Pennsylvania title transfer cost and calculator

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

Pennsylvania charges $72 for the title. Add $36 to record a lien if the car is financed, which brings the paperwork to $108. 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 $120 on a used $20,000 car, not counting tax and before the county fee for local use and the local sales tax, which depend on where you live.

The tax is the number that matters. A $20,000 purchase in Pennsylvania carries roughly $1,200 in sales or use tax, several times the title fee.

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

How to transfer a car title in Pennsylvania

1. Get the paperwork right. Form MV-4ST, the Vehicle Sales and Use Tax Return and Application for Registration, for a used Pennsylvania titled car. Form MV-1 for a new car or one coming in with an out of state title. source 3
2. Signatures. The seller’s signature on a Pennsylvania title has to be notarized or verified. PennDOT advises the buyer and seller meet at a notary, tag service or dealer so the application is filled in correctly. Some out of state titles also need the seller’s signature notarized. source 3
3. Where you go. A notary, a tag service or a dealer acting as an authorized agent, who files it with PennDOT for you. source 3
4. Pay. The title fee of $72, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
5. Do it in time. Treat the deadline as short and go in the first week, before the sale date turns into a late fee.

Do both of you need to be there, and can you do it online?

The seller’s signature on a Pennsylvania title has to be notarized or verified. PennDOT advises the buyer and seller meet at a notary, tag service or dealer so the application is filled in correctly. Some out of state titles also need the seller’s signature notarized. source 3

Can you transfer a title online in Pennsylvania?

No. Pennsylvania handles the transfer over a counter, not online.

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

A gift needs form MV-13ST, the Affidavit of Gift, signed by both sides and attached to the MV-1 or MV-4ST, to claim the sales tax gift exemption. Be straight about the value: Pennsylvania runs a Motor Vehicle Understated Value Program, and where it applies the tax is worked out on the fair market value rather than the price written on the form. source 3

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

PennDOT does not publish a deadline. Treat it as short: every state in this set that does publish one gives you 30 days or fewer from the date of sale.

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.

When something is missing

A lot of these searches start with "what if I do not have". The honest general answer, worth confirming with PennDOT 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. Pennsylvania charges $36 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 Pennsylvania 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 PennDOT before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Pennsylvania wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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