Free Manitoba Gift Bill of Sale
Gifting a car in Manitoba means two checks, and each uses a different family list. The first is tax. The 7% retail sales tax (RST) is waived when a qualifying relative gives a car they paid the tax on, or got tax-free in certain ways. The second is the safety. MPI skips the Certificate of Inspection (COI) only when a Manitoba-registered vehicle goes to a parent, a child or stepchild, or a spouse or common-law partner. So a grandmother who paid the tax can give her car to a grandson with no RST, but he still needs a COI.
Free PDF includes a light diagonal watermark. Go Pro to remove it. Already subscribed? Sign in.
Manitoba Gift Bill of Sale — What You Need to Know
Tax Details
Manitoba waives the 7% RST on a gift from a listed relative, if tax was already settled on the vehicle. That means the giver paid it, inherited the vehicle, or brought it in as settler's effects. Or they got it from listed family at least 12 months earlier, and that person paid. A taxable car, truck, SUV or van gift is charged on its Canadian Black Book average wholesale value, because no price was paid.
Exemption: Bring proof to the Autopac agent: MPI's Letter of Gift, or a signed note in which the giver says it is a gift and how you are related. You also sign a declaration that you meet the rules.
Inspection Requirements
A Certificate of Inspection (COI) is required in Manitoba when the registered owner of a vehicle changes. The seller can give the buyer a valid COI or tell the buyer to get the inspection, and the buyer needs it to register the vehicle. A COI is valid for one year to transfer ownership. A Manitoba-registered vehicle going to a spouse or common-law partner, a child or stepchild, a parent, or an estate beneficiary is exempt.
Manitoba Gift Sale — Step-by-Step Checklist
- Match the relationship to Manitoba Finance's Bulletin 054: parents, children, spouses, common-law partners, grandparents, grandchildren, step-parents, stepchildren, and parents- or children-in-law.
- Confirm the tax was settled. The giver paid RST on the car, inherited it, brought it in as settler's effects, or got it from listed family at least 12 months ago, and that person paid.
- Check the COI. For a Manitoba-registered car, a parent, child, stepchild, spouse or common-law partner can skip it. Anyone else needs one from an approved inspection station.
- Fill in MPI's Letter of Gift with the date, relationship, names, vehicle, serial number and old Manitoba plate number. The giver ticks whether they stay a part owner. Both sign.
- On the registration card's Transfer of Ownership Document (TOD), the giver writes the date and kilometres and signs. The recipient signs too and keeps it.
- Sign a gift bill of sale with a $0 price, marked "gift", as your record of the date, VIN, kilometres and condition.
- The recipient takes the Letter of Gift, TOD and any COI to an Autopac agent, signs the exemption declaration, and buys registration and insurance before driving.
- The giver cancels their Autopac coverage in writing, unless it moves to another vehicle within seven days. Returning the plates to an agent does this.
Common Pitfalls
- Mixing up the two lists. A grandchild or an in-law can get a car tax-free and still need a COI.
- Routing a car through a parent to reach a brother or sister. Gifts within 12 months are judged as one chain, so child to parent to child is taxed like a sibling gift.
- A parent in another province giving the car. MPI says that gift is taxed, unless the parent once lived here and paid Manitoba's tax on it.
- Writing "$1" instead of "gift". A price makes it look like a sale, and the family exemption is for gifts.
Pro Tip
Check both lists before the handover. Then take the Letter of Gift, signed TOD and any COI to an Autopac agent in one visit, before the first drive. Keep a $0 gift bill of sale from the form above with them.