Free Louisiana Trailer Bill of Sale
Louisiana sorts trailers by weight and use before deciding how much paper they carry. Trailers are titled through the OMV, with the OMV's one-notarized-document rule applying to the sale. Some light trailers may not need a title — ask the OMV for your trailer's class before the sale. Registration is cheap: a boat trailer (up to 1,500 lbs) is $25 for 4 years, a utility trailer (up to 500 lbs) is $12 for 4 years, and other trailers are $10 a year, $40 for 4 years, or $70 for a permanent plate. The tax is Louisiana's usual 5.0% plus the parish add-on, due by the 40th day after the sale.
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Louisiana Trailer Bill of Sale — What You Need to Know
Sales Tax Details
Same 5.0% + parish tax applies to trailers.
Louisiana Trailer Sale — Step-by-Step Checklist
- Ask the OMV first whether your trailer's class needs a title.
- Verify the VIN or serial plate against whatever ownership document the class carries.
- Put the price on the title assignment and notarize it — or prepare a bill of sale with VIN/serial, type, weight, sale price, date, and sign it before a NOTARY.
- Seller signs over the title (titled classes) or the transferable registration certificate (light boat trailers).
- Buyer files at the OMV — or, for boat trailers, at LDWF headquarters on a Monday morning, when an OMV representative handles boat trailers — paying the sales tax by the 40th day after the sale.
- Buyer pays 5.0% state tax plus the parish rate, and the registration: $25 for 4 years (boat trailer up to 1,500 lbs), $12 for 4 years (utility up to 500 lbs), or $10/year, $40/4 years, $70 permanent for other trailers.
- Out-of-state trailer from a titling state? Its title must be surrendered before Louisiana issues its own.
Common Pitfalls
- Not checking which document the trailer carries — collect the title, or the registration certificate if the trailer has no title.
- Skipping the notary — the OMV expects the title assignment, bill of sale or invoice to be notarized for trailer sales too.
- Forgetting the parish tax — the 5.0% is only the state's share.
- Buying an out-of-state trailer without its home-state paperwork — Louisiana won't title it until the prior title or registration is surrendered.
Pro Tip
Louisiana trailers: a notarized title or bill of sale as always, an OMV title for most trailers — and cheap multi-year registration.