How to Fill Out and Submit the Nebraska DMV Bill of Sale Form

A Nebraska DMV bill of sale form records the essentials of a private vehicle sale: the parties, the vehicle, the price, and the date. In Nebraska the seller must hand the buyer either a bill of sale or a completed Department of Revenue Form 6 at the time of sale, and the buyer then takes that document, the signed title, and a title application to the county treasurer within 30 days to complete the transfer.¹²

The Form Itself

The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles publishes a courtesy bill of sale form on its website. You are not required to use it. Any written bill of sale that captures the necessary information is acceptable.³ Using the DMV’s version is the simple path because the fields are already laid out and the county treasurer’s office will recognize the layout on sight. You can download it from the DMV site or pick up a paper copy at your county treasurer’s office.

Information You’ll Need Before You Start

Gather everything before you sit down to write. Guessing at a VIN character or a date creates paperwork problems later.

Vehicle year, make, model, and the full 17-character Vehicle Identification Number.
Buyer’s full legal name and current residential address.
Seller’s full legal name and current residential address.
Exact sale price in dollars. This figure is what the county treasurer uses to calculate the buyer’s sales tax.
Date of sale. The buyer’s 30-day clock for titling starts on this date.

Write clearly. The county clerk transcribes what you put on the form into state motor vehicle records, and illegible entries slow the process or trigger a correction request. Verify the VIN character by character against the dashboard plate or the door jamb sticker. One wrong digit ties your paperwork to someone else’s vehicle.

Signing the Form

Both the buyer and the seller sign. The DMV’s form has a signature line for each party.³ The form also includes notary spaces, but a routine private-party vehicle sale in Nebraska does not require a notarized bill of sale. Notarization is required in narrower situations, such as transferring a deceased owner’s vehicle by affidavit.¹ Getting signatures notarized anyway is harmless, but it isn’t a prerequisite.

The Separate Odometer Disclosure

Nebraska requires the seller to give the buyer a signed odometer certification stating the mileage at the time of sale, and to keep a copy for at least five years.⁴ This is a separate document from the bill of sale. It usually appears on the title assignment itself or on a standalone odometer statement.

Some vehicles are exempt from odometer disclosure:

Model year 2010 or older.
Model year 2011 or newer once the vehicle is more than 20 years old.
Vehicles over 16,000 pounds gross rated capacity.
Motorcycles manufactured without odometers.

If the odometer reads in kilometers, the seller converts to miles using 1 kilometer equals 0.621 miles, and the buyer acknowledges the conversion.⁴

Bill of Sale or Form 6

Nebraska gives sellers a choice between the DMV’s bill of sale and Nebraska Department of Revenue Form 6, the Sales/Use Tax and Tire Fee Statement.¹ Either one satisfies the requirement. Licensed dealers must use Form 6 for every sale, but private sellers without a sales tax permit can pick whichever they prefer.⁵

Form 6 has one practical advantage: it calculates the sales and use tax and tire fee on the form itself, so the buyer walks into the treasurer’s office with the tax already figured. Use a plain bill of sale and the treasurer’s office calculates it at the counter from your stated sale price. The buyer owes the same amount either way.

What the Buyer Does Next

Once the sale is done, the buyer takes the paperwork to the county treasurer in their county of residence. The buyer needs three items:¹

The certificate of title, with every name on it signed off in the seller’s section and the buyer’s name, address, and signature in the purchaser’s section.
An application for certificate of title, available from the county treasurer or the DMV website.
The bill of sale or completed Form 6.

The certificate of title must be issued within 30 days of the purchase date.² Missing that window risks penalties. The titling fee is $10.¹ The treasurer also collects sales tax on the purchase price at that visit, so bring funds for tax on top of the titling fee.

What the Seller Does After Signing

The seller’s obligations don’t end at handing over the keys. A few steps protect you after the vehicle is gone:

Remove your plates. Nebraska license plates stay with the owner, not the vehicle. Take them off before the buyer drives away.
Keep photocopies of the signed bill of sale, the odometer disclosure, and the assigned title. If a dispute surfaces months later about what you sold, its condition, or the price, those copies are your proof.
Contact your insurer to remove the vehicle from your policy so you stop paying premiums on a car you no longer own.

What the Bill of Sale Does and Doesn’t Do

The bill of sale is a record of the transaction. It is not a warranty. The FTC’s Used Car Rule, which requires the Buyers Guide sticker on dealer lots, applies only to dealers who sell more than five used vehicles in a 12-month period and does not cover private-party sales.⁶ Private sales in Nebraska are almost always “as-is.” The buyer takes on responsibility for repairs and defects once the deal closes. Writing “as-is” on the bill of sale reinforces that understanding, though state consumer protection laws can still reach outright fraud.

Buyers should treat the form as a paper trail rather than a safety net. Get a pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic and pull a vehicle history report before signing. Once your signature is on the bill of sale and the car is in your driveway, the seller has no obligation to take it back or pay for repairs.

1
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Transfer of Ownership
2
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title
3
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Nebraska DMV Bill of Sale Form
4
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Odometer Certification
5
Nebraska Department of Revenue. Nebraska Sales/Use Tax and Tire Fee Statement
6
Federal Trade Commission. Dealer’s Guide to the Used Car Rule