Florida Trailer Bill of Sale: Requirements, Titling, and Fees

A Florida trailer bill of sale records who sold the trailer, who bought it, when the sale happened, and for how much, and it is the document you and the buyer will rely on at the tax collector’s office to register and (for heavier trailers) title the trailer in the new owner’s name. For a trailer with a net weight under 2,000 pounds, the bill of sale is the primary proof of ownership because Florida does not issue a title for those trailers. For a trailer weighing 2,000 pounds or more, the bill of sale supports the title transfer and establishes the sale price that sales tax is calculated on.¹

What the Bill of Sale Must Include

Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles publishes Form HSMV 82050, a single page that works as both a bill of sale and a notice of sale.² You can download it from flhsmv.gov or pick one up at any tax collector’s office. The state form is not strictly mandatory for every trailer sale, and some county offices will accept a privately drafted bill of sale for untitled trailers, but the form prompts you for every field the state expects, which is the practical reason to use it.

Whether you use HSMV 82050 or write your own, the document needs all of the following:

Full legal names and current street addresses of both the buyer and the seller.
A description of the trailer: year, make, model, color, and the Vehicle Identification Number or Trailer Identification Number.
The trailer’s net (empty) weight.
The exact sale price in dollars.
The date of sale. This starts a 30-day clock for the buyer.
Signatures of both the buyer and the seller in the bill of sale section.²

The odometer disclosure section on HSMV 82050 is required for motor vehicles, not trailers, so you can leave it blank on a trailer sale.²

If nobody knows the trailer’s weight, get a certified weight slip from a scale before you go to the tax collector’s office. The office won’t process the paperwork without it, and a hundred pounds in the wrong direction can be the difference between a straightforward registration and a full title application.¹

One thing to keep in mind for trailers that require a title: Florida law says no court will recognize your ownership of a titled vehicle unless the certificate of title is in your name.³ A bill of sale by itself does not give you marketable title on a trailer of 2,000 pounds or more. You still have to complete the transfer.

Notarization

Florida does not require a notary seal on a trailer bill of sale. Notarizing it is still worth considering because it verifies the signers’ identities and makes a later challenge much harder. Florida caps notary fees at $10 per notarial act, so the cost is small.⁴

The 2,000-Pound Line

Florida splits trailers into two paperwork categories by empty weight. Trailers with a net weight of 2,000 pounds or more must be both titled and registered. Trailers under that weight are only registered; no title certificate is issued.¹

The bill of sale carries more weight for a lighter trailer, because without a title certificate it is the only paper connecting the buyer to the trailer. For a heavier trailer, the bill of sale rides alongside the assigned title certificate and documents the sale price that tax is calculated on.

What Happens Next at the Tax Collector’s Office

The buyer has 30 days from the date on the bill of sale to apply for a title transfer (for a trailer 2,000 pounds or more) or to register the trailer (for a lighter one). Miss the window and there is a $20 late penalty on top of the other fees.⁵

For a Trailer 2,000 Pounds or More

Bring the Florida title certificate properly completed by the seller, with the buyer’s name, sale price, date of purchase, and both signatures filled in. Bring the bill of sale, valid identification, and proof of Florida insurance for the tow vehicle. Each person who will appear as an owner on the new title must be present to sign the application unless they have assigned a power of attorney.⁶

For a Trailer Under 2,000 Pounds

There is no title certificate to hand over, so the bill of sale is your key document. Bring it with the VIN or Trailer Identification Number, sale price, and both signatures, along with the previous owner’s Florida registration if one exists. If the trailer was never registered, a bill of sale showing the year, weight, and identifying number is the minimum the office will accept.⁷

Fees

A title transfer is $75.25, or $77.25 for an original title on a trailer that has never been titled in Florida.⁸ Registration is priced by weight. A private-use trailer of 500 pounds or less is $6.75 per year. Over 500 pounds, the base is $3.50 plus $1.00 per hundred pounds of net weight.⁹ Service and processing charges add roughly $12 to the registration total.¹⁰ For a typical 1,200-pound utility trailer that needs a title transfer, plan on somewhere around $100 to $110 before sales tax.

Sales Tax on the Sale Price

Every trailer sale in Florida is subject to 6% state sales tax on the purchase price shown on the bill of sale.¹¹ Most counties add a discretionary sales surtax that currently ranges from 0.5% to 2%, based on where the buyer lives; a few counties charge no surtax.¹² The county surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of the price; the state 6% has no cap.¹³ The tax collector collects these taxes when the trailer is registered. Underreporting the sale price on the bill of sale is a bad idea. The state cross-checks reported prices against fair market values, and a suspiciously low figure can trigger an assessment for the difference.

A genuine gift is exempt. To claim it, the person receiving the trailer must declare the gift on the title or registration application and provide a sworn statement describing the trailer, naming the giver, and confirming that no money or other consideration changed hands and that the recipient is not assuming any lien. The exemption is not limited to family.¹⁴

What the Seller Has to Do

Selling a trailer is not finished when the buyer drives away. The seller must file the Notice of Sale portion of Form HSMV 82050 with the local tax collector’s office within 30 days.² Only the seller’s signature is required on that section; the buyer’s is optional.³

Until either the state processes that notice or the buyer completes the title transfer, the seller remains the owner of record. If the buyer causes an accident or racks up toll violations in the meantime, the seller can be pulled into liability for events that happened after the keys changed hands. Filing the notice is how the seller closes that door.

When the Situation Is Not Straightforward

A plain bill of sale is not enough in every scenario, and it’s worth knowing which ones so you don’t leave the office empty-handed.

If the seller has lost the title on a trailer that requires one, Florida offers a bonded title process that uses a surety bond, an affidavit, and a VIN verification instead of the missing certificate.¹⁵ For an untitled trailer that has passed through several hands, a complete chain of bills of sale back to the last registered owner, plus that owner’s registration, can substitute for a missing paper trail.¹⁶

Homemade trailers add a wrinkle. A homemade trailer under 2,000 pounds can be registered with a bill of sale that states the year built and the weight, and the office’s system generates a Trailer Identification Number during the transaction.⁷ A homemade trailer of 2,000 pounds or more that has never been titled in Florida has to be physically inspected by an FLHSMV compliance examiner, who assigns the identification number before it can be registered. Schedule that inspection in advance.¹

An out-of-state trailer coming into Florida needs the out-of-state title properly assigned to the buyer, a bill of sale showing the purchase price, and a Florida title application. A trailer over 2,000 pounds with an out-of-state title also needs a VIN verification. If the trailer comes from a state that doesn’t title or register trailers, the bill of sale itself must include the year, make, Trailer Identification Number, and the state the trailer came from.⁶ Florida sales tax is due on the purchase, with credit for tax already paid to the originating state; if that state’s rate was lower, the buyer owes the difference.

1
Hillsborough County Tax Collector. Trailers
2
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Notice of Sale and/or Bill of Sale for a Motor Vehicle, Mobile Home, Off-Highway Vehicle or Vessel
3
The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 319.22 – Transfer of Title
4
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 117.05
5
The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 319.23(6)(a) – Application for Certificate of Title
6
Lee County Tax Collector. Trailer Titles and Registrations
7
Polk County Tax Collector. Trailer Registrations and Titles
8
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Fees
9
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 320.08 – Registration Fees
10
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Registration Fee Schedule
11
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax on Motor Vehicles
12
Florida Department of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax Rate Table
13
Florida Department of Revenue. Discretionary Sales Surtax
14
Florida Department of Revenue. Sales Tax on Gift Transfers
15
The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 319.23(7) – Bonded Title
16
St. Lucie Tax Collector. Trailers