Vermont Form VT-014, the Certification of Tax Exemption, is the one-page form you file to skip the state’s 6% purchase and use tax when a qualifying relative gives you a vehicle. You complete it with the donor, sign it together, and submit it alongside the assigned title and a Bill of Sale/Odometer Disclosure Statement at any Vermont DMV office or by mail to Montpelier. It replaced the older VT-013, VT-029, and VD-050 forms in July 2022.1Department of Motor Vehicles. Certification of Tax Exemption
Check the Relationship First
The exemption under 32 V.S.A. § 8911(8) only works if the donor is one of the following:
- Spouse or ex-spouse
- Parent, stepparent, or parent-in-law
- Child, stepchild, or child-in-law
- Sibling or stepsibling
- Grandparent or grandchild
- A trust established for any of the above, or for the donor
Aunts, uncles, cousins, and unmarried partners are not on the list. If your relationship isn’t there, the VT-014 won’t be accepted for a gift transfer.2Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 32 – Exceptions
The vehicle must already be titled or registered in the donor’s name. Vermont title, straightforward. Out-of-state title, bring the original showing the donor as owner. For vehicles from states that don’t title certain vehicles, a certified copy of the donor’s registration works instead.3Department of Motor Vehicles. Gifts
Gather Your Documents
Before you sit down with the form, get these together:
- The vehicle title, properly assigned. Every owner listed on the front must sign the seller section on the back, and your name goes on the “transferred to” line. Any liens shown on the title must be released first.3Department of Motor Vehicles. Gifts
- A Bill of Sale and Odometer Disclosure Statement. Vermont combines these on one DMV form. If the title is a Vermont conforming title with an odometer field built in, filling that section out on the title itself is enough and no separate odometer form is needed.4Department of Motor Vehicles. Truth in Mileage Act
- The completed VT-014, downloaded from the DMV website.5Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. Exemptions
Some situations need more. If the donor has died, bring a copy of the death certificate along with court documentation appointing the executor or administrator; a copy of the will alone isn’t accepted. If the transfer stems from a divorce, bring a court document showing both names and the date of the final decree. For a trust, include copies of the trust documents.3Department of Motor Vehicles. Gifts
Filling In the Form
The VT-014 covers several exemption categories on one page. You only complete the section that applies to your transfer, which for a family gift means the vehicle information block and the gift exemption certification.
In the vehicle section, enter the 17-digit VIN, year, make, and model exactly as they appear on the title. A single wrong character will get the form rejected. Then fill in the donor’s full legal name and address, and your own name and address as the recipient.
The gift certification asks you to name the specific relationship. Write the relationship as it appears in the statutory list — “mother,” “stepfather,” “son-in-law,” “sibling.” Vague entries like “family” invite a rejection because the clerk can’t confirm the relationship is one that qualifies.
Both the donor and the recipient sign and date the form. The signatures certify the information is true and the transfer really is a gift. Names on the signature lines need to match the names on the title; illegible signatures and name mismatches are common reasons forms come back.
Where to File It
You can submit the VT-014 with the title and bill of sale at any Vermont DMV office, or mail the package to the main office in Montpelier. In person is worth the trip if you can manage it, because a clerk will flag missing signatures or fields before you leave. If you mail it, send the original assigned title. A photocopy won’t be processed.
If you plan to drive the vehicle, include a registration application in the same package.
What the Exemption Doesn’t Cover
The VT-014 waives the 6% purchase and use tax, which is calculated on the greater of the purchase price or the J.D. Power clean trade-in value.6Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. Tax On a car with a $15,000 trade-in value, that’s $900 saved.
You still owe title and registration fees. A new certificate of title is $27.7Department of Motor Vehicles. Title Fees Registration fees depend on vehicle type and weight, and every registration includes a $2.00 Clean Air Fund fee and a $6.50 Fuel User fee. The DMV publishes the current fee schedule online.
If There’s a Loan on the Vehicle
A lien listed on the title has to be released before the transfer will go through.3Department of Motor Vehicles. Gifts A gift is by definition a transfer without consideration, and if you take over the donor’s loan, that’s consideration and the exemption no longer applies. The donor pays off the loan, the lender issues a lien release, and once the title is clean the VT-014 process runs normally. Paper title releases typically take about 10 days after payoff.
Federal Gift Tax Is a Separate Issue
The VT-014 has nothing to do with federal gift tax. For 2026, the IRS annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.8Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances 1 If the vehicle’s fair market value is above that, the donor may need to file IRS Form 709, but no federal tax is typically owed unless the donor has used up the lifetime exclusion (currently $15 million).9Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax The recipient never owes federal gift tax. For most family car transfers, the value stays under the annual exclusion and no federal filing is required.