How to Fill Out Form MVU-26: Massachusetts Family Transfer Exemption

Massachusetts Form MVU-26 is the affidavit that lets you transfer a vehicle between immediate family members without paying the state’s 6.25 percent sales or use tax.¹ Fill it out with the vehicle and party information, check the box for the family relationship, sign it under the pains and penalties of perjury, and bring it in person to an RMV Service Center with the signed title and your stamped Registration and Title Application.²

Who Can Use MVU-26

The exemption only covers transfers between these specific relationships:³

Parent and child
Spouse and spouse
Sibling and sibling

Grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and in-laws are not covered.³ If your relationship isn’t on that short list, MVU-26 is the wrong form. The exemption applies whether or not money changes hands; it’s the family relationship that controls, not the price.

There’s a second requirement that catches people out. The family member transferring the vehicle must have previously registered it in Massachusetts.⁴ If your father bought and registered the car in New Hampshire and wants to hand it to you, this exemption doesn’t apply. The vehicle needs a Massachusetts registration history under the transferor’s name first.

Filling Out the Form

Download the form from Mass.gov or pick one up at any RMV Service Center. Have the vehicle’s certificate of title in front of you before you start.

Vehicle Information

Enter the year, make, model, and the full 17-character VIN exactly as they appear on the title. Transposing a single digit in the VIN will hold up your exemption, so cross-check it against both the title and the VIN plate on the dashboard.

Parties and Relationship

Both the prior owner (transferor) and the new owner (transferee) list their full legal names and current residential addresses. Each party also enters a Social Security number or Federal Identification number, which the Department of Revenue uses to verify the transaction.²

The form has checkboxes for Spouse, Son, Daughter, Mother, Father, Sister, and Brother. Check the one describing the prior owner’s relationship to the new owner. If none of those fits, you’re on the wrong form.

Statement of Facts

The form includes a short statement section where the prior owner describes the transfer. Keep it specific: identify the vehicle, state that it’s being transferred to the named family member, and name the relationship. Vague wording is the easiest way to get the paperwork kicked back at the counter.

Signatures

MVU-26 is signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, so no notary is required.² A false statement can be prosecuted as a felony under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 62C, Section 73 or Chapter 268, Section 1A.

Normally both the prior owner and the new owner sign and date the form. If the two parties share the same last name or live at the same address, only the new owner’s signature is required.⁴ That shortcut is useful when a parent and adult child still share a household: the child can sign alone.

What to Bring to the RMV

Everything is submitted in person at an RMV Service Center. Gather the following before your visit:³

The completed, signed Form MVU-26.
The prior owner’s certificate of title, with the back properly assigned to the new owner. If the vehicle is old enough to be exempt from titling, bring the previous registration and a bill of sale instead.
A Registration and Title Application completed, stamped, and signed by your Massachusetts insurance agent.⁵
Payment for the title fee, registration fee, and the gift transfer fee.

The insurance step trips up a lot of people. You can’t walk into the RMV with just the form and title. First visit a licensed Massachusetts insurance agent, bind coverage on the vehicle, and have the agent stamp your Registration and Title Application. The RMV won’t process the transfer without that stamp.

Fees

The exemption saves you the 6.25 percent use tax, but the standard counter fees still apply:⁶

Certificate of title: $75
Registration: $60 for a standard passenger plate, varying by plate type
Gift transfer fee: $25, non-refundable³

For a standard passenger vehicle, expect roughly $160 at the counter. Commercial vehicles and specialty plates run different registration amounts; check the RMV’s Schedule of Fees for the exact figure.

After the Transfer: Inspection and Odometer

Massachusetts requires newly registered vehicles to pass a safety inspection within seven days of the registration date.⁷ An existing sticker from the prior owner’s registration doesn’t carry over. Driving past the seven-day window without a current sticker can draw a citation and may complicate an insurance claim if you’re in an accident during the gap.

Federal and Massachusetts law require the seller to disclose the odometer reading at the time of transfer.⁵ Massachusetts title forms include an odometer disclosure section on the back that satisfies both requirements; both parties sign and print their names there. Vehicles 20 model years old or older are exempt from the federal odometer disclosure, which for 2026 means model year 2006 or earlier.

When MVU-26 Won’t Work

If the transfer involves the wrong relationship, a vehicle never registered in Massachusetts under the transferor’s name, or payment from someone outside the immediate family, the exemption doesn’t apply and you’ll owe the 6.25 percent use tax. For private sales, Massachusetts bases that tax on the higher of the actual purchase price or the NADA clean trade-in value adjusted for mileage.¹ So if you paid $3,000 for a car NADA values at $7,000, the tax is calculated on $7,000.

If the transfer is a genuine gift but the giver isn’t a parent, child, spouse, or sibling, use Form MVU-24 instead. MVU-24 also exempts you from the 6.25 percent tax, carries the same $25 non-refundable gift transfer fee, and requires that the person giving the vehicle previously satisfied the tax obligations in whatever state the vehicle was registered.³

1
Mass.gov. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
2
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Form MVU-26 – Affidavit in Support of a Claim for Exemption from Sales or Use Tax for a Motor Vehicle Transferred Within a Family
3
Mass.gov. Family/Gift Transfers
4
Mass.gov. 830 CMR 64H.25.1 – Motor Vehicles
5
Mass.gov. Apply for a Registration and Title for a Vehicle Purchased from an Individual
6
Mass.gov. Schedule of Fees
7
Mass.gov. New Motor Vehicle Inspection Stickers