Free New Hampshire Bill of Sale Template & Generator

New Hampshire Bill of Sale Requirements

Additional Forms Required in New Hampshire

• Title Application (Form TDMV 19A) — for model year 2000 and newer
• Form TDMV 22A (Report of Sale/Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle) — for pre-2000 vehicles

New Hampshire is one of the least-taxed states to buy a vehicle in — there is no state sales tax at all, on vehicles or anything else. What replaces it is an annual municipal registration fee, paid to your town or city and calculated from the vehicle's original list price and its age, so it shrinks as the vehicle gets older. That is why New Hampshire registration is a two-step errand: the town or city clerk collects the municipal portion first, and a state DMV office handles the state portion second.

The state's defining quirk for private sellers is its title rule. New Hampshire does not title vehicles with a model year before 2000 — that is, model year 1999 and earlier are title-exempt. Crucially this is a FIXED cutoff written into RSA 261:3, not a rolling "X years old" window, so it does not move forward with the calendar; the one exception is heavy trucks and truck-tractors over 18,000 lbs, which are always titled. For an exempt vehicle, there is no title to sign over, which makes the bill of sale plus the prior registration the entire ownership record — New Hampshire even has a dedicated form for it, TDMV 22A, the Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle. A thorough, signed bill of sale is therefore not optional paperwork on an older New Hampshire vehicle; it is the proof of ownership.

For titled vehicles (model year 2000 and newer), the transfer runs on the assigned title and Form TDMV 19A, with the bill of sale strongly recommended as the buyer's record of price and date. Odometer disclosure is required for self-propelled 2011-and-newer vehicles at or under 16,000 lbs, on the title or on the standalone TDMV 12 form. Notarization is not required anywhere in the process.

After a sale, the seller keeps the plates — in New Hampshire plates follow the owner, not the vehicle — and can transfer them to a next vehicle through the town clerk. A New Hampshire-resident buyer can obtain a 20-day temporary plate to drive a privately purchased vehicle home and through the registration steps.

One moving target deserves a direct check: New Hampshire's annual state safety inspection. A 2025 law repealed the long-standing inspection mandate, but 2026 federal litigation has suspended and reinstated it more than once, leaving the requirement genuinely unsettled through mid-2026. Rather than rely on any single snapshot, confirm the current inspection rule with the New Hampshire DMV before you buy or sell.