Minnesota title transfer cost and calculator

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

Putting the title in your name runs $8.25 in Minnesota. Add $2 to record a lien if the car is financed, which brings the paperwork to $10.25. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Doing the title and the registration in the same trip costs about $376.50 in fees on a used $20,000 car, before any tax and before the wheelage tax, which depends on where you live.

On a $20,000 car the sales or use tax in Minnesota comes to about $1,375, so that, not the $8.25 title fee, is what a transfer really costs unless it is exempt.

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

How to transfer a car title in Minnesota

1. Get the paperwork right. The assigned title, and the application to title and register a vehicle, form PS2000. source 2
2. Where you go. A deputy registrar office. Minnesota runs vehicle transactions through deputy registrars rather than a single state counter, and they add a $1.00 local office surcharge. source 2
3. Pay. The title fee of $8.25, 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?

Minnesota DVS 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 Minnesota DVS before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in Minnesota?

No. The transfer is done through a deputy registrar. Renewals can be done online. source 2

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

No tax is due in Minnesota on a car given between spouses, a parent and child, or a grandparent and grandchild, and the old gift affidavit is no longer needed for it. Gifts from other people are taxed, on the average value of similar vehicles. source 12

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. Minnesota 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 sale. After that a $2.00 late transfer penalty is charged. source 2

What being late costs in Minnesota: a $2.00 late transfer penalty is due if the transfer is not submitted within 20 calendar days of the sale date.

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 Minnesota DVS 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. Minnesota charges $2 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota DVS before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Minnesota wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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