gives is nonresident military personnel and members of a NATO force or civilian component who are not U.S. citizens, who may ask for the vehicle license fee and transportation improvement fee back more than three years after paying.
How long does a refund take?
About 30 days from the refund application, per the DMV, for either the refund or a request for more information. Every refund check is issued from DMV headquarters in Sacramento.
I paid by card and was charged a service fee. Is the fee refundable?
No. The DMV says every credit and debit card transaction carries a non-refundable service fee from the company that processes the card for the DMV.
I paid the renewal and then sold the car. Do I get the money back?
Only if you paid after the sale. Fees paid before the sale are not refunded because, in the DMV's words, registration fees are tied to the vehicle, not the owner. Fees paid after the sale come back on an ADM 399 with a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138) or the confirmation page of the online release, plus the registration card and the unused sticker, or a Statement of Facts (REG 256) explaining why they cannot be returned.
Can I make partial payments on a dishonored check?
Yes, but the DMV says partial payments do not stop the collection action.
What is a reissue fee?
The fee paid to reinstate a driving privilege that was suspended or revoked. The DMV calls the $55 reissue fee the most common one and says anyone whose license was suspended or revoked pays a $55 administrative fee to have it reissued; the other amounts on its list are below. The DMV's online reissue payment takes the $55 reissue fee, a $125 Admin Per Se reissue fee and a $15 DMV administrative fee, and the DMV says to use it only when a DMV representative tells you to.
Will an unpaid traffic ticket suspend my license?
Not any more. Since Assembly Bill 103 took effect on June 27, 2017 the DMV no longer accepts failure to pay notices from the courts and cannot suspend or withhold a license for an unpaid fine. A failure to appear in court is different: the court can still report it, and after the Hernandez v. DMV decision the DMV suspends for it only when the court finds the driver willfully failed to appear.
Written by SearchSystems.net from the California DMV's payments and refunds page, dishonored check payment page, online reissue fee application, licensing fees page and registration fees page, read on October 12, 2026. Where two DMV pages give different figures, both are stated.