Why your Florida registration expires on your birthday

The rule: the owner's birth month and birthday

Florida spreads renewals across the year by tying each registration to its owner's birth month. Under section 320.055 of the Florida Statutes, the registration period of a car, pickup, motorcycle, private trailer or RV owned by a person begins on the first day of the owner's birth month, and the renewal period is the 30 days ending at midnight on the owner's date of birth.

Section 320.07 then says the registration of a vehicle owned by a person expires at midnight on the owner's birthday, and the vehicle may not be driven after that unless it has been renewed. County tax collectors describe it the same way: vehicles are registered on a staggered basis by the owner's birth month.

So the year on your decal changes, but the day stays the same: every renewal is due by your next birthday.

Co-owners: whose birthday counts?

When a vehicle is registered in more than one name, the law uses the birth month of the person whose name appears first on the registration. It doesn't matter who drives the car or who pays for the renewal.

• Look at your registration certificate: the first name printed is the one that sets the date.
• When you renew online, use the plate number and the date of birth of the owner listed first.
• If the order of names surprises you, renewal is not the time to change it. Ask your county tax collector what is needed.

Renewing for a spouse, parent or other co-owner? See renewing a registration for someone else.

When the date is not a birthday

The birthday rule only applies to owners who are people. Other vehicles follow the periods in section 320.055, which county tax collectors summarize like this:

• Company-owned vehicles: renewed in June (the period runs June 1 to May 31, and renewal is the 30 days starting June 1).
• Heavy trucks over 5,000 lbs titled to a business, truck-tractors, semi-trailers and for-hire vehicles with 9 or more passengers: renewed in December.
• Mobile homes: renewed in December.
• Leased vehicles: renewed on a staggered basis throughout the year.
• Apportioned (IRP) trucks: a 12-month period starting in a month the state assigns.
• Dealer plates: the registration runs with the dealer license period.

If your vehicle is titled to a business, see our guide to business and fleet registration renewal.

How to find your expiration date

1. Check the decal on your license plate: it shows the month and year the registration expires.
2. Read your registration certificate, which shows the expiration date.
3. Look for the renewal notice. In Volusia County, for example, it is mailed about two months before the due date, and an email reminder is sent about a month before if the office has your email.
4. Look the vehicle up online: county tax collector renewal pages (Volusia's, for example) find it by plate number and the owner's date of birth, and the state's MyDMV Portal also renews online.
5. Or check your plate on Tagcenter.net: we look up the registration and tell you whether it can be renewed now.

Among the plates checked through Tagcenter.net in the last year, about 3 in 10 came back with no record found. Most often that was a typo in the plate or the date of birth, or a vehicle titled to a business, which has no owner birthday to match.

What happens after your birthday

At midnight on your birthday the registration is expired, and the law says the vehicle should not be driven until it is renewed. Two details in section 320.07 are worth knowing:

• An officer may not write a ticket for a registration expired 6 months or less until midnight on the last day of your birth month. That is not a grace period to drive on an expired registration; it only limits when a citation can be issued.
• A delinquent (late) fee is added starting on the 11th day of the month after your renewal period. Its amount depends on the vehicle's license tax.

If your date has already passed, read what to do with an expired Florida registration. If it is months away, see how early you can renew: among the plates checked through Tagcenter.net in the last year, around 830 were simply too early to renew.

For every way to renew, start with how to renew your Florida registration. You can also check your plate and renew online with Tagcenter.net, a private service that is not affiliated with FLHSMV or any tax collector.

Frequent questions

Official sources

• Florida Statutes s. 320.055: Registration periods; renewal periods
• Florida Statutes s. 320.07: Expiration of registration; renewal required; penalties
• Highlands County Tax Collector: Motor Vehicle Registration
• Volusia County Tax Collector: Renew vehicle registrations

Related guides