How to Fill Out and File a Kentucky Bill of Sale (TC 96-182)

A Kentucky bill of sale for a private vehicle, trailer, or boat sale isn’t a generic template you draft yourself. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet publishes a combined form that works as both the bill of sale and the title application: Form TC 96-182 (“Application for Kentucky Certificate of Title or Registration”) for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and trailers, and Form TC 96-184 for motorboats. Once it’s filled out, notarized, and signed, the buyer has 15 days from the date of purchase to file it with the county clerk along with the signed-over title, proof of insurance, ID, and payment.

Which Form You Need

Kentucky doesn’t accept a freeform bill of sale in place of its state forms. Which one you use depends on what changed hands.

Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and trailers: Form TC 96-182.
Motorboats: Form TC 96-184 (“Motor Boat Transaction Record/Application for Registration and/or Title”).

Both are available as PDFs through the Transportation Cabinet’s forms library and on paper at any county clerk’s office.¹

One form that looks related but isn’t: Form TC 96-159, the “Affidavit of Motor Vehicle Sale.” It covers transfers tied to mechanic’s liens or unpaid towing and storage charges, not ordinary private sales.² If you’re buying from a neighbor, don’t use it.

Information to Gather Before You Start

Both parties should have the following ready before anyone picks up a pen:

Full legal names and current addresses, matching government-issued ID.
Year, make, model, and body style of the vehicle or vessel.
The 17-character VIN (on the dashboard plate or driver’s door jamb) or, for boats, the 12-character HIN stamped on the transom.
The current odometer reading, unless the vehicle is odometer-exempt.
The actual sale price, including any trade-in value. Both parties certify this figure under penalty of law.
The seller’s original Kentucky certificate of title, which the seller signs over on the back.
The buyer’s answer to whether they have applied, or plan to apply within 30 days, for a loan on the purchase.

Use blue or black ink only. The Transportation Cabinet rejects any application showing erasures, alterations, or mutilations, so if you miswrite something, start over on a clean form rather than crossing it out.³

Filling Out TC 96-182

The form is split into sections that the buyer and seller complete together.

The Seller’s Part

The seller enters the vehicle description (year, make, model, VIN, body style) and the odometer reading. Federal law under 49 USC Section 32705 and Kentucky’s KRS 190.300 both require an accurate mileage statement. If the odometer has rolled past its mechanical limit or the reading is known to be inaccurate, the seller checks the appropriate disclosure box instead of certifying it as actual mileage.³ Record the mileage as a whole number, no tenths.

The seller also signs the assignment section on the back of the existing title to release ownership. If the title lists joint owners, both must sign unless the title uses “or” between the names.

The Buyer’s Part

The buyer completes the ownership and address information for the new title. If two people are buying together, they need to pick “and” or “or” joint ownership. Leaving both boxes unchecked means both signatures will be required for any future transfer.³ The buyer also marks the loan-status question and signs the application.

Total Consideration

Both parties fill in and certify the total consideration section: the sale price, any trade-in value, and the net cost. Both certify under KRS 190.990(5) that the figures are true.³

This number drives your usage tax, so be accurate. There is also a practical reason not to lowball or skip it: for private sales, the clerk calculates the 6% motor vehicle usage tax on the price listed in the notarized total consideration section (or a separate Affidavit of Total Consideration, Form 71A100). The stated price cannot be less than 50% of the NADA trade-in value for the vehicle, minus any trade-in you offer. And if you don’t supply a notarized total consideration at all, the clerk uses full NADA retail value, which almost always produces a higher tax bill.⁴ Honest and notarized is the cheaper path.

Boat Sales on TC 96-184

Form TC 96-184 follows the same pattern. It asks for the Hull Identification Number, the sale price, and the same buyer and seller details, with signature blocks for both parties and a notarization section.⁵ The buyer must also disclose any loan taken or planned within 30 days and warrant that the vessel is not subject to an unterminated lien. Same ink rules, same ban on alterations.

Getting the Form Notarized

Both TC 96-182 and TC 96-184 include attestation blocks requiring the buyer’s and seller’s signatures to be sworn or affirmed before an attesting official.³ County clerks rely on that notarization when they process the transfer, and without it they won’t.⁶

In practice, both parties either visit a notary public together or go straight to the county clerk’s office, where staff can notarize the form on the spot. Bring valid government-issued photo ID: a driver’s license, passport, or military ID. The notary confirms each signer’s identity and that they’re signing voluntarily. Notary fees in Kentucky are modest, usually a few dollars per signature, and handling it at the clerk’s counter keeps the whole transaction to one trip.

Filing with the County Clerk

After the form is signed and notarized, the buyer takes it to the county clerk in their county of residence within 15 days of the sale.⁷ Bring:

The completed, notarized TC 96-182 (or TC 96-184).
The seller’s original title with the assignment signed over to you.
Valid photo ID.
Proof of Kentucky insurance with an effective date within 45 days.⁸
Payment for the fees and the usage tax.

What You’ll Pay

The title application fee is $9.⁹ Standard plate registration runs $21, though it varies slightly by vehicle type and plate category.¹⁰ A transit tag, if you need one while waiting for plates, is $5. A speed title, which gets your title mailed the next business day, costs an extra $25.⁷ On top of those, you’ll owe the 6% motor vehicle usage tax calculated as described above.⁴

The clerk processes the paperwork, updates state records, and mails the physical title to the buyer’s address. If you applied for a loan, the title is held for 30 days or until the lienholder’s financing statement and fees arrive, whichever comes first.

Check for Liens Before You Pay

A lienholder listed on the face of the seller’s title is a stop sign. If a bank or finance company shows up there, the seller must pay off the loan and obtain a lien release before clean title can transfer to you. Kentucky’s Online Vehicle Information System (OVIS) provides access to title and lien records, though a fee or account may be required.

The TC 96-182 form itself includes the seller’s warranty that the vehicle is not subject to an unterminated lien, so a false statement gives the buyer legal recourse. That is a worse position than catching the problem up front. If the seller can’t produce a clean title, either walk away or insist on closing the sale at the lienholder’s office so the payoff and release happen at the same time as the handoff.

1
Commonwealth of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Forms Library (TC 96)
2
Campbell County Clerk. Affidavit of Motor Vehicle Sale TC 96-159
3
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Application for Kentucky Certificate of Title or Registration
4
Kentucky Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Usage Tax
5
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Motor Boat Transaction Record/Application for Registration and/or Title
6
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 186A.190 – Security Interest Notation Required on Title Document
7
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Vehicle Titling
8
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Vehicle Registration and Renewals
9
Jefferson County Clerk. Transfers
10
Jefferson County Clerk. Motor Vehicle Fees