Free Texas bill of sale template

What Texas actually requires

Texas does not have an official bill of sale form, and this trips people up. The mandatory paper in a private vehicle sale is the Application for Texas Title and/or Registration, Form 130-U. The seller signs and dates the back of the certificate of title, enters the odometer reading there, and fills in their section of Form 130-U with the sale price. The buyer takes the signed title and the 130-U to the county tax assessor-collector's office to title and register the vehicle. A bill of sale is not legally required to make the transfer, but it is worth keeping: it records the price and date, it helps if the title assignment is ever questioned, and for untitled items like a trailer or furniture it may be the only proof the sale happened.

• Record the make, model, model year, VIN, plate number, color, date of sale, and price.
• The signed title plus Form 130-U moves ownership; the bill of sale is the supporting record.
• Do not use correction fluid on the title; a crossed-out or altered assignment gets rejected at the county tax office.

The buyer's 30-day clock, the 6.25% tax, and the penalty

Texas puts the first deadline on the buyer. You have 30 calendar days from the date of sale to title the vehicle at the county tax assessor-collector's office, whether you bought it in state or out of state. The motor vehicle sales tax is 6.25 percent. For a private-party used sale the Comptroller figures it on the greater of the price you actually paid or 80 percent of the vehicle's standard presumptive value (SPV), a number the state keeps from Texas sales data. The SPV shown to the public on the TxDMV site is the full value, but the county tax office uses 80 percent of it. If you paid less than that 80 percent figure, you still pay tax on the 80 percent unless you provide a certified appraisal (Form 14-128) within 20 working days of the sale. Miss the 30-day title deadline and the penalty is automatic: $25 on the 31st day, plus another $25 for each month you are late, and the Texas DMV says there are no waivers for it. Active-duty military get 60 days instead of 30.

• Tax is 6.25% of the price or 80% of SPV, whichever is greater.
• Paid under 80% of SPV? File a certified appraisal within 20 working days to be taxed on it.
• The late-title penalty is $25 on day 31 plus $25 a month, with no waivers.

The seller's own deadline: the transfer notification

This is the Texas step sellers forget. After you hand over the keys, the state record still shows the car in your name until the buyer titles it, and if the buyer drags their feet, tickets, tolls, and anything else the car does trace back to you. The fix is the Vehicle Transfer Notification, Form VTR-346, filed online at the TxDMV site. File it within 30 days of the sale and the state protects you from liability for what the buyer does with the vehicle. It takes a few minutes and it is free. Take your license plates off before the buyer drives away, too; in Texas plates stay with the seller, not the car.

Inspections: safety is gone, emissions still applies in some counties

Texas changed its inspection rules recently, so older advice online is wrong. House Bill 3297 ended the annual safety inspection for non-commercial vehicles on January 1, 2025. In its place every non-commercial vehicle pays a $7.50 inspection program replacement fee at registration. Emissions testing is a separate program and still required where it applies. Through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Department of Public Safety, emissions tests are required for gasoline vehicles roughly 2 to 24 years old registered in these counties: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery; Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant; Travis and Williamson; and El Paso. Bexar County (San Antonio) was added in 2026. If you are selling in one of those counties, the buyer needs a current emissions result to register, so sort it out before the sale rather than after.

• Safety inspection for non-commercial vehicles ended January 1, 2025 (HB 3297).
• A $7.50 inspection program replacement fee is now paid at registration statewide.
• Emissions testing still applies in the named metro counties, plus Bexar from 2026.

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 county tax 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, use Form 14-317 rather than writing 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 transfer notification.

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 with no waiver.
• The seller skipping Form VTR-346 and staying liable for a car they no longer own.
• Writing a low price to cut the tax, when the county taxes 80 percent of SPV anyway unless you file a certified appraisal.
• Treating the bill of sale as the title transfer; the signed title plus Form 130-U is what moves ownership.
• A buyer in an emissions county finding out at the counter that the car has no current emissions result.
• Using correction fluid on the title, or leaving the VIN or the odometer line blank.