Kentucky Form TC 96-182 — Application for Certificate of Title or Registration

About TC 96-182

Official name: Kentucky Form TC 96-182 — Application for Certificate of Title or Registration

Issued by: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet — Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing

Purpose: Applies for a Kentucky title or registration at the county clerk. Completed and notarized as an Affidavit of Total Consideration, it lets the 6% motor vehicle usage tax be based on the selling price instead of the retail value, provided the price is at least 50% of the trade-in value.

When required: The title must be transferred at the county clerk's office within 15 days of the sale. For a Kentucky-titled vehicle sold between Kentucky residents, no bill of sale is listed; older titles (before 2000) may require TC 96-182.

What TC 96-182 is

TC 96-182 is the Application for Kentucky Certificate of Title or Registration from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing. The current version is Rev. 06/2026. You submit it, with the required documents, to the county clerk, not to a state DMV office.

The same form covers several jobs. At the top you choose Duplicate, Title Only, Transfer, First time, Salvage or Classic. For a duplicate, you also say whether the original title was lost, destroyed, damaged, illegible or something else.

Filling it in

1. Section 1, vehicle: VIN, year, make, model, model number, body style and color, plus the engine type (gas, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric), cylinders, truck weight, or motor number for a motorcycle.
2. Title brand: mark it if the vehicle is rebuilt, water-damaged, hail-damaged or unrebuildable. If the title does not show that brand, give the state and title number where it was first branded.
3. Section 2, odometer: the reading with no tenths. Mark a box only if the mileage exceeds the odometer's mechanical limits or is not the actual mileage; either one flags an odometer discrepancy.
4. Section 2, total consideration: the date of sale, the sale price, any trade-in, the net cost and the tax. There is room for up to two trade-in vehicles.
5. Seller and buyer blocks: names, Kentucky driver license or ID number (or Social Security number or FEIN), date of birth, address, county, phone, email and the date of transfer.
6. Joint owners: check OR or AND. If you check neither, a later title transfer needs both signatures.
7. Loan question: say whether you have applied, or will apply within 30 days, for a loan on the vehicle, and name the first lienholder if there is one.
8. Sign. Each seller and buyer signature is sworn or affirmed before an attesting official.

The affidavit of total consideration

The seller and the buyer both certify, under the penalty provisions of KRS 190.990(5), that the price information on the form is true and correct. Because the signatures are sworn, the completed form works as the Affidavit of Total Consideration.

That matters for the tax. Kentucky's 6% motor vehicle usage tax is based on the retail value, unless the selling price is attested in this affidavit and is at least 50% of the trade-in value; then the tax is based on the price you paid.

Rules the county clerk follows

• The clerk will not accept a title or application with erasures, alterations or mutilations.
• Fill in the form in blue or black ink, unless you complete it online.
• Transfer the title at the county clerk's office within 15 days of the sale. The seller's signature on the title must be notarized.
• When a lien is to be filed, the clerk holds the title for 30 days or until the financing statement and fees arrive, whichever comes first.

What to Include in a Kentucky Bill of Sale

A complete bill of sale usually includes:

• Seller name, address
• Buyer name, address
• Year, make, model
• VIN
• Odometer reading
• Sale price
• Date of sale
• Seller signature