DMV Bill of Sale — 50-State Guide

Most state DMVs require a bill of sale documenting the buyer, seller, vehicle (VIN, year, make, model), odometer reading, and sale price. The DMV uses it to assess sales tax and confirm the transfer terms. A few states (Texas, Florida, California, and others) use a specific DMV-provided form; the rest accept any compliant written bill of sale.

Some states publish a specific DMV form for private vehicle sales (Texas Form 130-U, California REG 135, Florida HSMV 82050, Pennsylvania MV-4ST, New York MV-50, and a handful of others). Other states accept any written bill of sale that contains the required fields. Whether you use the state's form or a generic compliant template, the DMV processes both identically — the form name is a convention, not a legal requirement in most states.

Transfer deadlines vary by state: most use 30 days, California uses 10 days, Florida uses 30 days, Pennsylvania uses 20 days, New York uses 180 days. Missing the deadline triggers late fees ($25-$50 typically) and accrued use tax. Find your state's exact deadline in the table below.

A minority of states require notarization of the bill of sale (e.g. Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, West Virginia, Wyoming). The majority do not. Notarization is always optional and adds evidentiary weight in any future dispute. USCG-documented vessels (boats 26+ feet) always require notarization regardless of state.

If the bill of sale contains the seven required fields (buyer name + address, seller name + address, vehicle VIN/year/make/model, sale price, sale date, odometer reading, and both signatures), most state DMVs will accept it. The state-specific BillOfSaleNow templates pre-populate the form-number context and notary rules for each state automatically.