Maryland Boat Bill of Sale: Form B-118, Notarization, and 30-Day Filing

A Maryland boat bill of sale is a written record of a vessel’s private sale, and the state wants it on a specific document: DNR Form B-118. Fill it out completely, get it notarized, and submit it with your title application, excise tax, and fees within 30 days of the sale. Miss any of those pieces and you risk a higher tax bill, penalties, or a rejected application.

What Form B-118 Has to Show

Form B-118 is a free download from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.¹ Buyer and seller each complete their own sections, and every field carries weight for the DNR’s review.²

Full legal names and mailing addresses for up to two buyers and two sellers
Gross sales price covering the vessel, motor, and accessories, but not any trailer
Date of sale
Hull Identification Number (HIN), manufacturer, length, and model year of the vessel
Serial number, manufacturer, model, and horsepower of any outboard motor included in the sale

The HIN is the 12-character code stamped into the hull of every recreational vessel built or imported for U.S. sale after August 1, 1972.³ Before you sign, compare the HIN on the hull to the HIN on the title. A mismatch can point to anything from a paperwork error to a stolen boat, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau recommends confirming the numbers match exactly before money changes hands.

Maryland requires registration for any vessel with propulsion machinery used on state waters, with limited exceptions for Coast Guard documented boats, boats validly numbered in another state and only temporarily here, government vessels, lifeboats, engineless sailboats, and manually propelled craft like canoes and kayaks.⁴

Why You Should Notarize the Bill of Sale

The DNR does not force every private sale through a notary, but the excise tax rules make notarization worth doing anyway. For a private, non-dealer transaction, the DNR calculates fair market value as either the actual price shown on a certified bill of sale, or the value listed in a national used-vessel pricing guide the DNR adopts.⁵ “Certified” in practice means notarized. Skip that step and the DNR can ignore the price you wrote on the form and tax you on the guide’s higher number.

The gap matters most when a boat sells cheap. The DNR specifically warns buyers who receive a vessel in poor condition, no longer operational, or sold well below fair market value to title it within 30 days.⁶ In that situation, a notary stamp is the difference between paying 5% on what you actually spent and paying 5% on what a book says the boat should be worth.

Notarization is also required if the parties use a homemade agreement instead of B-118, because the DNR has no other way to verify who signed it. Buyer and seller both sign regardless of whether the document gets notarized.

The 30-Day Filing Window

Maryland gives you 30 days from the date of purchase to title and register the vessel and pay the excise tax. Miss that window and penalty charges and interest accrue on the unpaid tax.⁶ If you buy a boat outside Maryland or one previously registered in another state, the 30-day clock runs from the date the vessel enters Maryland waters, assuming the boat will be used here more than in any other single state.⁵

Buyers who plan to fix a boat up before registering, or who buy in the fall and mean to sort paperwork out in the spring, get caught here. The clock runs from the sale date, not from launch day.

What You’ll Pay

Maryland charges a 5% vessel excise tax on the fair market value of any boat used principally on state waters, collected by the DNR at titling.⁷⁵ The minimum tax on any transaction is $5. The tax is capped, and the cap climbs by $100 every July 1. Through June 30, 2026, the maximum is $16,000; on July 1, 2026, it rises to $16,100.⁶ The cap only affects boats valued at $320,000 or more.

On top of the excise tax, expect flat fees:

$20 title fee
$70 registration fee, regardless of length or horsepower
$15 security interest filing fee, if a lender’s lien is recorded
$70 documented vessel decal, for Coast Guard documented boats in place of the standard registration fee
$12 non-motorized vessel decal, for voluntary registration of canoes, kayaks, and similar craft

You submit the completed B-118, the title signed over by the seller, and payment either by mail to a DNR Licensing and Registration Center or in person at a regional service center.⁶

Excise Tax Exemptions

Several transfers escape the 5% tax entirely under § 8-716(e) of the Natural Resources Article:⁵

Transfers between immediate family members as defined by DNR regulations
Vessels transferred to a licensed dealer for resale, rental, or leasing
Purchases by the State of Maryland, a political subdivision, or an approved charitable organization
Vessels on which the owner already paid Maryland sales and use tax before July 1, 1986
Boats titled or numbered in another state and not used principally on Maryland waters, provided the owner meets specific affidavit and documentation requirements

The family exemption surprises people who assume a gift between relatives still triggers the tax. It does not, but you still file the title application and bill of sale to document the transfer.

Coast Guard Documented Vessels Use a Different Form

Not every Maryland sale runs on B-118. If the boat is federally documented with the U.S. Coast Guard rather than state-titled, the transfer uses USCG Form CG-1340 instead.⁸ Documentation eligibility requires at least 5 net tons and ownership wholly by a U.S. citizen or eligible entity.⁹

CG-1340 asks for the vessel name, official number or HIN, legal names and addresses of buyers and sellers, the total interest transferred, the form of ownership (joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and so on), and the consideration paid. It must be notarized, and a bill of sale not filed with the Coast Guard is invalid against anyone except the seller and people who already knew about the sale.

Federal documentation does not cancel state tax and fee obligations. On a documented vessel used principally in Maryland waters, you still owe the 5% Maryland excise tax and the $70 documented vessel decal fee.⁶ Before you buy, you can request an Abstract of Title from the Coast Guard’s National Vessel Documentation Center to check for recorded liens.¹⁰

Keep the Trailer Off the Boat Paperwork

A boat trailer is a highway vehicle, and it goes through the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, not the DNR.¹¹ Depending on the trailer’s weight and use, the MVA may require a title, a registration, or both. Do not put trailer information on B-118. The form is written for the vessel, motor, and accessories, and the gross sales price field excludes the trailer.

If the seller holds a title for the trailer, the assignment section on the back of that title usually handles the transfer. If there’s no title, prepare a separate bill of sale for the trailer and contact the MVA directly. Combining trailer and vessel paperwork into a single transaction is a common reason applications get bounced at both agencies.

Buyer Checks Before You Sign

The bill of sale protects both parties, but a few checks protect the buyer more than the form alone does.

Match the 12-character HIN stamped on the transom to the HIN on the certificate of title. A discrepancy is a warning sign for a stolen or salvaged vessel.³
Run the HIN through the NICB’s free VINCheck tool. It’s designed primarily for motor vehicles, but the check is worth doing before you commit.
For a documented vessel, request an Abstract of Title from the NVDC to surface any recorded mortgages or maritime liens.
Get the bill of sale notarized even when you think you can skip it. Notarization locks in your actual purchase price for excise tax purposes, so the DNR can’t fall back on a pricing guide that values the boat higher than you paid.

HIN format itself is federally regulated under 33 CFR Part 181, Subpart C, which controls how manufacturers assign and display the number.¹² If the HIN plate looks tampered with, poorly attached, or inconsistent with the manufacturer’s usual format, walk away.

1
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Forms and Applications
2
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Bill of Sale for a Vessel
3
National Insurance Crime Bureau. Motorcycle and Boat Theft
4
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 8-712
5
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 8-716
6
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Boat Registration
7
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 08.04.10.02 – Taxable Value of Vessels
8
United States Coast Guard. Bill of Sale CG-1340
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 12103 – General Eligibility Requirements
10
United States Coast Guard. National Vessel Documentation Center
11
MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Title and Registration for Trailers and Mobile Homes in Maryland
12
eCFR. Identification of Boats