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

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Not for the transfer, but keep one

Pennsylvania Certificates of Title are used together with Form MV-4ST, the Vehicle Sales and Use Tax Return / Application for Registration, which carries the purchase price. The agent completes it. PennDOT does not list a bill of sale for the transfer. But the Department of Revenue reviews sales priced well below market value. It then asks the buyer for a bill of sale, a statement from the seller or similar proof, and it does not accept the MV-4ST as proof of price. If the vehicle is sold for 80% less than its fair market value, the agent must also complete Form MV-3. Bring acceptable proof of insurance — PennDOT names an insurance ID card, the declaration page, a valid binder, or a signed application to the Pennsylvania Assigned Risk Plan, and says no other forms or receipts are accepted. A hand-printed ID card is not acceptable.

Source: PennDOT Fact Sheet; PA Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Understated Value Program

Not required. Still worth having.

The title transfers ownership — and the buyer leaves with it. A separate bill of sale gives both of you something to keep.

It records who bought and who sold, the agreed price, when the vehicle changed hands, and any other terms you write into it, such as what was included or that it was sold as-is.

It does not replace the signed title or any notice Pennsylvania requires. You may not need one for the state. You may still want one for your own records.

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Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

A notary — and an authorized agent

Pennsylvania requires notarization. An authorized dealership may verify the signatures instead. The transfer itself must be done through an intermediary. The seller lists the purchaser's name and address, signs and prints their name, and discloses the odometer reading — all IN THE PRESENCE OF an authorized PennDOT agent. The purchaser signs and prints in the spaces provided and completes Section D. The title is only “transferred” once Sections A and D are signed AND notarized. Where a vehicle is titled in more than one name, all owners must sign.

Source: PennDOT Fact Sheet, Buying or Selling Your Vehicle in Pennsylvania (Feb 2025), checked Oct 12 2026

What happens to the plates?

Off — and posted back to Harrisburg

The registration plate is not given to the purchaser. It should be returned to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles unless you are transferring it to another vehicle, and PennDOT's web page gives the address for mailing it: Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O. Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597. Its February 2025 fact sheet still gives 1st Floor, 1101 South Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17104. If you have no other vehicle titled in Pennsylvania, state law says to return it within five days, with a note giving the reason and the date. If you are moving it to your next vehicle, an authorized agent does that too. If the next vehicle is already titled in Pennsylvania, Section F of Form MV-4ST records whether you want a new plate or are transferring one. If it is new or from out of state, Section G of Form MV-1 does.

Source: PennDOT Fact Sheet, Buying or Selling Your Vehicle in Pennsylvania

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

No separate notice — the agent files it

Pennsylvania publishes no seller notice of sale, because the transaction does not happen without an authorized agent in the room: they complete the paperwork and it goes to PennDOT from there. Your part is to have the plate transferred or mail it back — within five days if you have no other vehicle titled in Pennsylvania. Also, get a receipt from the buyer for the title and the vehicle, and keep it as evidence of the sale.

Source: PennDOT Fact Sheet, Buying or Selling Your Vehicle in Pennsylvania

Where does the odometer reading go?

Disclosed in front of the agent

The odometer reading is disclosed by the seller in the presence of the authorized agent, at the same moment the signature is witnessed. On a Pennsylvania title the seller writes the mileage in Section A on the back. On an out-of-state title check the front and back carefully — there should be a place for the seller's signature and the current odometer reading, and on some out-of-state titles the seller's signature requires notarization. Federal rules exempt some vehicles from odometer disclosure, including model year 2010 and older, model year 2011 and newer once they are 20 years old, and vehicles over 16,000 lbs.

Source: PennDOT Fact Sheet; 49 CFR 580.5(c)

The forms Pennsylvania publishes

• Vehicle Sales and Use Tax Return / Application for Registration (MV-4ST) — Completed by the authorized agent. Carries the price and, for a vehicle already titled in Pennsylvania, the plate decision. Where: Not published. Only authorized PennDOT agents have it.. Revision: not published.
• Registration plate return — No form. Post the plate with a note giving the reason and the date — unless you are moving it to your next vehicle. Due within five days if you have no other PA-titled vehicle. Where: Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O. Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597. Revision: no form.

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 Pennsylvania’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 Pennsylvania compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

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