Missouri Form 93 Boat/Vessel Title Application: Filing, Documents, and Fees

Missouri Form 93 is the Department of Revenue application you use to title and register a boat, vessel, or outboard motor in the state. You have 60 days from the date of purchase, or from the date you bring an out-of-state vessel into Missouri, to file it along with your supporting documents, fees, and sales tax.¹ One form handles the vessel and any outboard motor together, whether you bought new, used, from a dealer, from a private party, or out of state.²

Who Has to File

Every motorized vessel and every sailboat longer than 12 feet must be titled and registered before it goes on Missouri water.¹ That pulls in buyers of new boats or motors, buyers in private used sales, people moving to Missouri with a vessel already registered elsewhere, and anyone who owns a gasoline-powered outboard motor (the motor needs its own title even when the boat is being titled too).³

Non-motorized boats like canoes, kayaks, and rowboats are exempt, and so are sailboats 12 feet or shorter. If you fall in that group, you don’t file Form 93 at all.

Filling Out the Form

You can download Form 93 as a PDF from the Department of Revenue website or pick up a paper copy at any Missouri license office.² Complete it in ink. Clerks will reject anything they can’t read.

Owner Information

Enter your full legal name, Social Security number, and residential address. Co-owners each list their name and identifying information. If a bank or credit union is financing the purchase, add the lien holder’s name and address in the lien holder section so the lien goes on the title itself.⁴

Vessel Details

The vessel section asks for year, make, model number, hull identification number (HIN), horsepower, color, length, hull material, boat type, engine drive type (inboard, outboard, sterndrive, pod drive, or other), and propulsion type (propeller, sail, water jet, air thrust, manual, or other).² The HIN is a 12-character code usually stamped on the upper right side of the transom. Check it against the title or Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin before you write it down. A single transposed digit delays the whole application.

Outboard Motor Details

If you’re titling an outboard motor at the same time, fill in the motor’s year of manufacture, model year, make, identification number, model number, horsepower, and color.² The motor identification number is stamped on the mounting bracket or nameplate. The motor gets its own separate title, so accuracy matters as much here as on the vessel section.

Purchase Information

Record the purchase price, any rebate, trade-in value, other credits, net price, and the date of sale. These figures drive the sales tax calculation, and underreporting the price creates problems later if the Department audits the transaction.

Documents You Have to Bring With It

Form 93 by itself won’t get you a title. A missing document bounces the whole application back.³

Proof of ownership. For a used vessel, that’s the previous owner’s certificate of title with the assignment on the back properly signed. For a new vessel from a dealer or manufacturer, it’s the Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin. A descriptive bill of sale may also be needed, and when a licensed Missouri dealer handled the sale, a Form 93 certified by the dealer can serve as proof.
Bill of Sale (Form 1957), documenting the sale price and date. Notarization is not routinely required; the Department asks for it only when you’re proving ownership of major component parts of a rebuilt vessel or when it specifically requests notarization.⁵
A paid personal property tax receipt, or a statement of non-assessment, from your county of residence (or the City of St. Louis) for the prior year. Original or copy is fine. Without it, the Department will not process your application. Your county collector’s office issues both.³
Payment for sales or use tax, which is collected at titling. If you already paid sales tax to another state on an out-of-state purchase, you may get credit toward the Missouri tax but will owe any difference.

When a Serial Number Inspection Is Required

Some applications need a serial number verification before the Department will accept them. This comes up when a title carries incorrect information, when the vessel was purchased with a problematic title, or when you’re transferring from a state that doesn’t issue titles.¹ The Missouri State Highway Patrol runs inspection stations around the state; check its website for locations and hours before you drive out.

Fees and Sales Tax

Missouri’s state sales tax on a boat, vessel, or outboard motor is 4.225 percent of the purchase price minus any trade-in allowance. Local sales tax is added on top, and the local rate is set by where you live, not where you bought the vessel.³ The Department’s online tax calculator will give you the exact figure for your address. Out-of-state residents who keep a vessel in Missouri pay the same 4.225 percent state rate plus the local tax for the area where the vessel is housed.

Every transaction at a license office also carries a $9 processing fee.⁶

Vessel Fees

Titling: $7.50
Registration, under 16 feet: $25
Registration, 16 feet to under 26 feet: $55
Registration, 26 feet to under 40 feet: $100
Registration, 40 feet and over: $150

Each registration amount covers a three-year period. Missouri vessel registrations run on a triennial cycle and expire on June 30 of the year printed on the decal.

Outboard Motor Fees

Titling: $5
Registration: $2

Titling a vessel and a motor together means paying both sets of fees plus the $9 processing fee per transaction.⁶

Where to Submit

You can file in person or by mail.

In person is faster. Bring the completed Form 93 and your full document package to any Missouri license office. The clerk reviews it on the spot, collects the fees and tax, and can flag problems while you’re standing there. Pay by check or money order made out to the Missouri Department of Revenue.²

By mail, send everything together, with a check or money order covering fees and tax, to:

Motor Vehicle Bureau
P.O. Box 100
Jefferson City, MO 65105-0100

Once the Department accepts your application, the physical title and registration decals arrive by mail in roughly four to six weeks. Keep copies of everything you submitted as temporary proof while it processes.

After You Get the Title

Displaying Your Registration Number and Decals

Missouri assigns a registration number in the format MO 1234 AB. It has to appear on each side of the forward half of the vessel, legible from a distance, following these rules:⁷

Block characters at least 3 inches tall.
Dark numbers on a light hull, or light on dark. Sharp contrast.
Read left to right, with the letter prefix and suffix separated from the numerals by 2-inch spaces. A hyphen may go inside the space.
No other numbers displayed on either side of the bow.

Decals go directly below each registration number. The Water Patrol enforces the display rules, and a missing or improperly displayed number can draw a citation.

Renewing

Registrations last three years and expire June 30 of the expiration year on the decal. Renewal goes through the same license office or Jefferson City mailing process, and you’ll need a current personal property tax receipt or non-assessment statement again plus the registration fee for your vessel’s size class and the processing fee. Operating on an expired registration carries the same enforcement risk as having none.

What Form 93 Does Not Cover

Form 93 titles the boat and the motor. It does not cover the trailer. Missouri requires trailers to be separately titled and registered as motor vehicles through the Department of Revenue, using a standard vehicle title application and trailer-specific fees. In a private sale of boat, motor, and trailer, make sure the seller signs over titles to all three; the trailer does not transfer automatically with the vessel.

Form 93 is also the buyer’s form. If you’re the seller in a private sale, Missouri wants you to report the sale by filing a Notice of Sale (Form 5049) or a Bill of Sale (Form 1957) with the Department of Revenue, which protects you from liability if the buyer never titles the vessel in their own name.⁸ Licensed dealers handle that reporting themselves.

1
Missouri State Highway Patrol. Boat / Motor Serial Number Verification
2
Missouri Department of Revenue. Form 93 Application for Missouri Boat/Vessel or Outboard Motor Title and Registration
3
Missouri Department of Revenue. Boat/Vessel/Outboard Motor Titling and Registration
4
Legal Information Institute. 12 CSR 10-23.446 – Notice of Lien
5
Missouri Department of Revenue. Bill of Sale or Even-Trade Bill of Sale
6
Missouri Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Fees
7
Missouri Department of Revenue. Boat/Vessel Titling and Registration – Additional Information
8
Missouri Department of Revenue. Selling a Vehicle