Free Missouri bill of sale template

What Missouri actually requires

Missouri titles every vehicle, so the document that moves ownership is the certificate of title, signed over on the back with the odometer reading filled in. The bill of sale sits alongside it. The Department of Revenue has its own version, the Form 1957 Bill of Sale, and you are not forced to use that exact sheet as long as your own carries the same facts. Where the bill of sale earns its keep is in three specific spots: it is accepted as an ownership document when the buyer gets a temporary permit before the title is transferred, it doubles as the seller's notice of sale, and it supports a tax credit when the seller is also buying a replacement vehicle.

• Record the make, model, model year, VIN, plate number, color, date of sale, and price.
• The bill of sale is the record of the deal, not the title transfer itself.
• Do not use correction fluid on the title; a crossed-out or whited-out assignment gets rejected at the license office.

The buyer's 30-day clock, the 4.225% tax, and the penalty

Missouri puts the first deadline on the buyer. You have 30 days from the date of sale to title the vehicle and pay the tax at a license office, and you pay the title fee of $8.50 and a $9 processing fee on top of the tax. The tax itself is the state rate of 4.225 percent plus the local sales-tax rate for the address where you live, not where you bought the car, and it is figured on the price minus any trade-in allowance. Miss the 30 days and the penalty starts on day 31: $25, then another $25 for every additional 30 days you are late, up to a cap of $200. If something genuinely kept you from titling in time, you can ask the Department of Revenue to waive the penalty with Form 5105.

• State tax is 4.225%; add your local rate, based on your home address.
• Trade-in value is subtracted before the tax is figured.
• The late-title penalty is $25 per 30 days, maxing out at $200.

The seller's own deadline: the notice of sale

This is the Missouri step that catches people, because most states do not have it. Within 30 days of selling, the seller has to tell the Department of Revenue the vehicle is gone, so the record stops pointing at them for tolls, tickets, or an abandoned car. You do it with a Notice of Sale (Form 5049) or by filing a copy of the bill of sale on Form 1957. It takes two minutes and it is the cheapest insurance in the whole transaction. Skip it and you are still the name attached to a car you no longer own.

Safety and emissions inspections

Two different inspections can attach to a Missouri sale, and they are run by two different agencies. The safety inspection comes from the Missouri State Highway Patrol program, and a certificate is good for 60 days. Under Section 307.350, RSMo, a vehicle is exempt for the first ten years following its model year as long as it has under 150,000 miles, so a newer, lower-mileage car usually needs no safety inspection to change hands. Once it is older than that or crosses 150,000 miles, the seller provides a current certificate. Emissions are separate and local. The Gateway Vehicle Inspection Program, run by the Department of Natural Resources with the Highway Patrol, covers only vehicles registered in St. Louis City and St. Louis, St. Charles, and Jefferson counties. (Franklin County dropped out on July 1, 2022.) It applies to gas vehicles from model year 1996 and diesels from 1997, rated 8,500 pounds or less. If you are selling in those four areas, you have to give the buyer a current emissions certificate or waiver before the sale, and the buyer has 60 days from the test date to use it to register. That duty is not something an 'as is' line can sign away.

• Safety inspection: exempt for the first 10 model years under 150,000 miles (Section 307.350, RSMo).
• Emissions: only St. Louis City and St. Louis, St. Charles, and Jefferson counties.
• Brand-new cars in their first model year with under 6,000 miles, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles are exempt from emissions.

How to fill it in

Most fields are self-explanatory. The two to get exactly right are the vehicle description and the price, because the license office and the tax calculation both read them.

• Buyer and seller: full legal names and current addresses.
• Vehicle: make, model, model year, the VIN, the plate number, and the color.
• Price and date: the real amount paid, how it was paid, and the date of sale. For a genuine family gift, say so rather than inventing a token price.
• Odometer: record the exact mileage and check the matching statement. Leave the section out for non-vehicles.
• Both parties sign and each keeps a copy. The buyer titles the vehicle within 30 days, and the seller files the notice of sale.

Common mistakes

The errors that cause trouble later are easy to avoid.

• Letting the buyer's 30-day title window lapse and picking up the $25-per-month penalty.
• The seller forgetting the notice of sale and staying on the hook for the car.
• A St. Louis-area seller skipping the emissions certificate the buyer needs to register.
• Treating the bill of sale as the title transfer; the signed title is what moves ownership.
• Using correction fluid on the title, or leaving the VIN or the odometer line blank.
• Not keeping a signed copy for your own records.