Kei Trucks for Mississippi Buyers

By Farhad Musazada, owner of Skyline Kei Trucks. Last updated: October 22, 2026. Statute and agency rules verified October 2026; fees, taxes and shipping estimates checked October 2026. Based on Mississippi Department of Revenue title, tag and use tax rules and Miss. Code § 27-19-47 on antique plates (sources at the end). Shipping prices are published estimates, not quotes. General information, not legal advice.

Our kei trucks are on our lot in east Houston, about 310 miles from the nearest point of Mississippi (US-61 at the Louisiana line, south of Woodville) and about 360 miles from the state line on I-10. Gulfport is about 400 miles away, Biloxi 410, Hattiesburg 430, Jackson 440 and Southaven 580. Mississippi is one of the simplest states for a kei truck: it has no law aimed at mini trucks, so a 25-year-old import is titled and tagged at your county Tax Collector like any other truck, and because it is at least 25 years old it is also eligible for Mississippi's $25 antique tag. This page covers the rules, the Tax Collector's paperwork, the taxes, and how to get the truck home.

Key facts

Street legal: yes. No Mississippi statute or Department of Revenue (DOR) rule singles out kei or mini trucks, so a titled and tagged kei truck has no kei-specific road, speed or interstate limits.
How it registers: Mississippi title plus a regular license plate from your county Tax Collector, or a permanent antique plate ($25, no yearly ad valorem tax) for a vehicle more than 25 years old (Miss. Code § 27-19-47).
Paperwork: notarized bill of sale, the Japanese export certificate with a certified English translation, U.S. Customs Form 7501, DOT Form HS-7 and the EPA import form (the DOR's list of import documents). Register within 30 business days of purchase.
Taxes: 5% use tax on the purchase price, paid to the Tax Collector when you title. Mississippi gives no credit for sales tax paid to another state on a vehicle first used in Mississippi.
Fees: $9 title, $14 first-time registration, a $7.20 to $15 state privilege tax and locally set ad valorem tax, or a $25 antique plate instead of the last three.
Insurance: Mississippi minimum 25/50/25 liability; carry the insurance card in the truck.
Inspection: none. Mississippi dropped its inspection sticker in July 2015 and has no emissions testing.

Are kei trucks legal in Mississippi?

Yes, with no special conditions. Mississippi has no mini-truck or kei truck statute, and the DOR's title and registration regulations (Miss. Admin. Code Title 35, Part VII) don't mention them; the only special classes they carve out are low-speed vehicles and recreational off-highway vehicles such as golf carts, which “will not be titled by the Department.” A kei truck imported under the federal 25-year rule is neither. It is titled as an ordinary motor vehicle, using the list of import documents in the DOR's title FAQ, and once tagged it follows the same rules of the road as any pickup. The same goes for our kei vans and SUVs.

Nothing in the 2025 or 2026 sessions changed that: the closest bill, SB 2258 (ATVs and off-highway vehicles on county roads), died in a House committee in March 2025 and didn't mention mini trucks (LegiScan).

Moving the truck to another state later, or want to see how Mississippi compares? Our kei truck laws by state map lists Mississippi as street legal with no kei law, with every state's status and statute. Next door, Louisiana is stricter, limiting mini trucks to roads posted 55 mph or less and keeping them off interstates (R.S. 32:299.2), while Alabama titles 25-year-old imports normally.

Can a kei truck get an antique tag in Mississippi?

Yes, and it may be the better choice. The DOR's title FAQ says “Any vehicle that is 25 years old or older is considered an antique vehicle and eligible for antique registration,” and every kei truck we sell came in under the federal 25-year rule. Miss. Code § 27-19-47 classifies “motor vehicles manufactured more than twenty-five (25) years ago” as antique automobiles and sets the terms:

A $25 fee for a permanent plate that bears no date, charged in place of the annual license tax and registration fees
Antique automobiles are “exempt from all ad valorem taxes” levied by the state, counties, cities and other taxing districts, so there is no yearly property tax on the truck
The plate, inscribed “Antique Car-Mississippi,” is issued “in lieu of, and shall have the same legal significance as, ordinary registration plates”; the statute as published puts no limit on how the vehicle is used
The plate is for that vehicle only, and you surrender it to the Tax Collector when you sell the truck

That's the code as FindLaw publishes it (current as of January 1, 2025); confirm the fee and any other charges with your Tax Collector. On a regular plate, the truck pays privilege tax and ad valorem tax every year.

How do you title an imported kei truck in Mississippi?

At the Tax Collector's office in the county where the truck is “domiciled or parked overnight” (DOR). The DOR's list of import documents asks for:

A notarized bill of sale: our bill of sale (ask us when you buy about having it notarized)
The foreign ownership document: the Japanese export certificate
A certified English translation of the export certificate (“Any document printed in a language other than English must come with a certified English translation”). Our trucks come with an English translation; ask your Tax Collector before you buy whether it meets this rule.
Customs entry: U.S. Customs Form 7501
DOT Form HS-7, with Box 1 (25 years or older) checked
The EPA import form: the list names EPA Form 3520-8, and the EPA declaration that comes with our trucks is Form 3520-1, so bring it and ask whether the office wants anything more

The list also names a “Current Registration Certificate” and a “Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO),” with Canadian and European examples; a 25-year-old Japanese truck has no MCO, and the export certificate is its ownership record. No DOR page we found addresses the short Japanese chassis number (format S210P-0123456) a kei truck carries instead of a 17-digit VIN, or calls for a VIN inspection of an import. If your Tax Collector wants more, DOR Motor Vehicle Services takes title questions at (601) 923-7200.

You have 30 business days from the purchase date to register (DOR). A standard title is issued in three to four weeks; a Fast Track title costs $39 instead of $9 and is issued within 72 hours of the DOR receiving it. Mississippi requires liability insurance (25/50/25 minimum under Miss. Code § 63-15-3) but doesn't check it at registration; the DOR says every vehicle must carry an insurance card instead. There's no inspection to schedule: the annual inspection sticker ended in July 2015 (Picayune Item), and the DOR says Mississippi “does not require emissions testing for motor vehicles as a condition of registration.”

What are the taxes and fees in Mississippi?

Mississippi taxes “Automobiles and light trucks (10,000 lbs. or less)” at 5% (DOR rate table), and use tax on a vehicle bought outside the state is charged at the same rate, collected by the Tax Collector when you title it. The DOR's title FAQ says a buyer from an out-of-state dealer “must pay use tax on the vehicle purchase”; we're an importer rather than a licensed dealer, but plan on the 5%. There is no credit for tax paid elsewhere on vehicles first used in Mississippi (“No credit is allowed for Sales or Use Tax paid to another state on the purchase price or value of automobiles,” DOR use tax page). Texas motor vehicle tax is paid to a Texas county tax office when a vehicle is titled in Texas (Texas Comptroller), and Texas Tax Code § 152.092 exempts a vehicle bought in Texas and taken straight out of state for use only elsewhere (Comptroller Form 14-312), so a buyer who takes the truck straight to Mississippi pays Mississippi's use tax instead.

Item	Amount
Use tax (5%)	$400.00
Title	$9.00
First-time registration fee	$14.00
State privilege tax	$7.20 (truck of 6,000 lb or less) or $15.00 (passenger class)
Ad valorem tax	set locally: 30% of the original MSRP, reduced for 10 years of depreciation, times your local millage, less the legislative tag credit
Total, regular tag	about $430 to $438 plus ad valorem tax
Total with an antique plate instead	about $434 ($400 use tax, $9 title, $25 plate); no ad valorem tax

Example for a $7,999.99 truck; figures from the DOR's rate table, title and tag FAQs and ad valorem page, and Miss. Code § 27-19-5 and § 27-19-11. The Tax Collector decides the privilege tax class, and the DOR says the rest of a regular tag bill depends on the vehicle's type and value and your city and county, so ask for the total. Add the notary, the translation, and $30 for a Fast Track title if you want one.

How do you get it home from Houston?

On a trailer or a carrier. A kei truck can't be driven on Texas roads until it's titled and registered, and it won't be titled in Mississippi until you get there. The direct route also crosses Louisiana on I-10 and I-12, and Louisiana's mini-truck law keeps mini trucks off its interstates; R.S. 32:299.2 isn't limited to Louisiana-registered trucks. Kei trucks are no more than about 11 ft 2 in long and 4 ft 10 in wide, so they fit a standard car-hauler trailer behind a half-ton pickup. Our lot is just off I-10 on the east side of Houston; Gulfport and Biloxi are about 400 to 410 miles away by I-10 and I-12, and Jackson about 440. Lot hours are Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; call or text (713) 385-9798 to set a time.

Destination	From our lot	Published price range (2026)	Transit
Gulfport	about 400 miles (I-10/I-12)	Freedom Auto Transport $350–$500 (Gulfport–Houston); moveBuddha $635–$835	1–4 days
Biloxi	about 410 miles (I-10/I-12)	Freedom $360–$515; moveBuddha $603–$895	1–4 days
Hattiesburg	about 430 miles	moveBuddha $672–$894; Freedom quotes this route on request	1–4 days
Jackson	about 440 miles	Freedom $383–$547; moveBuddha $626–$930	1–4 days
Southaven	about 580 miles	Freedom $458–$654 (Southaven–Houston); moveBuddha $764–$1,088	1–6 days

Prices are the brokers' own published estimates for a running car, not quotes, and Freedom's ranges vary with the type of transport, timing and vehicle size; a kei truck is smaller and lighter than the cars they price, but brokers don't list a separate rate for them. An enclosed trailer costs about 30% to 50% more (Homeland Auto Transport), and a vehicle that doesn't run costs more again, often $150 to $300 extra for winching (AmeriFreight). Prices change with season and fuel, so ask for a written quote. We help arrange an independent carrier and you pay the carrier directly; see delivery to your state for how it works.

Where do you go to title and register it?

Your county Tax Collector titles and tags vehicles up to 10,000 lbs., in the county where the vehicle is kept; the DOR publishes a list of county tax collectors with addresses and phone numbers (dated 2020, so call ahead). Antique plates go through the same office. For title questions, the Mississippi Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Services is at (601) 923-7200, 500 Clinton Center Drive, Clinton 39056 (mail: P.O. Box 1033, Jackson 39215), dor.ms.gov.

Kei trucks in Mississippi

Mississippi is timber and farm country: “over 19.2 million acres of forestland,” in the Mississippi Forestry Commission's words, and a forestry sector it puts at $15.44 billion of the state economy (MFC annual report, 2024). That's the kind of ground a kei truck suits: deer camps and hunting clubs, timber tracts and food plots, Delta row-crop farms and catfish ponds, Gulf Coast yards and marinas, and small businesses that want a small, tagged hauler. Because Mississippi titles and tags a 25-year-old kei truck like any other vehicle, it can use county roads between the farm and the camp the way a pickup does, with no decal or speed rule of its own. Coast buyers who want to see the truck before paying can make it one trip with a trailer; Gulfport is about 400 miles from our lot.

Frequently asked questions

Are kei trucks street legal in Mississippi?

Yes. Mississippi has no mini-truck law, so a 25-year-old kei truck is titled and tagged at the county Tax Collector like any other truck, with no kei-specific road, speed or interstate limits.

Can I put an antique tag on a kei truck in Mississippi?

Yes. The DOR treats any vehicle 25 years old or older as eligible for antique registration. Under Miss. Code § 27-19-47 the plate costs $25 once, replaces the yearly license tax and registration fees, and exempts the truck from ad valorem tax. Confirm the current terms with your Tax Collector.

Does Mississippi require an inspection?

No. The annual inspection sticker ended in July 2015, and the DOR says Mississippi doesn't require emissions testing for registration.

How much is the tax on a kei truck in Mississippi?

5% use tax on the price, about $400 on an $8,000 truck, paid to the Tax Collector when you title it. Mississippi gives no credit for tax paid to another state, but you won't owe Texas tax if the truck goes straight to Mississippi. Add the $9 title and the tag fees.

Can I drive a kei truck on the interstate in Mississippi?

Mississippi has no kei-specific interstate ban; a tagged, insured kei truck follows the same rules as any vehicle. Getting there is another matter: Louisiana keeps mini trucks off its interstates, so it comes from Houston on a trailer or carrier.

Can you ship to Gulfport or Jackson?

Yes. We help arrange an independent carrier and you pay the carrier directly; published 2026 estimates run from about $350 to $930 for the Coast and Jackson, and $458 to $1,088 for Southaven. You can also bring your own trailer.

Shop kei trucks

Browse trucks in stock in Houston, or reserve one that is arriving soon from Japan with a $1,000 deposit that counts toward the price. New to kei trucks? Start with our kei truck buyer's guide, our comparison of the Hijet, Carry, Acty and Sambar and our explainer on the 25-year import rule. Buying from out of state? See how it works. Questions? Call or text (713) 385-9798.

Buying from another state: Louisiana · Oklahoma · Arkansas · New Mexico · Alabama · Tennessee · Missouri · Kansas · Florida · Arizona · South Carolina · Delivery to your state · All locations · Laws in all 50 states (map)

Sources

Written by Farhad Musazada, owner of Skyline Kei Trucks

Farhad imports more than 300 kei trucks a year to Houston and meets buyers at the lot at 6100 Harvey Wilson Dr. He writes these guides from the paperwork our buyers take to the county tax office and the official sources listed on each page. Spotted something out of date? Email us and we will check it.

All vehicles are sold by Wideway Motors LLC as is, with no warranty. We help arrange shipping through independent carriers; you pay the carrier directly, and we are not the carrier. Seller makes no representation that any vehicle can be titled, registered or driven on public roads in any state, and being unable to do so is not grounds to cancel a purchase. Laws and agency practice change; confirm with your state's motor vehicle agency before you buy. See our Terms of Sale and Shipping & Pickup Policy.