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

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Not required — Wisconsin says so outright

The Bill of Sale is provided for your convenience and is NOT a required form. Keep a copy and give the buyer one as documentation if you want, and you may draft your own. Wisconsin also publishes Instructions for Selling a Vehicle, form MV2928, if you want a record of the sale.

Source: Wisconsin DMV, Sell your vehicle; form MV2928

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 Wisconsin requires. You may not need one for the state. You may still want one for your own records.

Free printable document · no account

Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

Neither

Sign and date the title in the area for the selling owner. Where more than one owner is listed, “and” between the names means all must sign and “or” means any one may. You also fill in the odometer statement, the brand disclosure area if it applies, the selling price, and the buyer's name and address. If a lien is listed, give the buyer a lien release from your lienholder — they need both documents to get a title.

Source: Wisconsin DMV, Sell your vehicle, checked Oct 12 2026

What happens to the plates?

Off — then destroy them, do not return them

Remove the plates — unless the vehicle is a truck registered at 10,000 lbs or more, a farm truck at 16,000 lbs or more, a moped, a trailer or a recreational vehicle trailer, in which case they stay with it. You may move unexpired plates to a similar vehicle titled to you, your spouse or your same-sex domestic partner. If you do not transfer them there is NO refund for the remaining registration, and Wisconsin says plainly: do not return the plates to DMV — destroy them, cut them up. If you left them on the vehicle, file a License Plates Cancellation Application, form MV2514.

Source: Wisconsin DMV, Sell your vehicle

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

Yes. Within 30 days, online

Complete the seller notification if you sold or gave the vehicle to another individual. This includes a junk vehicle transferred by bill of sale. State law requires it. Wisconsin runs it as its own online service at sellernotify.wi.gov, and the window is 30 days from the sale. You may still get a renewal notice when the plates expire — Wisconsin says disregard it, unless you transferred the plates to another vehicle.

Source: Wisconsin DMV, Sell your vehicle; sellernotify.wi.gov

Where does the odometer reading go?

On the title — federal and state law

Fill in the odometer mileage statement on the title. Wisconsin says federal law requires it, and state law requires it too. If the vehicle is model year 2011 or newer, write the odometer reading on the back of the title. Some vehicles are exempt: model year 2010 or older, a 2011 or newer vehicle at least 20 years after its model year, a moped, a vehicle that is not self-propelled, and a vehicle rated over 16,000 pounds.

Source: Wisconsin DMV, Sell your vehicle; Wis. Stat. 342.155; Wis. Admin. Code Trans 154.05; 49 CFR 580.5(c)

The forms Wisconsin publishes

• Seller notification — Yours to file, within 30 days of a private sale. Nothing in the kit replaces it. Where: sellernotify.wi.gov. Revision: online service.
• License Plates Cancellation Application (MV2514) — Only if you left the plates on the vehicle when it went. Where: wisconsindot.gov → Forms. Revision: 5/2015.
• Instructions for Selling a Vehicle (MV2928) — Optional. A record of the sale for your convenience. Do not send it to DMV. Wisconsin says it is not a valid bill of sale. Where: wisconsindot.gov → Forms. Revision: 4/2016.

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 Wisconsin’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 Wisconsin compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

Ready to handle the paperwork?

Get your free documents, set up for a Wisconsin sale — the bill of sale, and the answers on this page as one printable sheet. Print what you need. Free, no account.

Get my free documents →