Article 1. Payments of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 2. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 1.

Except as otherwise provided, the vehicle license fee is due and payable to the department each year on or before the expiration date assigned by the director. The fee shall be paid to the department at the time provided in the Vehicle Code for the registration or renewal of registration of the vehicle. This section shall become operative on July 1, 1977, unless a later enacted statute, which is chaptered before July 1, 1977, deletes or extends such date.

The department shall collect the license fee and shall give to each person paying the license fee a receipt which shall sufficiently designate and identify the vehicle upon which the fee is paid.

Whenever any vehicle is operated upon any highway of this State without the license fee having first been paid as required by this part, the fee is delinquent.

Penalties for failure to pay license fees before delinquency are as specified in Section 9554 of the Vehicle Code.

If a check in payment of a fee or penalty is not paid by the bank on which it is drawn on its first presentation, the person tendering the check remains liable for the payment of the fee, or fee and penalty, as if he had not tendered the check. The department in its discretion may redeposit a check in payment of fee or fee and penalty not more than once without assessing additional penalties.

(a) Except as provided in Section 9553 of the Vehicle Code, upon receipt of the application for renewal of registration, the department shall collect the required fee for the current registration year. No penalty shall be imposed if the department receives the application prior to or on the date the vehicle is first operated, moved, or left standing upon any highway during its current registration year and the applicant has timely filed, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 4604 of the Vehicle Code, a certification that the vehicle will not be operated, moved, or left standing upon any highway during the current registration year without first making an application for registration of the vehicle, including full payment of fees.
  (b) If an application for renewal of registration is accompanied by an application for transfer of title, that application may be made without incurring a penalty for delinquent payment of fees not later than 20 days after the date the vehicle is first operated, moved, or left standing on any highway if a certification pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 4604 of the Vehicle Code was timely filed with the department.
  (c) Upon receipt of an application for original registration, the department shall collect the required fee for the current registration year. No penalty shall be imposed if the department receives the application and fee within 20 days after the fee becomes due.

No penalty fee shall be assessed for the delinquent payment of a vehicle license fee, when subsequent to the date on which the fee became due, the vehicle is repossessed on behalf of any legal owner, if the license fee is paid within 60 days of taking possession.

(a) When a transferee or purchaser of a vehicle applies for transfer of registration, as provided in Section 5902 of the Vehicle Code, and it is determined by the department that vehicle license fee penalties accrued prior to the purchase of the vehicle and that the transferee or purchaser was not cognizant of the nonpayment of the vehicle license fee for the current or prior registration years, the department may waive the vehicle license fee penalties upon payment of the vehicle license fees due.
  (b) Other provisions of this code notwithstanding, the Director of Motor Vehicles may, at his discretion, investigate into the circumstances of any application for registration to ascertain if penalties had accrued through no fault or intent of the owner. Provided such circumstances prevail, the director may waive any penalties upon payment of the license fee then due.
  (c) When a transferee or purchaser of a vehicle applies for transfer of registration of a vehicle, and it is determined by the department that license fees for the vehicle for any year are unpaid and due, that the fees became due prior to the transfer or purchase of the vehicle by the transferee or purchaser, and that the transferee or purchaser was not cognizant of the fact that the fees were unpaid and due, the department may waive the fees and any penalty thereon when both of the following conditions exist:
  (1) The license plate assigned to the vehicle displays a validating device issued by the department, and the validating device contains the year number of the registration year for which the transferee or purchaser is requesting a waiver of fees and penalties.
  (2) The transferee or purchaser has submitted to the department the registration card that indicates the vehicle is registered for the registration year indicated on the validating device displayed on the license plate assigned to the vehicle.
  (d) Upon the transfer of a vehicle for which license fees and any penalties thereon are unpaid and due, such fees and penalties are, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2 (commencing with Section 10876), the personal debt of the transferor of the vehicle who did not pay the fees and penalties when they became due or accrued. The fees and penalties may be collected by the department in an appropriate civil action if the department has waived the fees and penalties pursuant to subdivision (c).