New Jersey title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in New Jersey?

New Jersey charges $60 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 $106.50 on a used $20,000 car, not counting tax.

The tax is the number that matters. A $20,000 purchase in New Jersey carries roughly $1,325 in sales or use tax, several times the title fee.

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

How to transfer a car title in New Jersey

1. Get the paperwork right. The title signed by both parties on the reverse, a bill of sale showing the buyer's name and address, the date of sale, the odometer reading and the price, and form BA-49, the Vehicle Registration Application, where it applies. source 3
2. Signatures. Both parties sign the reverse of the title. If one person is signing for another, the power of attorney has to be notarized and name the appointee, the principal and the powers being granted. source 3
3. Where you go. A motor vehicle agency in person. The MVC says this type of transaction cannot be handled through the mail. source 3
4. Pay. The title fee of $60, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
5. Do it in time. File within 10 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?

Both parties sign the reverse of the title. If one person is signing for another, the power of attorney has to be notarized and name the appointee, the principal and the powers being granted. source 3

Can you transfer a title online in New Jersey?

No. It has to be done at a motor vehicle agency. The MVC states this transaction cannot be handled through the mail, and there is no online route. source 3

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

A vehicle is only exempt from sales tax if the word gift is written on the purchase price line on the reverse of the title. Get that line wrong and the exemption goes with it, which on a $20,000 car is $1,325.00 at the 6.625% rate. source 3

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

Ten working days from the date of sale for a New Jersey or dealer reassigned title. Miss it and there is a $25.00 penalty. Note that it is ten working days, not ten days, so a sale on a Friday before a holiday buys you a little more room than you would think. source 3

What being late costs in New Jersey: a New Jersey or dealer reassigned title has to be transferred within 10 working days of the sale, or there is a $25.00 penalty.

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 10-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 NJ MVC 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 New Jersey 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 NJ MVC before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where New Jersey wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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