Texas has no official DMV bill of sale, so this is our own template — built to carry every field your county tax office and your VTR-346 filing will ask for. Four minutes, VIN auto-decoded, both parties sign on screen. $9.99 once — no account, no subscription.
That is not an oversight on our part — TxDMV genuinely does not publish one. Texas leans on Form 130-U, the buyer's Application for Texas Title and/or Registration, which captures the sale price and transfer details when the buyer files at the county tax assessor-collector office. So there is no "official Texas bill of sale" anywhere, from us or from anyone else. The document this page produces is our own template, formatted to hold everything a county office and a VTR-346 filing need. We say that plainly because plenty of sites imply otherwise.
Because 130-U is filed after the sale — days later, sometimes weeks, occasionally never — while the cash changes hands in a parking lot. A signed bill of sale is the only record created at that moment. It gives you a paid-in-full receipt, a fixed date of sale (the date your 30-day VTR-346 clock runs from), the odometer reading both parties agreed on, and an as-is disclosure of known defects. Texas attaches no implied warranty to a private-party sale, but you still want the condition in writing before the phone call about the transmission.
A Texas private-party bill of sale needs no notary and no witness, and neither does the title assignment. Electronic signatures are valid under the federal E-SIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001). The one Texas vehicle form that does require a notary is Form 14-317, the gift affidavit used for $10 family transfers.
The Vehicle Transfer Notification is free, takes five minutes online at txdmv.gov, and is the single most important thing a Texas seller does after the handshake. Texas Transportation Code § 501.147 gives you 30 calendar days. It tells the state you no longer own the car, which is what stops toll violations, red-light camera tickets, parking citations and abandoned-vehicle charges from following you around. We do not file it and we do not generate it— but the bill of sale from this page holds every field the notification asks for: VIN, plate, year, make, body style, odometer reading, date of sale, and the buyer's full name and address. Details in our VTR-346 guide.
We do not fill 130-U either. The buyer takes it to their county tax assessor-collector within 30 days along with the signed title, and pays 6.25% motor vehicle sales tax — assessed on the sale price or the Standard Presumptive Value, whichever is higher. If the reported price sits more than 20% below SPV, the county taxes on SPV unless the buyer produces a certified appraisal. A truthful bill of sale matching the price on 130-U is the buyer's best defense there, and your best defense against being dragged into the argument. See our Form 130-U explainer.
Federal law (49 CFR Part 580) requires a written odometer disclosure for vehicles less than 10 model years old and under 16,000 lbs GVWR; Texas publishes Form VTR-40 for that purpose, and newer Texas titles have the block printed on the title itself. Our document carries the federal disclosure inline. Emissions testing applies only in 17 counties — around Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and El Paso — and it is the buyer's responsibility at registration, not yours at sale. You do not need a current emissions certificate to sell a car in Texas.
A Texas private-party vehicle bill of sale: VIN decoded through the free NHTSA vPIC API, seller and buyer blocks formatted to line up with 130-U, the federal odometer disclosure, an as-is condition section, and both signatures captured on screen. The PDF is emailed to both parties. For the whole sale in order — pricing, screening buyers, getting paid safely, the 30-day filing — read how to sell a car privately in Texas.
Plain-English answers to the paperwork questions we hear from private sellers in Texas. If yours isn't here, email giurgiur99@gmail.com.
Not strictly. Texas has no official state bill-of-sale form because Form 130-U (the title application the buyer files) captures the sale price and transfer details. But a separate bill of sale is best practice: it's the only document signed at the moment cash changes hands, and it's the seller's primary proof of date, condition, and as-is terms if something goes sideways.
No. Texas does not require notarization for private-party vehicle bills of sale, and electronic signatures under the federal E-SIGN Act are valid. Our wizard captures both parties' signatures on mobile and the resulting PDF is accepted by TxDMV.
The buyer, when they register the vehicle at the county tax assessor–collector's office. You don't fill 130-U as a seller — you only provide the title you signed over and, if applicable, a bill of sale. The buyer has 30 days from the sale to register or they pay late-transfer penalties.
6.25% of the sale price or the standard presumptive value (SPV), whichever is higher. The buyer pays this at the county tax office when registering the vehicle. If the reported sale price is significantly below SPV, the DMV may ask the buyer to justify the lower amount — which is another reason to document the real price in a signed bill of sale.
VTR-346 is the Vehicle Transfer Notification — the seller's online filing that releases you from liability for the buyer's tickets, tolls, and civil claims. File within 30 days at txdmv.gov. This is arguably the single most important piece of paperwork for a Texas seller — skip it and the car stays associated with your name.
VTR-40 is the standalone odometer disclosure for vehicles less than 10 model years old and under 16,000 lbs GVWR — the federal 49 CFR Part 580 requirement. Newer Texas titles have the odometer block built in, in which case you use that. We do not generate VTR-40: our Texas bill of sale carries the federal odometer disclosure inline, with the reading and the actual/exceeds/not-actual/exempt status, in a format most counties accept alongside the title.
Only in certain counties — the DFW metroplex (Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall counties), Harris/Fort Bend/Galveston/Brazoria/Montgomery (Houston area), Travis/Williamson (Austin), and El Paso County. Check the TxDMV list if you're unsure. Most of rural Texas has no emissions requirement.
Yes. The federal E-SIGN Act (15 USC 7001) makes typed and canvas-captured signatures legally binding for private-party vehicle sales, and TxDMV accepts the resulting digital PDF.