Alabama title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in Alabama?

Putting the title in your name runs $15 in Alabama. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Doing the title and the registration in the same trip costs about $39.25 in fees on a used $20,000 car, before any tax and before the local sales tax, which depends on where you live.

On a $20,000 car the sales or use tax in Alabama comes to about $526, so that, not the $15 title fee, is what a transfer really costs unless it is exempt.

Work out your own figure on the Alabama registration fee calculator, which itemizes every line and links to the source for each one.

How to transfer a car title in Alabama

1. Get the paperwork right. The seller signs the title over to you and you fill in an application to put it in your name. Alabama DOR lists the exact forms on its own site.
2. Where you go. Your county license plate office, run by the probate judge, license commissioner or revenue commissioner depending on the county. source 8
3. Pay. The title fee of $15, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. Do it in time. File within 20 days of the sale; what being late costs is under the deadline section below.

Do both of you need to be there, and can you do it online?

Alabama DOR does not say whether both of you have to be there. As a rule the seller has to sign the title over and the buyer signs the application, and where a state wants both signatures notarized a notary can stand in for one party being present. Confirm it with the Alabama DOR before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in Alabama?

Partly. Many counties let you renew online. A first title and registration in your name is handled at the county office. source 1

Transferring a title to a family member, or as a gift

Alabama does not charge sales tax on a car you are given, because the Department of Revenue's sales tax rule says property handed over as a gift is not a sale. That settles the tax only: the title and plate are still done at your county license office, the same as for any other change of owner. source 15

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. Alabama taxes what you actually paid, which is exactly why an understated price is treated as fraud rather than a smart move. If it truly is a gift, claim it as one on the proper form at the time of the transfer.

How long you have, and what late costs

Twenty calendar days from the date of purchase or acquisition, starting the day after you get the car. During that window keep the bill of sale, title application or temporary tag in the car. source 6

What being late costs in Alabama: Register within 20 calendar days of buying the car, counting from the day after the purchase. After that the late registration penalty is $15 plus interest.

Late fees here come from waiting for a payday or a day off, not from anything complicated, so the fix is simply to go early. A transfer you never finish leaves the car in the seller's name, and tickets, tolls and abandoned-vehicle notices all follow the registered owner, so the 20-day window is worth keeping to.

When something is missing

The common thread in these questions is something missing from the deal. The honest general answer, worth confirming with Alabama DOR for your own case:

• No title. The seller applies for a duplicate before selling. A car sold without its title is not a car you can register, and a seller who cannot produce one is a seller to walk away from.
• There is still a loan on it. The lender holds the title or the lien is recorded against it, and it only moves cleanly once the loan is cleared. Never hand over money for a financed car before you have seen the lien released in writing.
• No bill of sale. Some states require one and some do not, but write one anyway. It is the only record of what you paid, and in Alabama what you paid is what any tax is worked out on.
• The owner has died. This goes through the estate rather than a normal transfer, and what is needed depends on whether there is a will and whether the estate goes to probate. It is the one case here where it is worth ringing Alabama DOR before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Alabama wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Alabama title transfers

Once the title is in your name

The title is half of it. The plate and the registration are the other half, and the tax lands with them. The Alabama registration fee calculator works out the whole bill line by line, including what a dealer means when they quote a single tax, title and license number.

Nearby states

Or see car title transfer by state for all 51.

Where these numbers come from