District of Columbia title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in District of Columbia?

The title itself costs $30 in District of Columbia. Add $20 to record a lien if the car is financed, which brings the paperwork to $50. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Title and registration together, the way most people do it in one visit, come to about $135 on a used $20,000 car, before tax.

The fee is the small part. On a $20,000 car District of Columbia also collects about $620 in excise tax on the purchase, which is far more than the title fee.

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

How to transfer a car title in District of Columbia

1. Get the paperwork right. The Certificate of Title/Temporary Tag Application with every owner listed, a passed DC inspection (a brand-new passenger car is exempt), and printed proof of DC insurance. source 7
2. Where you go. A DC DMV service center. You need a DC driver license or ID card first, and all tickets and debts owed to the District must be cleared. source 2
3. Pay. The title fee of $30, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. Do it in time. File within 60 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?

DC DMV 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 DC DMV before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in District of Columbia?

Partly. Renewals can be done online. A first title and registration in your name is done at a DC DMV service center. source 2

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

A gift between spouses, domestic partners, or parent and child is exempt from the excise tax, but only if the car already has a DC title. Use the Excise Tax Gift Exemption form. source 8

Writing $1 on the form does not help in District of Columbia. The tax comes off the state's own assessment of the car's value, not the figure you write down. 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

New residents register within 60 days of moving to the District. source 2

The clock starts on the sale date, not the day you get round to it, so a signed title left in a drawer is already running down. 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 60-day window is worth keeping to.

When something is missing

Most of what people search here is a version of "can I still do this without". The honest general answer, worth confirming with DC DMV 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. District of Columbia charges $20 to record a lien, so that line shows up on your own paperwork when you finance a car here.
• 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 District of Columbia 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 DC DMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where District of Columbia wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia 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