Free New Mexico Bill of Sale Template & Generator

New Mexico Bill of Sale Requirements

Additional Forms Required in New Mexico

• MVD 10002 (Application for Vehicle Title and Registration)
• MVD 10009 (Bill of Sale) — only if the title assignment is incomplete or its spaces are used up

New Mexico taxes vehicle sales with a dedicated 4% Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, and the most valuable thing to understand about it is what it is NOT. New Mexico's better-known Gross Receipts Tax — running roughly 7% to 9% depending on where you live — does not apply to titled vehicle sales. Buyers who budget using the GRT rate substantially overestimate what they owe, and guides that conflate the two are simply wrong. The MVET is 4%, calculated on the purchase price less any trade-in, and paid at the MVD when you title.

The catch is the 80% rule. If your declared price is less than 80% of the vehicle's NADA average trade-in or wholesale value, the MVD ignores your figure and computes the 4% on the NADA value instead. That makes an accurate bill of sale worth getting right in New Mexico: if you bought a car cheaply for real reasons — high mileage, mechanical problems, accident history — keep records of why, and ask the MVD how it treats a price below the 80% line.

New Mexico's paperwork centers on the seller-assigned title and MVD 10002, the Application for Vehicle Title and Registration. MVD 10009, the Bill of Sale, is needed only when the title's assignment section is incomplete — price, odometer, or signatures missing — or its assignment spaces are used up. MVD 10009 has no notary block, and the title assignment needs the seller's signature, not a notary.

The deadline structure escalates in two stages, which is unusual. The buyer has 30 calendar days from the transfer to title and register the vehicle, and missing that adds a modest $20 late transfer fee. But if no title application is made within 90 days, a 50% MVET penalty applies — a far more serious charge that turns procrastination into real money. Filing promptly is worth the trip, and New Mexico makes that easier than most states by licensing private partner offices such as MVD Express alongside state field offices; they charge a convenience fee but often cut the wait dramatically.

On the seller's side, take the plate off the vehicle — New Mexico plates belong to the owner and transfer to your next car — and file a notice of transfer with the MVD so the record shows the vehicle changed hands. Combined with your signed copy of the bill of sale, that is what protects you from anything the buyer does before they complete the title transfer.