How long do I have to transfer a vehicle title in Illinois?

20 calendar days from delivery to the buyer of the vehicle and the assigned title. Until the buyer applies, the transfer is not effective except as between the parties (625 ILCS 5/3-112(e)). The Secretary of State publishes no separate late fee for a title application filed after the 20 days.

How much does a title transfer cost in Illinois?

The base title fee is $165. Illinois certificate of title fee for a car or truck. It excludes license plate registration ($151 a year for a passenger plate), the $25 fee to transfer plates you already own, the $30 optional expedited-title fee, and the Illinois private party vehicle use tax, which is paid separately to the Department of Revenue. An all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle title is $30, a recreational vehicle title $250 and a salvage certificate $20. Every private-party vehicle transfer in Illinois, including a gift, needs Form RUT-50 and a separate payment to the Illinois Department of Revenue, filed with the Secretary of State when you apply for the title.

Does a vehicle title transfer need to be notarized in Illinois?

Sometimes required. Illinois does not notarise the title assignment or the VSD 190; notarisation is required only on the Small Estate Affidavit used to transfer a deceased owner's vehicle and on the Beneficiary Affidavit an owner signs to name a transfer-on-death beneficiary.

Transferring a vehicle title in Illinois

Issued by Illinois Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department. Choose your situation below — the buyer’s and seller’s obligations are listed separately, and every answer links to the official source.

Title fee: $165base title fee
Deadline: 20 daysfrom delivery to the buyer of the vehicle and the assigned title
Documents: 5incl. VSD 190
Where: State officein person

The seller fills in the Assignment of Title on the Illinois title — signed and printed names for every seller and buyer, the certified odometer reading and the date of sale — and hands it over. Illinois does not notarise that assignment. The buyer then has 20 days from delivery of the vehicle and the assigned title to file an Application for Vehicle Transaction(s) (VSD 190) with the Secretary of State, with $165 for the title, registration fees, and a separate cheque to the Illinois Department of Revenue for the RUT-50 private party vehicle use tax. The plates stay with the seller: in Illinois license plates belong to the owner, not the vehicle.

8 things this answer does not settle

The Secretary of State publishes at least five different Springfield room numbers for posting a title application — Room 014 on the Apply for Registration and Title page, Room 055 on the purchase checklist and the Corrected Titles page, Room 300 on the inherited-vehicle and moved-to-Illinois checklists, Room 424 on the Duplicate Titles page and the ERT page, and Room 629 in the VSD 270 brochure. Post to the room number printed on the page you actually used, or file in person.
The corrected-title fee is published three different ways in current Secretary of State material: $50 on the fee page, in the VSD 270 brochure and in the VSD 275 estates brochure; $53 as the standard fee in the Pay the Fee box on the Corrected Titles page, which then asks for $50 two paragraphs later; and $15 as a reduced fee where the reason is divorce, the death of a co-owner or a name change on marriage.
Two current official publications disagree on the small-estate threshold. The Secretary of State's inherited-vehicle checklist and Corrected Title – Deceased page both say the personal estate must not exceed $100,000, while the December 2025 VSD 275 estates brochure and the February 2026 Small Estate Affidavit form itself say $150,000.
The Duplicate Titles and Corrected Titles pages still describe the paper model in which Illinois titles are mailed to the lienholder if a lien is applied, while the Electronic Lien and Title page says the certificate is held electronically by the state until the lien is satisfied and only then printed and posted. Both are live on the Secretary of State's site during the July 2026 transition to mandatory ELT.
Illinois does not publish whether a vehicle being retitled from another state must pass a VIN inspection or an emissions test before its first Illinois registration. The Secretary of State's document lists name no inspection, and the Illinois EPA ties testing to a mailed notice before license plate expiry, which a newly registered vehicle will not yet have received.
Illinois publishes no late fee for a title application filed after the 20-day statutory deadline, so we cannot tell you what missing it costs beyond the transfer not being effective against third parties.
The private party vehicle use tax is a table amount rather than a percentage, and Chicago and Cook County add their own local amounts. Use the RUT-50 instructions and the RUT-6 guide bundled with them to read your own figure off the table.
The Secretary of State gives different Springfield room numbers on different pages for posting a title application; post to the room number on the page you actually used, or file in person.

Do this first

Before you pay, hold the Illinois Certificate of Title next to the vehicle: check the vehicle identification number on the title against the number on the dash or door, check that the seller's name on the front matches their photo ID, and check the odometer listing and the vehicle description.
Take away the original Illinois Certificate of Title with the Assignment of Title area completed in your name, the odometer reading certified and the date of sale written in. Photocopies of a title are not accepted, and the buyer's name in the assignment area must match the name you put on the application.

Your checklist

Before you pay, hold the Illinois Certificate of Title next to the vehicle: check the vehicle identification number on the title against the number on the dash or door, check that the seller's name on the front matches their photo ID, and check the odometer listing and the vehicle description.Official page
Take away the original Illinois Certificate of Title with the Assignment of Title area completed in your name, the odometer reading certified and the date of sale written in. Photocopies of a title are not accepted, and the buyer's name in the assignment area must match the name you put on the application.Official page
Complete an Application for Vehicle Transaction(s) (VSD 190), ticking Title and Registration for new plates or Title and Transfer to move plates you already own onto this vehicle. Write in the current odometer reading and tick the actual mileage, not actual mileage, or in excess of mechanical limits box, then sign it — every person who will be on the new title must sign.VSD 190Official page
If you prepare the VSD 190 through the Electronic Registration and Title system online, print it and get it to a Secretary of State facility with the title, the tax form and payment within seven days, or post the package instead.Applies when: You used the online ERT system to prepare the application rather than filling in a paper form at the counter.VSD 190Official page
Complete Form RUT-50, Private Party Vehicle Use Tax Transaction, within 30 days of acquiring the vehicle and pay the tax by a separate cheque or money order made out to the Illinois Department of Revenue. Hand it in with the title application — the Secretary of State collects it, but will not process your title and plates without a printed RUT-50.RUT-50Official page
Pay $165 for the certificate of title plus the registration: $151 for a new annual passenger plate, or $25 if you are transferring a plate you already own, which makes a Title and Transfer $190 in total. Make that cheque or money order out to the Secretary of State, separately from the tax cheque.Official page
Hand in the assigned title, the VSD 190, proof of insurance, the RUT-50 and both payments at a Secretary of State facility, or post them to the Vehicle Services Department in Springfield, within 20 days of taking delivery of the vehicle and the assigned title. Cash is not accepted on posted transactions.VSD 190Official page
Once you have filed a valid registration application, pick up a Temporary Registration Permit from a Secretary of State facility, a licensed vehicle dealer, a remittance agent or a currency exchange and fit it to the rear plate bracket. A TRP is good for 90 days and comes off when the metal plates arrive.Applies when: You need to drive the vehicle before your Illinois plates arrive.Official page
If you need the title in hand quickly, add the $30 expedited fee to the transaction and file it at one of the Secretary of State facilities that offers expedited service, or post it by an express carrier to Vehicle Services Department, Attn: Expedited Title Service, 501 S. Second St., Rm. 408, Springfield IL 62756. Requests in before noon ship by FedEx that day.Applies when: You do not want to wait the usual two to six weeks for the title to be issued.Official page

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The seller's checklist

Sign and print your name in the Assignment of Title area on the Illinois Certificate of Title, enter the buyer's name and address, certify the current odometer reading, and write in the date of sale. Illinois requires the title to show the signed and printed names of all sellers and buyers.Official page
Complete a Seller's Report of Sale (VSD 703) immediately and post it to the Secretary of State Vehicle Services Department, Record Inquiry Division, 501 S. Second St., Springfield IL 62756. This is what releases your responsibility for the vehicle; it does not transfer ownership on its own.VSD 703Official page
Take your license plates off the car before the buyer drives away. Illinois plates belong to the owner rather than the vehicle, selling an active Illinois plate is unlawful and will get the plate revoked, and you can only move a plate to another vehicle you own.Official page
Keep your most recent vehicle registration identification card. You must enclose it with a VSD 190 if you later move that plate number onto a replacement vehicle, which is a $25 Transfer Only transaction.VSD 190Official page
If you signed in the wrong space on the Assignment of Title, or the date of sale or a name went in wrong, complete the matching numbered statement on an Affirmation of Correction (VSD 393) and sign it. It cannot be used to fix an odometer disclosure.Applies when: A signature, name or date of sale was entered incorrectly on the Assignment of Title.VSD 393Official page

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Both of you, together

Do the odometer certification together at the point of sale: the seller certifies the reading and ticks actual mileage, in excess of mechanical limits, or not the actual mileage on the Assignment of Title, and the buyer checks it against the vehicle. Where the assignment area cannot be used, put it on an Odometer Disclosure Statement for Title Transfers (VSD 333), which the seller signs and the buyer acknowledges.VSD 333Official page

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Documents and official forms

The original Illinois Certificate of Title with the Assignment of Title completed, the odometer reading certified and the date of sale enteredPhotocopies are not accepted. The vehicle and ownership information on the surrendered title must match the application, and the VIN on the title must match the number on the dash or door.
VSD 190Application for Vehicle Transaction(s) (VSD 190), or the printed document from the Electronic Registration and Title transactionTicked Title and Registration, or Title and Transfer if plates you already own are moving to this vehicle.
RUT-50Form RUT-50, Private Party Vehicle Use Tax Transaction, with a separate cheque or money order payable to the Illinois Department of RevenueThe Secretary of State will not process the title and plates without a printed RUT-50, and the tax payment must not be sent to the Department of Revenue directly.
Proof of Illinois liability insuranceListed on the Secretary of State's own document checklist for a purchased vehicle.
Cheque or money order payable to the Illinois Secretary of State for the title and registration feesCash is not accepted on transactions sent by post.

Also required in some cases

The odometer certification cannot be made in the Assignment of Title area on the certificate itself.

VSD 333Odometer Disclosure Statement for Title Transfers (VSD 333)

You are the seller releasing interest in a vehicle titled or registered in Illinois. It is posted separately by the seller, not handed in with the buyer's application.

VSD 703Seller's Report of Sale (VSD 703)

The buyer is putting a plate they already own onto this vehicle (Title and Transfer, or Transfer Only).

The most recent vehicle registration identification card for the plate number being transferred

A signature, name or date of sale was entered incorrectly on the Assignment of Title, or a co-owner of the previous vehicle must release their interest in plates being transferred.

VSD 393Affirmation of Correction (VSD 393)

Someone other than the owner or buyer will sign the title or the application on their behalf.

RT 5Power of Attorney (RT 5)

Deadlines

Deadline20 calendar days from delivery to the buyer of the vehicle and the assigned title — Buyer: Apply for the new Illinois title within 20 days625 ILCS 5/3-112(b) requires the transferee to execute the application promptly and within 20 days; until both parties have complied the transfer is not effective except as between them.
Deadline30 calendar days from the date of acquiring the vehicle in Illinois — Buyer: File Form RUT-50 and pay the private party vehicle use tax within 30 daysThe Department of Revenue charges a late filing penalty if a processable return is not filed by the due date and a late payment penalty if the amount owed is not paid by then, set out in Publication 103.
Deadline7 calendar days from completing and printing the application in the Electronic Registration and Title system — Buyer: Deliver the printed ERT application within seven daysThe Secretary of State states that the completed application, supporting documents and payment must reach a facility within seven days to complete the transaction.
DeadlinePost the Seller's Report of Sale (VSD 703) immediately from selling or releasing interest in the vehicle — SellerUntil it is filed, the Secretary of State's records still show the seller as responsible for the vehicle.

Fees and taxes

Charge	Amount	Paid by
Base title fee	$165Illinois certificate of title fee for a car or truck. It excludes license plate registration ($151 a year for a passenger plate), the $25 fee to transfer plates you already own, the $30 optional expedited-title fee, and the Illinois private party vehicle use tax, which is paid separately to the Department of Revenue. An all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle title is $30, a recreational vehicle title $250 and a salvage certificate $20.	Buyer
Certificate of title	$165The title fee alone. It does not include license plate registration, the private party vehicle use tax, or the optional $30 expedited-title fee.Payable to the Secretary of State, on the same cheque as the registration fee if you wish.	Buyer
New passenger license plate and annual registration	$151Standard passenger plate. A motorcycle plate is $41 and a small trailer $36; personalised and vanity plates cost more.Charged in addition to the title fee when you need plates rather than moving your own across.	Buyer
Transfer of license plates you already own onto the vehicle	$25Charged instead of a new plate fee. Title and Transfer together comes to $190 ($165 title plus $25 transfer); a Transfer Only transaction is $25.Only available for a plate already registered in your own name — Illinois plates cannot pass from the seller to the buyer.	Buyer
Illinois private party vehicle use tax (Form RUT-50)	From $100Varies by the purchase price or fair market value and the age of the vehicle. Table A applies when the price is under $15,000 and runs from $465 for a vehicle one year old or less down to $100 at 11 years or more; Table B applies at $15,000 and above and runs from $850 to $10,100. A motorcycle or ATV is a flat $25. Chicago and Cook County add their own local vehicle use tax on top..Paid by separate cheque to the Illinois Department of Revenue but handed in to the Secretary of State. Trade-in allowances are not allowed on the RUT-50. Chicago charges $80 to $0 by vehicle age and Cook County $225 to $90.Official calculator	Buyer
Expedited title service (optional)	$30Added to the normal transaction fee. Refundable if the title is not processed within the allotted time.Optional. Not available on transactions requiring special documentation such as bonds, estate work or repossessions.	Buyer

Every private-party vehicle transfer in Illinois, including a gift, needs Form RUT-50 and a separate payment to the Illinois Department of Revenue, filed with the Secretary of State when you apply for the title.

Inspection, emissions, notary and odometer

Inspection: Sometimes required
An ordinary passenger car changing hands privately needs no inspection; the Illinois safety test under 625 ILCS 5/13-101 applies only to classes such as second division vehicles, tow trucks, salvage vehicles, buses, limousines and trailers over 10,000 lb.
Some license plate categories require proof of vehicle inspection certification, per the Secretary of State's new-resident brochure.
Ordinary passenger cars are not safety-tested in Illinois; the periodic safety test under 625 ILCS 5/13-101 applies to commercial and specialty classes, and a title transfer itself does not trigger an inspection.
Emissions: Sometimes required
The vehicle will be registered in the Chicago or Metro-East St. Louis emissions programme area.
The vehicle is a 1996 or newer petrol-powered passenger vehicle at least four years old.
A test notice is outstanding — testing is triggered by a notice posted up to four months before license plate expiry, not by the sale, and the Secretary of State will refuse plate registration for a non-complying vehicle.
Emissions testing applies only in the Chicago and Metro-East St. Louis areas, is tied to your license plate expiry rather than to the title transfer, and is free.
Notarization: Not requiredIllinois does not notarise the title assignment or the VSD 190; notarisation is required only on the Small Estate Affidavit used to transfer a deceased owner's vehicle and on the Beneficiary Affidavit an owner signs to name a transfer-on-death beneficiary.
Odometer disclosure: Required, unless you are exempt
The reading must be certified on the Assignment of Title with the date of sale, and entered again on the VSD 190 with the actual / not actual / in excess of mechanical limits box ticked, or the application is returned.
The Secretary of State's own purchase checklist frames the odometer verification step as applying to vehicles of model year 2011 or newer.
The odometer reading must be certified on the Assignment of Title along with the date of sale, and entered again on the VSD 190 with the actual / not actual / in excess of mechanical limits box ticked.

What happens to the plates

Illinois license plates belong to the owner, not the vehicle, so the seller keeps the plates and the buyer must supply plates of their own or buy new ones.

The seller keeps the plates
The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle
The buyer supplies a plate registered in their own name
The buyer gets new plates

The Secretary of State states plainly that you cannot transfer ownership of license plates when you sell a car or transfer a title; you can only move plates to another vehicle you own, which is a $25 Transfer Only transaction, or $190 for Title and Transfer ($165 title plus $25 transfer). Enclose the most recent vehicle registration identification card for the plate number being moved. A new passenger plate with registration is $151. If the new vehicle will be owned by one person but the last vehicle was registered in two or more names, the people dropping off must release their interest on an Affirmation of Correction (VSD 393).

How to submit

In person at a state title office
By mail
Online
In person at an authorized third-party office

One Application for Vehicle Transaction(s) (VSD 190) covers both: you tick Title and Registration to get a title and new plates, or Title and Transfer to put plates you already own onto the vehicle.

Official state links

Source: Illinois Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department. Checked July 31, 2026. Report a correction

Common questions about Illinois

How long do I have to transfer a vehicle title in Illinois?: 20 calendar days from delivery to the buyer of the vehicle and the assigned title. Until the buyer applies, the transfer is not effective except as between the parties (625 ILCS 5/3-112(e)). The Secretary of State publishes no separate late fee for a title application filed after the 20 days.
How much does a title transfer cost in Illinois?: The base title fee is $165. Illinois certificate of title fee for a car or truck. It excludes license plate registration ($151 a year for a passenger plate), the $25 fee to transfer plates you already own, the $30 optional expedited-title fee, and the Illinois private party vehicle use tax, which is paid separately to the Department of Revenue. An all-terrain vehicle or off-highway motorcycle title is $30, a recreational vehicle title $250 and a salvage certificate $20. Every private-party vehicle transfer in Illinois, including a gift, needs Form RUT-50 and a separate payment to the Illinois Department of Revenue, filed with the Secretary of State when you apply for the title.
Does a vehicle title transfer need to be notarized in Illinois?: Sometimes required. Illinois does not notarise the title assignment or the VSD 190; notarisation is required only on the Small Estate Affidavit used to transfer a deceased owner's vehicle and on the Beneficiary Affidavit an owner signs to name a transfer-on-death beneficiary.
Does the seller have to notify the title authority in Illinois?: Yes. Illinois Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department. Complete and post the Seller's Report of Sale (VSD 703) immediately from selling or releasing interest in a vehicle titled or registered in Illinois. The form is what releases the seller's responsibility for the vehicle; the Secretary of State publishes no day count and no penalty for filing it late.
What happens to the license plates in Illinois?: Illinois license plates belong to the owner, not the vehicle, so the seller keeps the plates and the buyer must supply plates of their own or buy new ones.

About this page

Everything here is a summary of procedures published by official state title authorities, with a link to the source for each answer.

Unusual ownership, probate, lien, salvage, court-order or identity situations commonly require steps beyond those listed here.

We do not file anything with any agency, and we cannot submit, expedite, or check the status of a transfer. Ticking a box on this site records your own progress in your browser and nothing more.

41 official sources · last checked July 31, 2026 · How this was compiled · Report a correction