Gifting a Car in Kansas: Title Transfer and 60-Day Deadline

Gifting a car in Kansas is tax-free when the transfer is a genuine gift, but you have to prove it on paper. The giver signs the title over with the word “gift” in the purchase price field, both parties complete the Vehicle Gift Certification on Form TR-12, and the recipient takes everything to the county treasurer within 60 days along with proof of insurance and a $10 title fee. Skip a step and the Department of Revenue can reclassify the transfer as a sale and bill sales tax on the car’s fair market value.

Why a Gift Is Not Taxed

Kansas Administrative Regulation 92-19-30 says a transfer by gift is not a sale, so it falls outside sales tax.¹ To claim the exemption you complete the Vehicle Gift Certification section of the Affidavit to a Fact (Form TR-12) and write “gift” in the purchase price space on the title assignment.²

When the two parties are not related, the recipient has to submit proof that the transfer really is a gift. The county treasurer or the director of taxation reviews that proof. If the department concludes the transfer was not a legitimate gift, it computes sales tax on the vehicle’s fair market value using the NADA used car guide and can issue an assessment for the unpaid tax.¹

Which Relatives Qualify

Kansas has two overlapping rules, and the difference matters because one covers sales and the other covers gifts only.

The first is the “immediate family” rule under K.S.A. 79-3603(o), which reaches lineal ascendants, lineal descendants, and their spouses. This covers parents and children (including adopted and stepchildren) and their spouses, grandparents and grandchildren and their spouses, great-grandparents and great-grandchildren, and in-law relationships along those same lines. Transfers between these lineal relatives are exempt from sales tax whether or not money changes hands. A parent can sell a car to a daughter for $5,000 and neither party owes sales tax.³

The second rule is broader but applies only when no money changes hands. A transfer is presumed to be a gift when the recipient is the giver’s spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew.³ Siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews get the gift presumption but are not “immediate family” for a tax-free sale. If your brother pays you anything for the car, it is taxable.

Cousins fall outside both categories. A gift to a cousin has to clear the same proof-of-genuine-gift bar as a transfer to a stranger.

What Each Party Does

The Giver

Sign the assignment of title on the back of the certificate, fill in the recipient’s information, and write “gift” in the purchase price field. Kansas does not require most in-state title assignments to be notarized. The Division of Vehicles states explicitly that notarization is not required for title assignments, applications, or bills of sale completed within Kansas, though it reserves the right to require notarized documents in unusual cases.² The title has to be free of any liens before it can be transferred.⁴

The Recipient

Take the signed title, a completed Form TR-12 with the Vehicle Gift Certification filled out, and proof of insurance to the county treasurer’s motor vehicle office in the county where the vehicle will be kept.⁵ Applications go to the county treasurer, not to the Division of Vehicles in Topeka. The title fee is $10.² Registration fees and any property taxes owed are additional.

The 60-Day Deadline

Kansas gives the recipient 60 days from the date the title was assigned to apply for a new title and registration. A penalty starts on day 61.⁶ The clock starts the day the giver signs the title, not the day the recipient starts driving. Waiting is one of the most common and avoidable mistakes in a gift transfer.

Insurance Before Driving

The recipient needs valid Kansas auto insurance before driving the car. Kansas requires minimum liability coverage of $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 for property damage. Most insurers give an existing policyholder a grace period of 7 to 30 days to add a new vehicle, during which the current policy extends temporary coverage, but calling your insurer on or before the transfer date is the safer move. The giver should also remove the car from their own policy after the handoff to avoid being pulled into any later claim.

Federal Gift Tax

Kansas has no state gift tax. Federal gift tax can apply, but only above the annual exclusion. For 2026, each person can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without triggering any filing requirement.⁷ Most gifted cars fall under that threshold.

If the car’s fair market value exceeds $19,000, the giver has to file IRS Form 709 for the year of the transfer. Filing does not necessarily mean owing tax. The excess counts against the giver’s lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which is large enough that few people actually pay federal gift tax on a car. Married couples can split the gift and cover a car worth up to $38,000 without exceeding the annual exclusion, but both spouses have to file Form 709 to elect gift splitting.8

Odometer Disclosure

Federal law requires the person transferring a vehicle to provide a written statement of the cumulative mileage on the odometer. If the giver knows the reading does not reflect the actual distance traveled, the disclosure has to say the true mileage is unknown.⁹ The disclosure is usually printed on the title itself or on a separate federal odometer statement.

Not every vehicle needs one. Vehicles from model year 2010 or older are exempt. Vehicles from model year 2011 or newer follow a 20-year rule.¹⁰ For a gift completed in 2026, any vehicle from model year 2011 through 2026 needs an odometer disclosure.

When a VIN Inspection Is Required

A VIN inspection is not required for every gift. The Kansas Highway Patrol requires one only when a vehicle has an out-of-state or foreign title, has been assembled or reconstructed, or when the VIN is in doubt.¹¹ A gift between two Kansas residents with a clean Kansas title does not need one. If the car was last titled in another state, the inspection has to be completed before the recipient applies for a Kansas title.

Penalties for Cutting Corners

Missing the 60-day title application window triggers a penalty starting on day 61.⁶
If the Department of Revenue decides the transfer was not a genuine gift, the recipient owes sales tax on fair market value, plus interest and any applicable penalties.¹
Driving without insurance carries a first-offense fine of $300 to $1,000. A second or later conviction within three years of a prior one raises the fine to $800 to $2,500 and can lead to license suspension.
Failure to file a required Form 709 exposes the giver to IRS interest at 7% per year (compounded daily) as of early 2026, plus potential late-filing penalties.¹²

Public Benefits Warning

If either party receives means-tested public assistance, a car gift can create eligibility problems worth checking before the transfer.

For the giver, Medicaid’s look-back is the main risk. When someone applies for nursing home Medicaid or a home and community-based services waiver, the state reviews asset transfers from the 60 months before the application. Giving away a car during that window can trigger a penalty period of ineligibility.¹³

Supplemental Security Income has a more direct rule. SSI counts vehicles as resources, and giving away a resource or selling it for less than fair market value can make you ineligible for SSI for up to 36 months depending on the value transferred. The individual resource limit for SSI is $2,000 ($3,000 for couples).¹⁴ Anyone on SSI should talk to the Social Security Administration before signing over a car.

1
Cornell Law Institute. Kansas Code 92-19-30 – Motor Vehicles or Trailers; Isolated or Occasional Sale
2
Kansas Department of Revenue. Frequently Asked Questions – Titling a Vehicle
3
Kansas Department of Revenue. Pub. KS-1526 Business Taxes for Motor Vehicle Transactions
4
Justia. Kansas Statutes 8-135 – Transfer of Ownership of Vehicles
5
Kansas Department of Revenue. Vehicle Tags, Titles and Registration
6
Kansas Department of Revenue. Titling a Used Vehicle
7
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026a>
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 32705 – Disclosure Requirements on Transfer of Motor Vehicles
10
Federal Register. Odometer Disclosure Requirements
11
Kansas Highway Patrol. Get a VIN Inspection
12
Internal Revenue Service. Interest Rates Remain the Same for the First Quarter of 2026
13
Medicaid Long Term Care. Medicaid’s Look-Back Period – Rules, Exceptions and Penalties
14
Social Security Administration. SSI Spotlight on Transfers of Resources