Free Tennessee Bill of Sale Template & Generator

Tennessee Bill of Sale Requirements

Additional Forms Required in Tennessee

• Application for Certificate of Title

Tennessee's vehicle tax is widely misquoted as "up to 9.75%," and that overstates what most buyers actually pay. The state runs a "single article" structure: 7% state tax applies to the full purchase price, but the local option tax (up to 2.75%) is charged only on the first $1,600, and a separate 2.75% state single-article tax is charged only on the portion between $1,600 and $3,200. Above $3,200, nothing but the 7% state rate applies. On a $20,000 vehicle in a maximum-local-rate county, the total comes to roughly $1,480 — about 7.4% effective, not the ~9.75% figure that treats the local rate as if it applied to the whole price.

Titling in Tennessee runs through the county clerk's office rather than a central DMV, which is unusual and worth knowing: the same office handles the title, the registration, and the tax, and the state title fee is a modest $8.50. Many counties also levy a wheel tax at registration, so the full out-the-door cost includes that local charge on top of the purchase tax.

Emissions testing has shrunk dramatically. As of January 14, 2022, the counties that historically tested — Hamilton, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson among them — ended their programs. Only Davidson County (Nashville) still requires an emissions test. Everywhere else in Tennessee, there is no emissions requirement at all, which simplifies most private sales.

The buyer has 30 days to complete the transfer at the county clerk with the assigned title and a signed bill of sale; notarization is not required. One point of confusion worth clearing up: Form RV-F1301201 is Tennessee's Affidavit of Non-Dealer Transfers, used for tax-exempt transfers between lineal relatives or for gifts and genuinely low-price sales to non-relatives — it is not a general-purpose bill of sale, and our generator produces the standard sale document you actually want for an arm's-length transaction.