Free Connecticut Bill of Sale Template & Generator

Connecticut Bill of Sale Requirements

Additional Forms Required in Connecticut

• Form H-31 (Bill of Sale)
• Form H-13B (Registration and Title Application)

Connecticut is unusually explicit about the bill of sale: the DMV's selling instructions tell every seller to hand the buyer a completed bill of sale (Form H-31) along with the signed-over title — and equally explicit that you may draft your own, listing exactly what it must contain: both parties' names and addresses, the vehicle's make, model, year, color, and VIN, the sales price, the date of sale, and the seller's signature.

The tax rules are where Connecticut surprises buyers. The rate is 6.35% up to $50,000 and 7.75% above it, but the assessment base is the NADA average trade-in value or the bill of sale price — whichever is higher. Writing a low number on the bill of sale doesn't cut the tax; Connecticut simply taxes the book value instead. The one genuine relief is the family exemption: transfers between spouses, parents and children, and siblings are tax-free, provided the vehicle sat registered in the family member's name for at least 60 days and section 5 of Form H-13B is completed — and provided no delinquent property tax or parking tickets are attached to the vehicle.

Connecticut's title cutoff is a fixed rolling age: only vehicles 20 model years old or newer are titled. A classic older than that is legally transferred on the registration and bill of sale alone — which turns the bill of sale from a courtesy into the primary ownership document for every vintage sale in the state. Small trailers (3,000 lbs gross weight or less) are similarly title-exempt. The title fee for everything else is $25, plus $10 per lienholder on heavier vehicles.

Emissions testing is biennial with two age-based outs: vehicles younger than 4 model years skip testing but pay a $40 emissions exemption fee at registration, and vehicles from model year 2001 or older are fully exempt. Everything in between needs a passing test, and in family transfers the test must happen within 30 days of registration to avoid a late fee.

The seller's exit checklist is pure Connecticut: remove the plates (they belong to you, not the car), cancel the registration with the DMV, and then — the step out-of-staters never expect — take your plate cancellation receipt and a copy of the bill of sale to the town assessor. Connecticut levies annual property tax on vehicles, and those two documents are what convert a full-year tax bill into a prorated one after the sale. Keep your copy of the bill of sale; in this state it earns its keep twice.