Louisiana title transfer cost and calculator

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

Putting the title in your name runs $68.50 in Louisiana. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Doing the title and the registration in the same trip costs about $116.50 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 Louisiana comes to about $1,000, so that, not the $68.50 title fee, is what a transfer really costs unless it is exempt.

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

How to transfer a car title in Louisiana

1. Get the paperwork right. The vehicle application (DPSMV 1799), the current title assigned by the seller to you before a notary (or a notarized bill of sale or invoice with the price), an odometer statement if the title lacks one, and a UCC-1 or other security agreement if a lien is being recorded. For a plate, add photo ID and proof of liability insurance. source 7
2. Signatures. Louisiana wants the seller's assignment of the title made before a notary. When a lien is being recorded and the seller is present, an authorized officer of a federally insured bank can witness it instead. source 7
3. Where you go. A Louisiana OMV office or a licensed public tag agent. New residents register within 30 days. source 1
4. Pay. The title fee of $68.50, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
5. Do it in time. File within 40 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?

Louisiana wants the seller's assignment of the title made before a notary. When a lien is being recorded and the seller is present, an authorized officer of a federally insured bank can witness it instead. source 7

Can you transfer a title online in Louisiana?

Partly. Renewals are online. A first registration in your name is done at the OMV or a public tag agent. source 1

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

A gift is transferred with an Act of Donation, and OMV requires the Act of Donation to be notarized. source 7

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

Forty days from the sale. The vehicle application form (DPSMV 1799) says to submit the file within 40 days to avoid penalty and interest. source 9

What being late costs in Louisiana: OMV's vehicle application says the file must be submitted within 40 days of the sale to avoid penalty and 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 40-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 Louisiana OMV 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana OMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Louisiana wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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