Montana title transfer cost and calculator

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

Montana charges $12 for the title. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. If you are plating the car at the same time, the title, registration and plate fees add up to about $244.51 on a used $20,000 car, not counting tax and before the county option tax, which depends on where you live.

Here is what makes Montana unusual: there is no state sales tax on the car, so once the title fee is paid you are close to done. In most states the tax on the purchase dwarfs the title fee. In Montana the title fee is most of what a straightforward transfer costs.

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

How to transfer a car title in Montana

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. Montana MVD lists the exact forms on its own site.
2. Signatures. Since October 2, 2025 (HB 165) a Montana title no longer needs to be notarized, for individuals or businesses, and titles printed after October 1, 2025 have no notary section. source 5
3. Where you go. The County Treasurer's office in the county where you live, or MVD Online Services. Montana does not let you resell a vehicle until it is titled and registered in your name. source 5
4. Pay. The title fee of $12, with no purchase tax to add in Montana.
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?

Since October 2, 2025 (HB 165) a Montana title no longer needs to be notarized, for individuals or businesses, and titles printed after October 1, 2025 have no notary section. source 5

Can you transfer a title online in Montana?

Partly. Renewals are online. A first title and registration in your name is done at the county treasurer's office. source 1

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

Give the new owner the current title signed by every owner listed on it. Montana has no sales tax, so a gift owes no tax either way. source 5

In most states the reason to log a car as a gift is to escape the sales tax. Montana does not charge that tax on a car in the first place, so a family transfer here is mostly about the paperwork rather than a saving. Fill in the title and the application the same way, note that it is a gift where the form asks, and the cost is the $12 title fee either way.

How long you have, and what late costs

Forty days from the sale date to title and register the vehicle, or a late fee applies. source 5

What being late costs in Montana: the buyer has 40 days from the sale date to title and register the vehicle at the County Treasurer, or a late fee is charged.

The countdown runs from when the title was signed, not from your first free afternoon, so do not sit on it. 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

A lot of these searches start with "what if I do not have". The honest general answer, worth confirming with Montana MVD 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 Montana 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 Montana MVD before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Montana wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Montana 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 Montana 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