How to Fill Out and Submit Vermont Form VT-014: Exemption Types

Vermont Form VT-014, the Certification of Tax Exemption, is the Department of Motor Vehicles form you file to claim an exemption from Vermont’s 6% Purchase and Use Tax when you register or title a vehicle.¹ You submit it alongside your registration and title application (Form VD-119), and it covers four specific situations: you already paid sales or use tax to another state, you received the vehicle as a genuine gift, the vehicle has been modified with adaptive equipment for a person with a disability, or the vehicle is being transferred between you and a business you control.

Which Exemption Fits Your Situation

Vermont normally collects 6% of the purchase price before issuing a title or registration on passenger cars, motorcycles, motor homes, and vehicles up to 10,099 pounds.² VT-014 is how you ask the DMV to waive or reduce that charge under 32 V.S.A. § 8911.³

Tax Paid to Another State

If you already paid a sales or use tax on the vehicle in another state, Vermont gives you a dollar-for-dollar credit. Pay 6% or more elsewhere and you owe nothing here. Pay 4% elsewhere and you owe Vermont the 2% difference. The burden is on you to prove the amount paid.⁴ Federal excise taxes, import fees, personal property taxes, and county property taxes do not count toward the credit.

The credit also applies when your spouse paid the other state’s tax, provided you were married at the time of payment.

Vehicle Received as a Gift

A vehicle transferred with no payment of any kind qualifies for a full exemption.³ The exemption covers transfers between spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren; transfers into a trust for the benefit of those family members or the donor; and transfers resulting from intestate succession. For the family-transfer exemption, the donor must have had the vehicle registered or titled in Vermont.

Any payment, even a token one, disqualifies the transaction. So does listing a lienholder on the registration, because a loan on a “gifted” vehicle tells the DMV a sale actually occurred.⁵

Vehicle Modified for a Person With a Disability

One vehicle per qualifying individual is exempt when it has been equipped with altered driving controls that allow a person with a permanent physical disability to drive, or a mechanical lifting device for entry and exit. The vehicle can be owned or leased by the person with the disability or by their parent or guardian. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles must certify the exemption, so the DMV will verify the modification before approving the form.³

Transfer Between You and a Business You Control

When a vehicle already registered in Vermont moves between an individual and a business entity that person controls, the transaction is exempt if it qualifies under 26 U.S.C. § 351, the federal provision on tax-free transfers of property to a controlled corporation in exchange for stock. The vehicle must already be registered in Vermont under the transferor’s name before the transfer.

What to Bring With Your VT-014

Every filing includes the Vermont Registration Tax and Title Application (VD-119) and the completed VT-014. The additional documents depend on your exemption.

Tax paid to another state: the out-of-state certificate of title in your name, plus a receipt, cancelled check, or DMV record showing the tax amount. If your spouse paid the tax, bring documentation of the marriage as of that date.
Gift: a properly assigned title (every owner listed must sign, and any liens must be released), a Bill of Sale, and an Odometer Disclosure Statement. If the vehicle was titled out of state, bring the original out-of-state title in the donor’s name. If the donor has died, bring a death certificate and court documentation naming the executor or administrator. Divorce-related transfers require a copy of the court decree and must be filed within one year of the final divorce date.⁵
Disability modification: documentation of the altered controls or lifting device. Expect a verification step by the Commissioner’s office.
Business-controlled transfer: proof the vehicle is currently registered in Vermont under the transferor’s name and that the transfer qualifies under 26 U.S.C. § 351 (typically the corporate formation documents and the exchange-for-stock arrangement).

Filling Out and Submitting the Form

Download the fillable PDF from the Vermont DMV website.¹ The form asks you to identify the vehicle (year, make, VIN), check the exemption category that applies, and sign to certify the information. Complete every field in the vehicle identification section; blanks there are a common reason paperwork gets sent back.

File in person at any Vermont DMV office or mail everything to:

Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles
120 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05603-0001

In person, DMV staff can review your documents on the spot and flag anything missing. Mailed submissions go through a manual review, and gaps mean a round of correspondence before your registration can proceed. Offices are open Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Why VT-014 Claims Get Denied

Most denials trace back to documentation gaps or facts that don’t match the exemption.

A lienholder listed on a gift transfer. The DMV treats the transaction as a purchase and denies the exemption automatically.⁵
Any payment on a “gift.” Gas money, covering the donor’s unpaid tickets, or any other consideration disqualifies the exemption.
Thin proof of out-of-state tax. A title alone usually doesn’t show the amount paid, and federal excise taxes, import fees, and property taxes don’t count toward the credit.⁴
Title assignment errors. On a gift transfer, every owner shown on the existing title must sign the assignment. One missing signature stops the process.
A divorce transfer filed more than a year after the final decree. The one-year window is a hard deadline.⁵

Exemptions That Use a Different Form

VT-014 isn’t the right form for every tax exemption. Governments, religious and charitable organizations, volunteer fire companies, dealer-operated vehicles, and surplus government vehicles purchased with federal funds are also exempt under § 8911, but those claims go on Form VG-147, Purchase and Use Tax Exemption, rather than VT-014.⁶ If your situation fits one of those categories, use VG-147 instead.

1
Department of Motor Vehicles. Certification of Tax Exemption
2
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 8903 – Tax Imposed
3
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 32-8911 – Exemptions
4
Cornell Law Institute. Vermont Regulation 14-050-013-X – Motor Vehicle Purchase and Use Tax Credit
5
Department of Motor Vehicles. Gifts
6
Department of Motor Vehicles. Tax