Kentucky title transfer cost and calculator

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

The title itself costs $9 in Kentucky. Add $22 to record a lien if the car is financed, which brings the paperwork to $31. 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 $30 on a used $20,000 car, before tax and before the annual motor vehicle property tax, which depends on where you live.

The fee is the small part. On a $20,000 car Kentucky also collects about $1,200 in Kentucky motor vehicle usage tax on the purchase, which is far more than the title fee.

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

How to transfer a car title in Kentucky

1. Get the paperwork right. The Kentucky title, assigned to you by the seller. Titles issued after February 2000 have the assignment and the vehicle transaction record printed on the back; an older title also needs form TC 96-182. Bring proof of Kentucky insurance and photo ID, and the money for the 6% usage tax. source 10
2. Signatures. Kentucky notarizes the transfer. A county clerk charges $2.00 per notarization, and whoever signs has to do it in front of the clerk with photo ID. source 9
3. Where you go. Your county clerk's office. Kentucky runs titling through the clerks rather than through a central DMV counter, and a speed title can only be applied for at the clerk, not at the Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing in Frankfort. source 5
4. Pay. The title fee of $9, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
5. Do it in time. File within 15 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?

Kentucky notarizes the transfer. A county clerk charges $2.00 per notarization, and whoever signs has to do it in front of the clerk with photo ID. source 9

Can you transfer a title online in Kentucky?

No. Titling is done at the county clerk. Kentucky takes registration renewals online, with a $2.00 per vehicle mailing fee, but that is a renewal rather than a transfer. source 5

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

The clerk taxes a vehicle given as a gift on its average trade-in value in the NADA guide, since there is no price to go on. source 10

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. Kentucky 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

Fifteen days. The county clerk says a vehicle you buy, or bring in from another state, has to be titled within 15 days. source 10

What being late costs in Kentucky: After you buy a car, the property tax on it becomes delinquent after the last day of the second calendar month following the month of the transfer, and the same 3% and 10% penalties apply from there.

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 15-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 Kentucky Transportation Cabinet 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. Kentucky charges $22 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky Transportation Cabinet before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Kentucky wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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