Upon approval by the Florida Legislature, a new specialty plate is required to sell a minimum number of reservations or vouchers. This process ensures sufficient interest to warrant the manufacture of the plate. For many new plates, that pre-sale number is 3,000. Out-of-state colleges and universities must sell 4,000 vouchers. Once enough vouchers have been sold, the license plate may then be submitted to the Florida Department of Highway Safety (DHSMV) for production.

Fees can vary depending on which plate is chosen. Most pre-sale vouchers will cost $33.00. If paying with a credit or debit card, a $1.95 convenience fee will apply. The Tax Collector does not keep any portion of that fee. Paying by eCheck is free.

In most cases, you should renew your existing registration and wait for the new plates to become available.

If you purchase a voucher, it may be a year or more before the plate meets its voucher goal and is manufactured.  Don’t wait to renew your registration during this time. Once manufactured, you will receive a letter from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) with instructions on how to exchange your current plate for your newly approved specialty license plate.

Vouchers may be purchased as gifts for specialty license plates that have already been authorized. Please have the recipient’s Florida driver license number, name, and date of birth available before ordering.

For example: You could purchase a license plate voucher for a professional team or college for the sports fan in your family. They would then redeem it by visiting our office to have the plate issued.

Your current annual registration (yellow decal renewal) is 46.10.

You purchase a pre-sale voucher for $33.00.

The plates are manufactured and shipped to your local tag office.

Option A:

You decide to replace the plate while your registration is still current:

Approximate fee to replace: 36.90 (license plate replacement fee plus branch fee)

Option B:

You decide to wait until your tag is up for renewal:

Approximate fee 46.10 + 28.00 (license plate replacement) = $74.10

*If your tag is up for a mandatory replacement (every ten years), the $28.00 would not apply.

Sales data may be viewed at the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website.

Yes. 

Gift certificates are available for pre-sale vouchers. The recipient must have a vehicle titled in their name or plan to acquire a Florida registered vehicle once the plate is manufactured. If you purchase a voucher for someone who does not have a vehicle registered to them, you will not be able to get a refund for this purchase.

If the plate fails to meet the minimum presale requirements, you may apply the presale voucher towards a different
specialty license plate. You may also apply for a refund for the specialty license plate fee only.

Pre-sale vouchers are non-transferrable.

Yes, the voucher will cover the specialty plate for the first year once the plate has been manufactured and is available at your local tax collector’s office. If your license plate is not due for a mandatory replacement (every 10 years), you will likely need to pay a fee between $28.00 -$36.90 to replace it. These fees do not cover the annual registration renewal fees.

The fee collected for a voucher allows the sponsoring organization to begin manufacturing the plate once the pre-sale threshold has been reached.

No. The voucher will be attached to your driver record in the State of Florida’s registration system. You will be able to redeem it once the plates are produced and you request the plate at time of renewal or as an on-demand plate replacement.

The State of Florida allows anyone to purchase a specialty plate pre-sale voucher for themselves or for another person as long as the recipient is the holder of a Florida driver license or registration. If you are both the purchaser and the recipient, you should enter your information into both sections for the sale to process correctly.