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

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Only if the title has no price box

Conditional, and it turns on the shape of your particular title: if the assignment on the title does not have a section for the sales price, a bill of sale MUST accompany the paperwork. If it does have one, filling it in is enough. Check your own title before you decide you do not need one.

Source: SCDMV, Buying or Selling a Car

Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

Neither

Sign the title over to the buyer and complete the first assignment: the buyer's name and address, any lienholder information, the odometer reading, the sales price, the date of sale, and both signatures. No notary. Note what SCDMV lists as required on the back of YOUR title specifically — the odometer reading at the time of sale, the purchase date and the selling price.

Source: SCDMV, Buying or Selling a Car, checked Oct 12 2026

What happens to the plates?

Off — move it to another vehicle or return it within 30 days

The plate is yours, not the vehicle's. Within 30 days of the sale, either transfer it to another vehicle or return it. State law also says to return the registration card at the same time. To return it after a sale, SCDMV says to turn in Form 416 and Form 452, return the plate to any SCDMV branch or mail it to SCDMV Plate Turn-In, PO Box 1498, Blythewood SC 29016-0024, and cancel your liability insurance on the vehicle you sold. One rule worth knowing before you make the trip: only ACTIVE license plates can be returned. If your plate has already expired you do not need to return it at all.

Source: SCDMV, License Plate Return; SC Code §56-3-1260

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

Yes — Form 416, the Notice of Vehicle Sold

South Carolina states it as an obligation: when you sell the vehicle, you must notify the SCDMV. Complete the Notice of Vehicle Sold, SCDMV Form 416, and either drop it at any branch office or mail it to SCDMV Mail-in Registration, PO Box 1498, Blythewood SC 29016-0036. The deadline is immediately: state law says to notify SCDMV in writing immediately after the sale.

Source: SCDMV, Buying or Selling a Car; Form 416; SC Code §56-3-1260

Where does the odometer reading go?

On the back of the title

The odometer reading at the time of sale goes on the back of the title along with the purchase date and the selling price — SCDMV lists all three together as the seller's part. SCDMV gives the buyer 45 days from the purchase date to register the vehicle. One section of state law, §56-3-1270, says 30 days for a vehicle already registered for the current year.

Source: SCDMV, Buying or Selling a Car; 49 CFR 580.5(c)

The forms South Carolina publishes

• Notice of Vehicle Sold (416) — Yours to file. Any branch, or mail it to Blythewood. Nothing in the kit replaces it. It does not transfer ownership. It protects you until the buyer completes the transfer. Where: dmv.sc.gov/sites/scdmv/files/media/Forms/416.pdf. Revision: Rev. 6/15.
• Title and/or Registration Application (400) — The buyer's form. They have 45 days from the purchase date. Where: dmv.sc.gov/sites/scdmv/files/2025-12/Form%20400_0.pdf. Revision: Rev. 12/2025.
• Application to Replace or Surrender Plate, Decal, or Registration (452) — Yours, with the plate, if you return it after the sale. Fill in the vehicle sold date. Where: dmv.sc.gov/sites/scdmv/files/2026-01/452_4.pdf. Revision: 12/2024.

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 South Carolina’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 South Carolina compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

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