Massachusetts Form ST-7R, the Motor Vehicle Certificate of Payment of Sales or Use Tax, is how you report and pay the 6.25% use tax on a vehicle or trailer that isn’t going through the standard RMV registration process. You fill in your information, the vehicle’s model year, the sales price, and the tax owed, then mail the signed form with payment to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue by the 20th of the month after you bought, received, or first used the vehicle in the state.
Who Actually Files ST-7R
Most car buyers never see this form. If the vehicle must be registered or titled at the Massachusetts RMV, you pay the use tax directly at the registry when you submit the Registration and Title Application, which is due within 10 days of the purchase, transfer, or first use. ST-7R is not part of that process.
ST-7R is for the situations where a vehicle enters the state but skips the RMV registration path, such as certain off-road vehicles, construction equipment, or vehicles stored in Massachusetts but operated elsewhere. It also applies when you buy a motor vehicle or trailer outside Massachusetts and bring it into the state within six months for permanent use.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
The Filing Deadline
The form and the full payment are due by the 20th of the month following the date of purchase, transfer, or first use in Massachusetts.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax A March 5 purchase and a March 28 purchase share the same April 20 deadline. The clock runs from the transaction, not from the day you first drive the vehicle.
For a vehicle bought out of state and brought in within six months, the deadline runs from the date the vehicle entered Massachusetts.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
What Goes on the Form
Form ST-7R is a single-page PDF available from the DOR’s motor vehicle sales and use tax forms page.2Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Sales and Use MVU Tax Forms The fields are short:
- Purchaser’s full name and mailing address.
- Model year of the motor vehicle or trailer.
- The purchase price, the applicable tax rate, and the total tax due.
- Signatures from both the buyer and the seller.
Have the bill of sale or purchase receipt in front of you when you fill it in. The DOR does not always require supporting documents with the submission, but proof of what you actually paid is what protects you if the reported amount is later questioned.
Calculating the Tax
The rate is 6.25% of the sales price.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 64I Section 2 For a dealer purchase, the sales price is simply what you paid. Private-party sales work differently, and this is the step that trips people up.
In a casual sale of a motor vehicle, the taxable amount is 6.25% of whichever is higher: the actual price you paid or the clean trade-in value from the most recent National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) used vehicle guide.4Massachusetts Department of Revenue. TIR 92-1 Sales Price of Motor Vehicles If you paid $3,000 for a car with a book value of $5,500, you owe 6.25% of $5,500. The RMV adjusts the book value for high or low mileage at registration but does not adjust for mechanical or structural condition. A car with a blown engine still gets taxed on its book value if that figure exceeds the sale price.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
Two carve-outs are worth knowing. Trailers are always taxed on the actual sales price; the book-value rule does not apply to them. And if the RMV issued a title stamped or labeled “salvage” because an insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss, the tax is based on the actual sales price regardless of book value.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
Credit for Tax Paid to Another State
If you already paid sales tax to another state on the vehicle, three outcomes are possible when you bring it into Massachusetts within six months:
- No Massachusetts tax is due if the other state has a reciprocal agreement with Massachusetts and its tax rate is equal to or greater than 6.25%.
- Partial tax is due if the other state has a reciprocal agreement but its rate is lower than 6.25%. You pay the difference between the two rates, multiplied by the sales price.
- The full 6.25% is due, with no offset, if the other state does not allow a corresponding credit for Massachusetts sales or use tax.
Paying tax in the other state is not enough on its own. That state must also grant a corresponding credit to its own residents for Massachusetts taxes paid, or Massachusetts gives you nothing in return.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
When No Tax Is Owed
Some transfers are exempt, but each exemption requires that the person transferring the vehicle previously paid Massachusetts sales or use tax on it.
A genuine gift of full ownership is exempt if all of the following are true: neither party made, received, or promised payment in any form; neither party assumed any related debt; the donor intended a gift at the time of transfer; and the donor previously paid Massachusetts sales or use tax on the vehicle. Claiming the gift exemption requires Form MVU-24, an affidavit filed in place of paying the tax.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax A false statement on that affidavit can be prosecuted as a felony.5Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Form MVU-24 Affidavit in Support of a Claim for Exemption From Sales or Use Tax for a Motor Vehicle Transferred as a Gift
Casual sales or transfers to a parent, spouse, child, or sibling are also exempt, again provided the transferor previously paid Massachusetts sales or use tax on the vehicle.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax Transfers to aunts, uncles, cousins, or in-laws do not qualify.
Where to Send It
Mail the completed form and payment in full to:
Massachusetts Department of Revenue
PO Box 7012
Boston, MA 02204
Make checks or money orders payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Certified mail or a dated postmark receipt gives you proof of timely filing if the DOR later claims the return arrived late.
Late Filing and Non-Filing
Late payment draws both interest and penalties. The DOR has stated that it does not have the authority to waive or reduce interest on unpaid or late-paid tax, so the longer you wait, the more you owe, and the interest portion is not negotiable after the fact.1Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle and Trailer Sales and Use Tax
Skipping the form entirely is worse than filing late. The DOR generally has three years from the filing date (or the date the return was required, whichever is later) to assess additional tax. That window extends to six years if more than 25% of gross income or tax is omitted, and there is no limit at all for fraudulent returns or for a failure to file.6General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 62C Section 26 Not filing leaves you exposed indefinitely.
Records to Keep
Massachusetts regulations require taxpayers to keep records for at least the period of the applicable statute of limitations, including any extensions.7Massachusetts Department of Revenue. 830 CMR 62C.25.1 Record Retention Given the three-year standard window and the six-year window for substantial omissions, hold onto your bill of sale, a copy of the completed ST-7R, and proof of payment for at least six years. If a question about the vehicle’s value or the amount of tax paid comes up later, the paperwork resolves it quickly.