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

20 calendar days from the assignment or reassignment of the certificate of title to you; 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1103.1(b) measures the same 20 days from the sale or transfer of the vehicle, or its entry into Pennsylvania from another jurisdiction, whichever is later. Pennsylvania publishes no separate late fee for a transferee who applies after 20 days. The penalty in 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1111(c) attaches to a violation of subsection (a) - the seller's duty to execute a notarized assignment and hand over the certificate at delivery - and is a summary offense punishable by a $100 fine for a first offense and $300 to $1,000 for a subsequent offense.

How much does a title transfer cost in Pennsylvania?

The base title fee is $72. "Certificate of Title" on Form MV-70S (4-26), the same figure PennDOT's Payments and Fees page shows as "Original Title Issuance: $72.00". It excludes Pennsylvania sales and use tax (6%, 7% in Allegheny County, 8% in Philadelphia), the $36 per-lien recording fee, the registration fee ($48 a year for a passenger car), the $11 plate transfer fee, the $5 annual county Fee for Local Use where the county has adopted it, and the authorized agent's own service fee, which PennDOT says is market-driven and varies by agent. Pennsylvania charges 6% sales and use tax on a vehicle transfer - 7% if you live in Allegheny County and 8% if you live in the City of Philadelphia - and it is charged on the vehicle's fair market value, not just on what you paid.

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

Required. Pennsylvania is a notarised-title state: the seller's assignment on the back of the Pennsylvania title and the buyer's section on the front must both be signed in front of a notary public or authorized PennDOT agent, which is why the two parties meet at a tag service rather than at a kitchen table.

Transferring a vehicle title in Pennsylvania

Issued by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Choose your situation below — the buyer’s and seller’s obligations are listed separately, and every answer links to the official source.

Title fee: $72base title fee
Deadline: 20 daysfrom the assignment or reassignment of the certificate of title to you; 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1103.1(b) states the same 20 days from the sale or transfer of the vehicle
Documents: 5incl. MV-4ST
Where: Agent officeauthorized third party

Pennsylvania will not let you do this at the kitchen table. The seller's assignment on the back of the title and the buyer's section on the front both have to be signed in the presence of a notary public or authorized PennDOT agent, so the two of you meet at a notary, tag service or dealer, who completes Form MV-4ST and sends the paperwork to PennDOT directly. The buyer has 20 days from the assignment to apply, pays the $72 title fee plus 6% Pennsylvania sales tax (7% in Allegheny County, 8% in Philadelphia) on the price or fair market value, and must have the vehicle safety inspected within 10 days of the sale unless it already shows a valid sticker. The seller removes the registration plate - it never goes with the car.

10 things this answer does not settle

Pennsylvania's two central title forms are deliberately not published. Form MV-1, "Application for Certificate of Title", and Form MV-4ST, "Vehicle Sales and Use Tax Return/Application for Registration", are controlled multi-part forms: PennDOT states "This form is only available from authorized agents of PennDOT" and "The agent must handle the paperwork and may not give it to the customer." Everything recorded here about them comes from PennDOT's own fact sheets and web pages describing them, not from the forms themselves.
The cost of a Pennsylvania title transfer cannot be stated in full. Every fee figure here is a PennDOT statutory fee from Form MV-70S. On top of them, PennDOT says: "Authorized agents are under contract to PennDOT and may charge a market driven service (delivery) fee... The agent's service (delivery) fees are market driven and vary by agent." There is no published schedule and no cap, and because almost every transfer must go through an agent, this is an unavoidable part of the bill.
PennDOT publishes two different addresses for returning a registration plate. The Buying or Selling a Vehicle page gives "Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O. Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597"; the February 2025 Buying or Selling Your Vehicle in Pennsylvania fact sheet gives "Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, 1st Floor, 1101 South Front Street, Harrisburg, PA, 17104". Both are current PennDOT publications. Confirm the address with PennDOT before posting a plate.
On PennDOT's Buying or Selling a Vehicle page, the link labelled "Pennsylvania Certificate of Titles" points to Form MV-217A, which is the "Application for Certificate of Title by a Financial Institution or Dealer After Default by Owner" - a repossession form restricted to banks and licensed dealers, not a specimen certificate of title. Do not take that link as a guide to what your own title looks like.
The counties that require an emission inspection are fixed by a notice the Secretary publishes in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, not by the regulation text. The county names recorded here come from the definition of "I/M region" in 67 Pa. Code Sec. 177.3, which itself distinguishes certified regions from those "pending certification". Check PennDOT's regional emissions pages for the operative list for your county.
Pennsylvania's detailed safety inspection requirements and exemptions live in PUB 45, "Vehicle Equipment and Inspection Regulations", which PennDOT's Safety Inspection Program page refers to rather than summarising. PUB 45 was not read for this record, so the only inspection rules recorded here are the ones PennDOT states on its consumer pages and fact sheets: an annual safety inspection, and inspection within 10 days of a sale or of a new registration.
PennDOT's February 2025 odometer fact sheet contains a garbled sentence in its recording rules: "If a vehicle model year 2011 or newer must be over 20 years old, for the seller of the vehicle opt to 'exempt' the vehicle from odometer disclosure." The intended rule is stated cleanly in the same document's list of vehicles exempt from disclosure, and that clean statement is what is recorded here.
PennDOT publishes two different addresses for returning a registration plate after a sale. The Buying or Selling a Vehicle page says "Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O. Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597"; the February 2025 Buying or Selling Your Vehicle in Pennsylvania fact sheet says "Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, 1st Floor, 1101 South Front Street, Harrisburg, PA, 17104". Confirm the current address with PennDOT before you post a plate.
The total you will pay at the counter cannot be stated in advance. On top of the $72 title fee, the sales tax and the registration fee, the authorized agent, notary or tag service charges its own service fee, which PennDOT says is market-driven and varies by agent, with no published schedule or cap.
Form MV-4ST is not published, so its own signature and notarization blocks could not be inspected here. What is documented is that the notarization in this transaction happens on the certificate of title - Section A for the seller, Section D for the buyer.

Do this first

Book the transfer with an authorized PennDOT agent - a notary, tag service, messenger service or motor vehicle dealer - and go there together with the seller. PennDOT: "The buyer and seller should meet at a notary, tag service, or motor vehicle dealer to ensure the title application is completed correctly." You cannot complete this yourself and post it in: "The agent must handle the paperwork and may not give it to the customer."
Bring a valid Pennsylvania Photo Driver's License or Pennsylvania Photo Identification Card in exactly the name that will go on the title. PennDOT accepts only that closed list plus the Pennsylvania Photo Exempt credentials, the 15-day temporary internet renewal credential with the expired card, a Pennsylvania Camera Card with an expired identification credential, a U.S. Armed Forces Common Access Card or a Next Generation Uniformed Services ID Card.

Your checklist

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The seller's checklist

If your title is held electronically by your lender, get a paper title issued before you try to sell. PennDOT: "If the seller's certificate of title is held electronically by a lienholder, a paper title must be obtained before the seller can transfer ownership of the vehicle and the purchaser can make application for a Pennsylvania Certificate of Title."Applies when: Your Pennsylvania title is held electronically by a lienholder under the ELT programme.Official page
Complete Section A on the reverse of the Pennsylvania Certificate of Title with the purchaser's name and address, then sign and hand-print your name there in the presence of the authorized agent or notary. 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1111(a) requires the assignment to be "sworn to before a notary public or other officer empowered to administer oaths or verified by" a licensed wholesale auction or a dealer issuing agent; an authorized dealership may perform verification in lieu of notarization.Official page
Enter the vehicle's mileage in Section A of the title as part of the same signature. Record the figure exactly as the odometer displays it; check the excess-of-mechanical-limits block if it has rolled over, or the odometer discrepancy block if the reading is not the true mileage. If the vehicle is old enough to be exempt - model year 2010 or older and over 10 years old, or model year 2011 or newer and over 20 - you may record the mileage as "exempt" instead, but that brand is permanent.Official page
Hand over the assigned certificate of title at the same time you hand over the vehicle. 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1111(a) requires the owner to "deliver the certificate to the transferee at the time of the delivery of the vehicle", and Sec. 1111(c) makes a violation a summary offence carrying a $100 fine for a first offence and $300 to $1,000 for a later one.Official page
Take the registration plate off the vehicle before it leaves. PennDOT: "The registration plate should never be given to the purchaser." Either transfer it to another vehicle you or your spouse, parent or child own or lease, for the $11 transfer fee, or mail it back to PennDOT's Bureau of Motor Vehicles Return Tag Unit.Official page
Keep the buyer's signed acknowledgement of delivery of the vehicle and title as your evidence of the sale. PennDOT prints a specimen receipt on its fact sheet and tells the seller to keep it.Official page

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Both of you, together

Sit down with the authorized agent together and complete the odometer disclosure and the assignment on the same certificate of title in each other's presence: the seller signs and prints in Section A on the reverse, the buyer signs and prints in Section D on the front, and the agent notarizes or verifies both. PennDOT: "When Sections A and D are signed and notarized, the title has been 'transferred.'"Official page
Complete Form MV-13ST, "Affidavit of Gift", together and attach it to the MV-4ST if no money or anything else of value is changing hands, so that the Exemption 13 gift exemption from Pennsylvania sales and use tax is properly claimed.Applies when: The vehicle is genuinely being given rather than sold.MV-13STOfficial page

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Documents and official forms

The Pennsylvania Certificate of Title, with Section A assigned by the seller and Section D completed by the buyerThe seller's signature in Section A and the buyer's signature in Section D must each be made in front of the notary or authorized agent. An authorized dealership may verify both sections in lieu of notarization.
MV-4STForm MV-4ST, Vehicle Sales and Use Tax Return/Application for RegistrationCompleted by the authorized PennDOT agent, not by you, and sent by the agent straight to PennDOT. It is not available for download.
The buyer's valid Pennsylvania Photo Driver's License or Photo Identification CardMust be in the same name as goes on the title. The Pennsylvania Photo Exempt credentials, a 15-day temporary internet renewal credential with the expired card, a Camera Card with an expired identification credential, a U.S. Armed Forces Common Access Card or a Next Generation Uniformed Services ID Card are the only alternatives.
The seller's proof of identificationPennDOT: "The seller will need to provide the authorized PennDOT agent with proper proof of identification." Where a business owns the vehicle, the signer must be an authorized individual or show proof of authority.
Payment by cheque or money order payable to the Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaCovers the title fee, the sales and use tax, the registration and county fees. The agent's own service fee is charged separately.

Also required in some cases

You are registering the vehicle, not just titling it.

Acceptable proof of Pennsylvania insurance

The vehicle is being given rather than sold and the Exemption 13 gift exemption is claimed.

MV-13STForm MV-13ST, Affidavit of Gift

The price is under 80% of average fair market value, or the vehicle is over 15 years old and sold for under $500, or it is not listed in a PennDOT-approved valuation publication.

MV-3Form MV-3, Motor Vehicle Verification of Fair Market Value by the Issuing Agent

The vehicle is a titled mobile home or manufactured home.

MV-16TA county tax status certification, or Form MV-16T in its place

Deadlines

Deadline20 calendar days from the assignment or reassignment of the certificate of title to you; 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1103.1(b) states the same 20 days from the sale or transfer of the vehicle — Buyer: Apply for a Pennsylvania Certificate of Title within 20 days of the assignment75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1111(b) makes the 20-day application the transferee's statutory duty. No separate late fee is published for a private buyer; the fine in Sec. 1111(c) attaches to the seller's duty under subsection (a).
Deadline10 calendar days from the date of sale — Buyer: Have the vehicle safety inspected within 10 days of the salePennDOT publishes no penalty figure on the fact sheet; the practical consequence is that the vehicle may not lawfully be operated without a valid inspection.
Deadline14 calendar days from purchasing the vehicle — Buyer: Contact your insurance agent within 14 days of purchase to extend cover to the new vehiclePennDOT lets an agent accept proof of insurance covering a trade-in or another vehicle you own when you buy, but "It is the applicant's responsibility to contact their insurance agent or broker within 14 days of purchasing a vehicle to extend coverage to the newly purchased vehicle."

Fees and taxes

Charge	Amount	Paid by
Base title fee	$72"Certificate of Title" on Form MV-70S (4-26), the same figure PennDOT's Payments and Fees page shows as "Original Title Issuance: $72.00". It excludes Pennsylvania sales and use tax (6%, 7% in Allegheny County, 8% in Philadelphia), the $36 per-lien recording fee, the registration fee ($48 a year for a passenger car), the $11 plate transfer fee, the $5 annual county Fee for Local Use where the county has adopted it, and the authorized agent's own service fee, which PennDOT says is market-driven and varies by agent.	Buyer
Certificate of title	$72Form MV-70S (4-26), "Certificate of Title". It does not include sales tax, registration, the lien fee or the agent's service fee.	Buyer
Pennsylvania sales and use tax	VariesVaries by the vehicle's purchase price or fair market value and the buyer's county of residence: 6% statewide, 7% for Allegheny County residents, 8% for City of Philadelphia residents.PennDOT: "Pennsylvania sales tax is 6% of the purchase price or the current market value of the vehicle (7% for residents of Allegheny County and 8% for City of Philadelphia residents)." A trade-in taken by the seller reduces the taxable amount. The agent collects it with the application.Official calculator	Buyer
Recording a lien	$36Form MV-70S (4-26): "Recording a Lien (Fee is per lien recorded in addition to title fee)". PennDOT's Payments and Fees page shows the combined "Record a Lien - Title to Be Issued" at $108.00.Only if you are financing the vehicle and a lien goes on the new title. Charged per lien recorded.	Buyer
Vehicle registration	$48Form MV-70S (4-26) standard registration fee for a passenger vehicle for one year ($96 for two years). Motorcycles are $25, motor homes $88 to $158 by weight. Only payable if you are registering the vehicle rather than taking title alone.Only if you are taking a plate as well as the title.	Buyer
Transfer of registration plate	$11Form MV-70S (4-26), "Transfer of Registration Plate". Only payable if you are moving a plate you already hold onto this vehicle.Payable by whoever is moving an existing plate onto another vehicle - the buyer moving their own plate onto the car they just bought, or the seller moving the plate off it.	Either party
County Fee for Local Use	$5The annual county "Fee for Local Use", collected with the registration in the counties that have adopted the ordinance - Allegheny, Beaver, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Centre, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Greene, Lackawanna, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne, Westmoreland and York on PennDOT's August 2026 fact sheet. It is $10 for a two-year and $25 for a five-year registration, and nothing at all in a county that has not adopted it.Charged with the registration only in counties that have passed the ordinance.	Buyer
Notary fee for the title assignment	$5Pennsylvania Department of State maximum: $5 for taking an acknowledgment from the first individual named in the certificate, plus $2 for each additional name in the same certificate. A notary may also add a reasonable clerical or travel fee. Where an authorized agent or dealership performs the verification instead, the agent's own service fee applies rather than this one.Pennsylvania caps what a notary public may charge for the notarial act itself; it does not cap what a tag service charges to process the transfer.	Either party
Authorized agent, notary or tag service processing fee	Not publishedPennDOT: "Authorized agents are under contract to PennDOT and may charge a market driven service (delivery) fee... The agent's service (delivery) fees are market driven and vary by agent. To compare service (delivery) fees, you are encouraged to contact the authorized agents in your area." There is no published schedule and no cap, so this cost cannot be stated in advance.This is the part of the bill PennDOT does not control. It is charged on top of every statutory fee above.	Either party
Safety and emission inspection	Not publishedForm MV-70S publishes only what a station pays PennDOT for the sticker itself - $12 for an annual safety inspection sticker and no fee for an emission inspection sticker. What the inspection station charges you for the inspection is not set or published by PennDOT.Charged by the inspection station, not by PennDOT.	Buyer

Pennsylvania charges 6% sales and use tax on a vehicle transfer - 7% if you live in Allegheny County and 8% if you live in the City of Philadelphia - and it is charged on the vehicle's fair market value, not just on what you paid.

Inspection, emissions, notary and odometer

Inspection: Sometimes required
The vehicle does not already display a valid Pennsylvania safety inspection sticker - then it must be inspected within 10 days of sale.
Pennsylvania runs an annual safety inspection, and a used vehicle you have just bought must be inspected within 10 days unless it already carries a valid inspection sticker.
Emissions: Sometimes required
The vehicle will be registered to an address in a certified emission inspection county or region, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia in the Philadelphia Region and Allegheny, Beaver, Washington and Westmoreland in the Pittsburgh Region.
The vehicle is gasoline-powered, model year 1975 or newer, and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 9,000 pounds or less.
The vehicle is not a current model year vehicle and is driven at least 5,000 miles a year.
Emission inspection applies only where the vehicle is registered in one of Pennsylvania's certified inspection and maintenance counties, and only to gasoline vehicles from model year 1975 onward with a gross vehicle weight rating of 9,000 pounds or less.
Notarization: RequiredPennsylvania is a notarised-title state: the seller's assignment on the back of the Pennsylvania title and the buyer's section on the front must both be signed in front of a notary public or authorized PennDOT agent, which is why the two parties meet at a tag service rather than at a kitchen table.
Odometer disclosure: Sometimes required
Disclosure is not required if the vehicle is model year 2010 or older and over 10 years old, or model year 2011 or newer and over 20 years old - the seller may record the mileage as "exempt" instead.
Disclosure is not required for trailers, for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 16,000 pounds or higher, or for vehicles titled as Implement of Husbandry, Commercial Implement of Husbandry or Special Mobile Equipment.
The seller must record the vehicle's mileage on the title at transfer, unless the vehicle is old enough or heavy enough to be exempt - model year 2010 and older vehicles once they are 10 years old, model year 2011 and newer once they are 20.

What happens to the plates

In Pennsylvania the registration plate belongs to the owner, not to the vehicle: the seller takes the plate off at the transfer, never hands it to the buyer, and either moves it to another vehicle for $11 or mails it back to PennDOT's Return Tag Unit.

The seller keeps the plates
The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle
The seller surrenders the plates
The buyer gets new plates

PennDOT: "After the title is transferred, the seller must remove the registration plate from the vehicle. The registration plate should never be given to the purchaser. The registration plate should be returned to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles unless the seller plans to transfer it to another vehicle." Under 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1314(a) "Registration and registration plates may be transferred to another vehicle owned or leased by the registrant, or to a vehicle owned or leased by the spouse, parent or child of the registrant" - so a plate can follow a gift within the immediate family. Transferring within the same vehicle type keeps the same plate with a new registration card; transferring to a different vehicle type gets a new plate, and the old one goes back to PennDOT for cancellation. Form MV-70S sets "Transfer of Registration Plate" at $11.00. A buyer with no plate to transfer may get a temporary registration plate valid for 90 days from an authorized agent. PennDOT stopped issuing registration stickers on 12/31/2016.

How to submit

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

Pennsylvania takes the title application and the registration application on the same form at the same visit to an authorized agent, so bring proof of Pennsylvania insurance if you want a plate - but you can take the title alone and skip registration if the vehicle will not be driven.

Official state links

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Checked July 26, 2026. Report a correction

Common questions about Pennsylvania

How long do I have to transfer a vehicle title in Pennsylvania?: 20 calendar days from the assignment or reassignment of the certificate of title to you; 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1103.1(b) measures the same 20 days from the sale or transfer of the vehicle, or its entry into Pennsylvania from another jurisdiction, whichever is later. Pennsylvania publishes no separate late fee for a transferee who applies after 20 days. The penalty in 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1111(c) attaches to a violation of subsection (a) - the seller's duty to execute a notarized assignment and hand over the certificate at delivery - and is a summary offense punishable by a $100 fine for a first offense and $300 to $1,000 for a subsequent offense.
How much does a title transfer cost in Pennsylvania?: The base title fee is $72. "Certificate of Title" on Form MV-70S (4-26), the same figure PennDOT's Payments and Fees page shows as "Original Title Issuance: $72.00". It excludes Pennsylvania sales and use tax (6%, 7% in Allegheny County, 8% in Philadelphia), the $36 per-lien recording fee, the registration fee ($48 a year for a passenger car), the $11 plate transfer fee, the $5 annual county Fee for Local Use where the county has adopted it, and the authorized agent's own service fee, which PennDOT says is market-driven and varies by agent. Pennsylvania charges 6% sales and use tax on a vehicle transfer - 7% if you live in Allegheny County and 8% if you live in the City of Philadelphia - and it is charged on the vehicle's fair market value, not just on what you paid.
Does a vehicle title transfer need to be notarized in Pennsylvania?: Required. Pennsylvania is a notarised-title state: the seller's assignment on the back of the Pennsylvania title and the buyer's section on the front must both be signed in front of a notary public or authorized PennDOT agent, which is why the two parties meet at a tag service rather than at a kitchen table.
What happens to the license plates in Pennsylvania?: In Pennsylvania the registration plate belongs to the owner, not to the vehicle: the seller takes the plate off at the transfer, never hands it to the buyer, and either moves it to another vehicle for $11 or mails it back to PennDOT's Return Tag Unit.

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.

38 official sources · last checked July 26, 2026 · How this was compiled · Report a correction