South Dakota title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in South Dakota?

The title itself costs $10 in South Dakota. Add $10 to record a lien if the car is financed, which brings the paperwork to $20. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Title and registration together, the way most people do it in one visit, come to about $86 on a used $20,000 car, before tax and before the county wheel tax, which depends on where you live.

The fee is the small part. On a $20,000 car South Dakota also collects about $800 in motor vehicle excise tax on the purchase, which is far more than the title fee.

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

How to transfer a car title in South Dakota

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. South Dakota DOR lists the exact forms on its own site.
2. Where you go. Your county treasurer's office. A car must be titled and registered within 45 days of the purchase date, and new residents register after establishing residency. source 1
3. Pay. The title fee of $10, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. Do it in time. File within 45 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?

South Dakota DOR 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 South Dakota DOR before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in South Dakota?

Partly. Renewals are online, by mail, at a kiosk, or in person. 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

South Dakota's 4% excise tax does not apply when a car passes without payment between spouses, a parent and child, or brothers and sisters. Inherited cars and transfers between joint owners are exempt too. The $10 title transfer fee is still charged. source 8

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

Title and register within 45 days of the purchase date. source 1

What being late costs in South Dakota: you have 45 days from the purchase date to title and register. After that, interest of 1% a month (at least $5 the first month) is charged on the excise tax, a late title fee of $1 a week (up to $50) applies, and after 60 days a one-time penalty of 10% of the tax or $10, whichever is greater, is added.

The clock starts on the sale date, not the day you get round to it, so a signed title left in a drawer is already running down. 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 45-day window is worth keeping to.

When something is missing

Most of what people search here is a version of "can I still do this without". The honest general answer, worth confirming with South Dakota DOR 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. South Dakota charges $10 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota DOR before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where South Dakota wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about South Dakota 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 South Dakota 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