To put a vehicle in your name in Idaho, complete the Application for Certificate of Title (Form ITD-3337), bring it to any county assessor’s motor vehicle office along with the seller-signed title, a Bill of Sale, and your ID, and file within 30 days of the sale. The Idaho title transfer form is short, but it has to arrive at the counter with the right supporting paperwork and the right money, or you’ll leave without a transfer. Here’s what to collect, how to fill in each section, and what it costs.
Gather These Documents First
Showing up missing one piece means a wasted trip. Before you head to the county office, pull together:
- The existing certificate of title, signed by the seller in the transfer section. This is your primary proof that the seller released ownership to you.
- A completed Bill of Sale (Form ITD-3738), signed by both parties, showing the sale date, the selling price, and the odometer reading certified by the seller. The county uses the price on this form to calculate your sales tax.
- Your completed Application for Certificate of Title (Form ITD-3337). You can download it from the Idaho Transportation Department website and type into it before printing, or pick up a paper copy at any county assessor’s motor vehicle office.
- Your Idaho driver’s license or ID card. If you don’t have one, bring your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number instead.
- A VIN inspection (Form ITD-3403) if the vehicle is coming from out of state or has never been titled in Idaho.
A standard private-party sale between two Idaho residents needs the first four items. Anything crossing the state line adds the VIN inspection.
How to Fill Out Form ITD-3337
The form is built to be completed on a computer and then printed for signatures. Download a fresh copy from the ITD website each time; don’t reuse an old file, because the form gets revised.
Owner Information
Enter your full legal name and physical address. If your mailing address is different from where you live, list both. The form asks for your Idaho driver’s license or ID card number. If you have one, that’s enough on its own; you don’t also need to provide a Social Security number, because the county can pull your record from the license number.1Idaho Transportation Department. Idaho Personal Information Requirements A business titling a vehicle uses its Employer Identification Number. A trust or single-member LLC without an EIN can submit a Certification of No EIN (Form ITD-3823) instead.
Vehicle Description
Copy the year, make, model, and body type from the existing title exactly as they appear there. Take the 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number from the dashboard plate or the driver’s door jamb, and check every character. One transposed digit gets the application rejected.
Odometer Disclosure
Federal rules require an odometer reading on any vehicle less than 20 years old with a gross vehicle weight rating under 16,000 pounds.2eCFR. 49 CFR Part 580 – Odometer Disclosure Requirements Idaho follows this rule.3Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 49-504 – Applications to Department for Certificates, Procedure, Identification Numbers For a 2026 transfer, that covers any vehicle from model year 2007 or newer. The mileage has to appear on both the Bill of Sale and the title. Older vehicles and heavy trucks are exempt.
Lien Information
If you financed the purchase, enter the lienholder’s name and address. The new title will be issued with the lien noted, and the lienholder receives the original title until the loan is paid off. Double-check the lender’s name and address, because the lien is what gets recorded against the title if the information is right.
What You’ll Pay at the Counter
Bring enough for three charges. The clerk won’t process the transfer until everything is paid.
- State title fee: $14.00, set by statute.4Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 49-202 – Duties of Department
- County administrative fee: varies by county, ranging from $0 in a few counties (Bannock, Boise, Camas) up to $18.75 in Blaine. Most counties fall between $5 and $10.5Idaho Transportation Department. County Registration and Title Fees
- Sales tax: 6% of the purchase price shown on the Bill of Sale. On a $10,000 vehicle, that’s $600.6Idaho State Tax Commission. Sales and Use Taxes Basics Guide
County offices take cash, checks, and credit cards. Credit cards usually add a service fee.
When Sales Tax Doesn’t Apply
Some transfers don’t trigger the 6% tax. The common exemptions:
- Genuine gifts. Complete Section II of the Idaho Sales Tax Exemption Certificate (Form ST-133) and submit it with your title paperwork.7Idaho State Tax Commission. Form ST-133 Sales Tax Exemption Certificate
- Sales between a parent and child, a grandparent and grandchild, or siblings, as long as the seller already paid sales tax when they bought the vehicle. Step-relatives by marriage qualify; cousins, aunts, uncles, and foster children do not. Complete Section I of Form ST-133.7Idaho State Tax Commission. Form ST-133 Sales Tax Exemption Certificate
- Inherited vehicles. Bring a copy of the will, court order, or inheritance affidavit.
- New residents who already paid sales tax to another state. If you moved from a state with no sales tax (Oregon, Montana, Alaska, New Hampshire, or Delaware), you still owe Idaho tax unless you owned the vehicle for more than three months before the move. Claim the three-month exemption with Form ST-102.
Bartering doesn’t count as a gift. If you traded labor or goods for the vehicle, the county treats it as a purchase and taxes the vehicle’s value.
Where to Submit the Paperwork
Take the completed packet to any county assessor’s motor vehicle office in Idaho. You aren’t limited to the county where you live; any county office will process the transfer. Addresses and phone numbers are listed at itd.idaho.gov/itddmv.8Idaho Transportation Department. Application for Certificate of Title
Idaho residents who are temporarily out of state, such as students and military personnel, can file by mail. A mail-in application has to include a signed Limited Power of Attorney (Form ITD-3368) authorizing the county assessor to sign the application for you, and the power of attorney must describe the specific vehicle.9Idaho Transportation Department. Vehicle Titles Send a check or money order, not cash.
You Have 30 Days, and the Penalty Is Automatic
Idaho law gives you 30 days from the transfer date to file your title paperwork. Miss the window and the county tacks on a $20 late-filing penalty in addition to the regular fees. For an in-state sale, the clock starts on the sale date shown on the Bill of Sale. For a vehicle bought out of state, it starts when the vehicle first enters Idaho.10Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 49-504A – Penalty for Late Filing, Transfer of Certificate of Title, Disposition of Moneys
There is no waiver process. If the application date falls outside the window, the clerk adds the penalty to your bill. Mark your calendar the day you sign the Bill of Sale.
What Happens After You File
Once the clerk accepts the documents and payment, you can register the vehicle in the same visit if you brought everything needed for registration.11Idaho Transportation Department. Vehicle Registrations If registration can’t be completed on the spot, say because a lien payoff letter hasn’t arrived, the county can issue a 30-day temporary registration permit so you can drive the vehicle legally in the meantime.12Idaho Transportation Department. IDAPA 39.02.46 – Rules Governing Temporary Motor Vehicle Registration Permit
The printed title isn’t handed to you at the counter. Idaho processes titles centrally and mails the certificate to the owner’s address, or to the lienholder if there is a lien. Keep copies of everything you submitted until the title arrives.
VIN Inspections for Out-of-State Vehicles
Any vehicle arriving from another state, or one that has never been titled in Idaho, needs a VIN inspection before the county will process the transfer.9Idaho Transportation Department. Vehicle Titles It’s a visual check that the vehicle matches its paperwork, not a mechanical inspection.
Only a law enforcement officer, a DMV employee, a military police officer, or an Idaho-licensed vehicle dealer can perform it. The inspector completes Form ITD-3403 using data taken directly from the vehicle, without referring to other documents.13Idaho Transportation Department. ITD 3403 – Vehicle Identification Number Inspection Certification Get it done before your trip to the county office.
If the Title Still Has a Lien
A lien noted on a title means a lender has a financial interest in the vehicle, and the title can’t be transferred with the lien outstanding unless the lienholder signs off. If you’re buying a vehicle that still has a loan balance, the seller needs to pay off the loan and get a Satisfaction of Lien (Form ITD-3726) from the lender before the transfer can go through.
The ITD-3726 asks the lienholder for the VIN, the title number, the vehicle year and make, and an authorized signature confirming the debt is paid.14Ada County Assessor. Satisfaction of Lien If the lender has changed names since the lien was recorded, the form has a section to document that so the county can match the current lender to the one on the title.
A lien isn’t perfected against other creditors or future buyers until it’s recorded on the title through the department.15Justia Law. Idaho Code Title 49 Chapter 5 – Vehicle Titles If you’re the one financing, check that the lienholder information on your ITD-3337 is right, so the lien is recorded correctly on your new title.