Nebraska car bill of sale Do you need one? And what else does Nebraska require?

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Required — a bill of sale or Form 6

Not optional in Nebraska. The seller MUST provide the buyer with a Bill of Sale, or a completed Nebraska Department of Revenue Form 6 (Sales/Use Tax and Tire Fee Statement). You are not required to use the official bill of sale form, but you are required to give them one of the two.

Source: Nebraska DMV, Transfer of Ownership

Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

Neither — but every name signs

No notary. All names appearing on the Certificate of Title must sign off in the Seller's section, and any open liens must be released by the lienholder AND the County Official on the face of the title before it is reassigned. The title must be in your own name before you sell: you must first title it, register it and pay sales tax. Skipping that is a Class IV felony. A trap: spouses cannot sign as an agent for one another.

Source: Nebraska DMV, Transfer of Ownership, checked Oct 12 2026

What happens to the plates?

Off — turn them in for a refund, or move them to your next vehicle

Selling pays you back here. A transfer of ownership by certificate of title or bill of sale makes you eligible for a refund of the unused portion of your registration fees, motor vehicle taxes and motor vehicle fees. To collect it you must submit an Application for Refund together with the vehicle's registration, license plates AND validation decals to the County Treasurer where the vehicle is registered — within 60 days of the sale. No refund under $2 is paid. Miss the window and you have simply given the money up. If you buy another vehicle at the time of the sale, the unused amount is applied as a credit toward it instead.

Source: Nebraska DMV, Registration Refunds and Credits

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

No seller notice listed — the plates go back or move to your next vehicle

The Nebraska DMV's transfer instructions list no seller notice of sale. On a sale the registration expires. To get the unused fees back, return the registration, plates and decals to the County Treasurer with the Application for Refund within 60 days. Or have the plates reassigned to another vehicle within 30 days of buying it. The buyer meanwhile has 30 days to obtain a Certificate of Title, applying at a County Treasurer with a $10 titling fee — so make sure the title you hand them is clean enough to use.

Source: Nebraska DMV, Transfer of Ownership; Registration Refunds and Credits

Where does the odometer reading go?

On the title — the seller completes it

The seller is responsible for completing the Odometer Certification section of the title, and must keep a copy of the odometer statement for at least five years. And the rule that matters most on a Nebraska title: the buyer's name, address and signature must appear in the purchaser's section AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. A title signed off with the purchaser's information blank is an “Open Title”, which Nebraska states is a violation of the law and WILL BE CONFISCATED by the County Official, the DMV or law enforcement. Exempt from odometer certification: model year 2010 or older, and model year 2011 or newer once it is more than 20 years old.

Source: Nebraska DMV, Transfer of Ownership; Nebraska DMV, Odometer Certification

The forms Nebraska publishes

• Application for Refund — Yours to file at the County Treasurer within 60 days, with the plates and decals. Where: dmv.nebraska.gov → Registration Refunds and Credits. Revision: 7/2020.
• Bill of Sale — Required — this or Form 6. You need not use the official form, but you must give them one. Where: dmv.nebraska.gov → Forms. Revision: Revised 1/2014.
• Nebraska Sales/Use Tax and Tire Fee Statement for Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales (Form 6) — The Department of Revenue alternative to a bill of sale. Where: revenue.nebraska.gov → Form 6. Revision: 6-004-1967 Rev. 10-2021.

Selling here, registering somewhere else

These are the rules where you are selling, not where the buyer is taking it. The title is signed under Nebraska’s rules, and the plate and the notice are yours to handle here.

Registering it and paying tax falls under the buyer’s own state’s rules.

How Nebraska compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

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