Every TLC Fee in One Table (Drivers, Vehicles, Owners)

TLC's own fees are mostly small and fixed: $252 for a three-year driver license, $550 to renew a two-year FHV license (nothing for a wheelchair accessible vehicle), $25 for most replacements, transfers and late renewals. The bigger costs around a TLC license, like insurance, courses, drug tests, DMV plates and the car, are paid to other companies and agencies. TLC's fees are paid online in LARS and are non-refundable.

TLC's fees are spread over more than ten web pages and six rule chapters, and in a few places the web page and the rule disagree. This page puts them in one dated table and shows the disagreements openly.

Driver fees

What a new driver pays others is listed on TLC's licensing page: LabCorp drug test $34, IdentoGO fingerprints and photo $90.25, the 3-day course $245–$250, WAV training $50–$125, the TLC exam $49 per attempt (PSI) and defensive driving $25–$75. At renewal, TLC lists a total of $386–$436: $252 to TLC, $34 for the drug test and $100–$150 for the renewal course. And every year in between you pay $34 for the interim drug test. For the timing of each step, see TLC license renewal.

FHV vehicle fees

Medallion, green cab and base fees

Where the rule and the web page disagree

The medallion filing date has a similar gap. Rule 58-06 says renew by May 31 and sets a fine for failing to file by April 30. TLC's medallion page says renewal must be completed by May 30. Renewing early avoids both.

What a full license cycle costs

Single fees are easy to find. What drivers really want to know is the total over one license term. Here is the arithmetic for a TLC driver who renews on time, using only TLC's published amounts. This is our addition, not a TLC figure.

• TLC renewal fee: $252, once every three years.
• Drug tests: one a year at $34. Over a three-year term that is two interim tests plus the renewal test, so $102.
• Renewal course: $100 to $150, once per renewal, paid to the school.
• Defensive driving: $25 to $75, only if your certificate will be more than three years old when you renew.

That comes to about $454 to $579 per three-year term, or roughly $151 to $193 a year. TLC's own renewal total ($386–$436) leaves out the two interim drug tests and defensive driving.

For an FHV owner with a non-accessible car registered in New York City, a two-year term costs $550 to TLC plus $75 for the licensing inspection, if the car has 500 miles or more. On top of that come the tri-annual inspections at a DMV-registered station, which are not TLC fees. For a car registered outside the city, add the $800 CMVT charge TLC lists. A transfer adds $25 each time.

Fees you can avoid

Most of the money drivers lose to TLC is not license fees. It is penalties for missed dates:

• Late renewal, $25. File at least 30 days before expiry and it never applies. For drivers, it also means no gap in your right to drive.
• Late interim drug test, $200 plus a suspension. Book the test early in the 90-day window. Tests earlier than 90 days are rejected, so don't go too early either.
• Replacement license, $25. If your new license never arrived, wait 10 business days after TLC UP shows it was mailed. A replacement is free if you ask 10 to 60 days after the mailing date.
• Not surrendering a revoked license, $1,000. Rule 80-10(f) charges this when you apply for any new TLC license. Surrender within 30 days.
• FHV storage overstay, $300 plus a suspension. Leave storage by day 90.
• Paying for the wrong transfer. Each transfer type is charged separately (rule 59A-07(f)). Make sure you pick the right one in TLC UP.

Refunds

TLC's fee pages repeat it: "All TLC fees are non-refundable – no exceptions!" Rule 80-07(c) and rule 59A-07(d) say fees are not refunded if an application is denied. TLC does link a refund claim form from its FHV renewal page. If you were charged twice or charged by mistake, email LicensingInquiries@tlc.nyc.gov with the LARS receipt and ask whether that form applies.

Where and how to pay

• LARS (apps.nyc.gov/lars) handles applications, renewals, transfer fees and some summons payments. TLC's renewal page lists credit card, debit card or e-check. TLC's FHV license page adds that an e-check has no fee, while card payments carry a 2% fee. For an existing license, choose "Fees and Returned Payments – Existing TLC License" and enter the license number, mailing ZIP and the last 5 digits of your SSN or EIN.
• In person at the Long Island City cashier, 8am–4pm on weekdays, for payments that need an appointment, like a replacement license.
• Transfer fees must be paid within 24 hours of TLC's approval email, or the request is not processed.

Costs that are not TLC fees

Drivers often add these to "TLC costs," but TLC does not set or collect them: DMV registration and TC plates; for-hire insurance (see FHV insurance requirements); tri-annual FHV inspections at DMV-registered stations; the LabCorp drug test; schools and exam fees; and tolls (see toll bill late fees). Unpaid DMV, parking and red-light camera tickets aren't TLC fees either, but rule 80-04(n) blocks a new or renewed license until they are paid.

Plan your next payment

The rate card below shows TLC's driver renewal timing as of the date in our rates file. The license renewal planner turns your expiration date into a payment calendar. To compare license types first, see every TLC license type explained; for a new license, see how to get a TLC license. Owners of accessible vehicles can read do WAV owners pay TLC vehicle license fees. For renewal volume by month, see TLC driver license expirations.

General information. Fees copied from TLC web pages and rule books on October 12, 2026. Fees change; confirm the amount in LARS before you pay.