Virginia Bill of Sale — and VSA 17A Explained

About These Forms

Covers: Virginia Bill of Sale — and VSA 17A Explained

Agency: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

Purpose: Documents a private vehicle sale in Virginia and the price for the 4.15% Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax (which carries a $75 minimum). VSA 17A is the separate title/registration application filed with it.

When required: A bill of sale is required when the seller does not record the sale price on the title, and recommended otherwise. The buyer files VSA 17A with the assigned title within 30 days at a Virginia DMV Customer Service Center; the seller notifies DMV of the sale.

What VSA 17A is

VSA 17A is the Virginia DMV's Application for Certificate of Title and Registration. You use it to title and/or register a passenger vehicle, motorcycle, truck, motor home (RV) or trailer, and you return it to any DMV customer service center. DMV may ask for proof of any information on it.

At the top you choose Title only, or Title and Registration (license plates issued). You can also pick the electronic title option: DMV keeps the title on file and no paper title is issued.

The form, section by section

• Owner information: say if a person or a business owns the vehicle. Joint owners say if the survivor gets full ownership when one of them dies. Give a home or business address (not a P.O. box), your DMV customer number, FEIN or Social Security number, and where the vehicle is mainly kept. You also say if any owner is on active military duty.
• Vehicle information: year, make, model, body type, VIN, color and fuel type, the weights for trucks, and the previous title number and state.
• Lien information: the first lienholder and the date of the lien, if the purchase is financed. More liens go on Form VSA 66.
• Source of ownership: whether the vehicle was sold to you new, used or as a demonstrator, who you bought it from, the purchase date and the sales price.
• Odometer statement: write the reading with no tenths. Then check one box: actual mileage, over the odometer's mechanical limits, not the actual mileage, or exempt in the prior state. For an exemption, bring the out-of-state title that shows it.
• Personal property tax relief: four questions about business use decide whether you check Business Use or Personal Use.
• Insurance certification: you confirm the vehicle has liability insurance from a company licensed in Virginia. It must stay insured while it is registered, even when it is not driven.
• Registration: transfer existing plates or get new ones, and choose one year, two years ($2 discount) or three years ($3 discount, not in emissions areas).

Who signs, and what it certifies

Only the applicant and any co-applicant sign VSA 17A. They sign under penalty of perjury that the facts are true and the documents are genuine. A knowingly false statement is a crime.

DMV asks for the Social Security number under Virginia Code §§46.2-623 and 46.2-629. The form says a person who refuses to give the required information will be denied a title and/or registration.

Where the bill of sale fits

• The seller signs the title over to you. If the seller does not write the sale price on the title, a bill of sale is required to show it.
• The price you report is taxed at 4.15% (minimum $75). If it is more than $1,500 below the NADA trade-in value, DMV asks for a price document: SUT 1A for vehicles five model years old or newer, SUT 1 or a similar bill of sale for older ones.
• File VSA 17A with the assigned title within 30 days.

What to Include in a Virginia Bill of Sale

A complete bill of sale usually includes:

• Seller name, address
• Buyer name, address
• Year, make, model
• VIN
• Odometer (Form VSA 5)
• Sale price
• Date of sale
• Both signatures