No More Utah Front License Plates Doesn’t Equate To Money Back For Us

Getting money back from the government is a farce.

Much is being made about Utah's brand new law that says we only need to have a rear license plate on our cars.

It eliminates government excess while saving taxpayers the hassle of having to install a second license plate on most private vehicles (many of which don't even have accommodations for a front license plate).

But the biggest boon, say lawmakers, is we won't have to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs to make a second license plate.

Yeah, that's what they say.

But let's take a closer look.

In 2024, it cost about $250 to register a new vehicle in Utah.

According to the DMV, only $7 of that is for the actual license plates. So logic dictates that the new cost for plates would be $3.50.

But the new policy doesn't give us the $3.50 back. Instead, half of that goes to what lawmakers call "the state's fund on highway safety."

So Utah is keeping $1.75 of our $3.50.

Oh, and they are raising the price of registration in several other areas, meaning it will cost you MORE to register your new car in 2025, not less.

Oh, and remember; You are buying the car with income that was already taxed, then paying taxes on the sale of the car, then paying taxes on the garage that you own to park the car in, filling it up with gas that is taxed to the max by the state (again, for "highway safety") and don't even get me started on if you need to buy tires or other parts and accessories.

The bottom line is this, Utah is saving a lot of money on printing just one license plate for its citizens, but those savings will NOT be passed on to you.

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