Bill of Sale by State — All 50 US States

What Varies by State

Notarization Requirements

Whether a notary is needed depends on the state and on the paperwork in the sale. In Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming the notary requirement is on the title assignment. In Louisiana one notarized document is enough — the bill of sale, the invoice or the title assignment — and in Oklahoma a paper title is notarized, or for an electronic title its Form 718 bill of sale. In Arizona, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia a notary is needed only in some situations: for example, West Virginia requires a notarized bill of sale when the price is below 50% of NADA Clean Loan value, and New York and Tennessee require notarization on some out-of-state titles. 26 states need no notary for an ordinary private sale, including Montana, which ended its title notary requirement on October 1, 2025. In Maryland, the notarized bill of sale used for some below-book-value sales was repealed effective October 1, 2026. For Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi, we could not confirm the notary rule from an official source. Because these rules change and vary by transaction, confirm the current requirement on your state page below or with your state agency. Where a notary is optional, notarizing still verifies both parties’ identities, which can help if a sale is later disputed.

Title Transfer Deadlines

After a private vehicle sale, most states give the buyer a set period to title or register the vehicle. Where that period is a number of calendar days (37 states), it runs from 10 days (California and Massachusetts) to 60 days (Arkansas, Colorado and Kansas), with a median of 30 days. Some of these clocks start at delivery, or run to registration or a tax due date rather than to the title itself. Georgia (7), Mississippi (30), New Jersey (10) and Wisconsin (2) count business days. Oklahoma allows 2 months to title and register, after pre-registering the sale within 2 business days. Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia set no fixed day count; most of them require registration before the vehicle is driven. See each state page for the actual rule. Late filing usually means a penalty fee. In some states, such as North Carolina and South Dakota, a late title application can also be a misdemeanor, and Minnesota can suspend the registration.

Tax on a Private Sale

Most states tax a private-party vehicle sale, and the buyer usually pays it when titling or registering the vehicle rather than paying the seller. Not every state calls it a sales tax: Georgia charges a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax, North Carolina a Highway Use Tax, Delaware a document fee, and Maryland, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota a motor vehicle excise tax. A private sale is not taxed at the state level in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire and Oregon. Some states tax the higher of the price or a book value, and many exempt gifts or sales between close relatives.

Additional State Forms

Some states publish their own bill of sale form — for example North Dakota (SFN 62502), Arkansas (Form 10-313) and New York (MV-912). Others publish none: in Ohio the transfer runs on the notarized title assignment, and BMV 3774 is the title application, not a bill of sale. Forms such as North Carolina’s MVR-1 and Michigan’s TR-11L are title applications too.

Odometer Disclosure

Federal rules (49 CFR 580.17) require an odometer disclosure when a vehicle from model year 2011 or newer changes hands; model-year-2010 and older vehicles are exempt, and from 2031 each later model year drops out 20 years after January 1 of its model year. Vehicles over 16,000 lb gross vehicle weight rating are also exempt. Many states print the disclosure directly on the vehicle title; our bill of sale generator includes it as a built-in section regardless of state.