NC Form MVR-613: Highway Use Tax Exemption Filing and Notarization

North Carolina Form MVR-613, the Highway Use Tax Exemption Certification, is the one-page notarized form you file with your title application to skip the state’s 3% Highway Use Tax on a qualifying vehicle transfer or cap it at $40. It covers roughly twenty situations, most commonly gifts between close family members and transfers through inheritance. The current version (Rev. 01/2024) is available from the NCDMV forms page.¹

Without this form, the DMV assesses the full 3% tax on the vehicle’s retail value when it processes your title application.² On a $25,000 vehicle that’s $750. On a $60,000 pickup, $1,800. The MVR-613 is how you prove the transfer belongs to a statutory exception and owe nothing, or owe the reduced $40 maximum.

Do You Qualify for an Exemption

The exemptions sit in N.C. Gen. Stat. 105-187.6, split between full exemptions in subsection (a) and partial exemptions capped at $40 in subsection (b).³ Each category appears as a checkbox on the form; you pick the single box that describes your transfer.

Full Exemptions (No Tax)

Gifts between close family members are what most people use this form for. The tax is waived for a gift between spouses, between a parent and child, or between a stepparent and stepchild. The word “gift” is doing work here: if a parent sells a car to a child for any amount, including a token dollar, the transfer is a sale and the exemption does not apply.

Transfers dividing marital or divisible property in a separation or divorce also qualify, as do transfers by will or intestacy where nothing was paid to the estate. Removing a co-owner from a title is exempt when the remaining owner pays nothing.

Several less common transfers get the same treatment:

Transfers to a licensed retailer or manufacturer for resale.
Retitling in the same owner’s name to correct a spelling error or reflect a legal name change.
Transfers into a revocable trust where the original owner is the sole beneficiary.
Salvage transfers to an insurer under G.S. 20-109.1, or abandoned salvage transfers to a used motor vehicle dealer.
Fire trucks, tankers, pump trucks, ladder trucks, forest-firefighting four-wheel-drive vehicles, and emergency services vehicles transferred to qualifying volunteer fire or rescue departments with no more than two paid employees.
Vehicles donated to a 501(c)(3) charity solely for resale by that charity.
Transfers for use in a state research, pilot, or demonstration project.

Partial Exemptions ($40 Cap)

These don’t zero out the tax; they cap it at $40 no matter how valuable the vehicle is.

A lienholder titling a repossessed vehicle in its own name, where the lien was properly recorded.
Transfers to a partnership, LLC, corporation, or trust where no gain or loss is recognized under IRC Section 351 or 721, and transfers to a disregarded entity under the IRC.
Corporate mergers and name changes. The form directs you to the NCDMV title manual for variations.

You still need the MVR-613 to get the $40 cap. Without the form, the DMV has no way to know you qualify and will bill the full 3%.

Filling Out the Form

The MVR-613 itself is short. Complete it in this order:

Vehicle information: year, make, body style, VIN, and fuel type. Copy these exactly from the existing title or the manufacturer’s certificate of origin. A single wrong character in the VIN will stop processing.
Purchaser name: the full legal name of the person certifying the exemption, normally the person receiving the vehicle.
Exemption checkbox: check one box, and pick the most specific category that applies. For a parent-to-child gift, that means “Gift between parent and child,” not a broader category.
Certification and signature block: the form reads “Under penalty of law I certify the above declaration is correct.” You sign, date, and fill in your address, county, and state.

One category has an added requirement. Cherokee tribal members living on the reservation must attach a copy of their Cherokee ID card to the form.¹

Get It Notarized

The MVR-613 must be signed in front of a commissioned notary public. NCDMV lists it among the title documents that require notarization.⁴ The notary block at the bottom requires the notary’s signature, printed name, official seal, and commission expiration date. The notary is certifying that you appeared in person, identified yourself, and signed voluntarily.

Do not sign the form beforehand. A pre-signed certification that the notary did not witness will be rejected. Many NC license plate agencies have a notary on site; banks and UPS stores usually offer the service for a small fee.

What to Submit It With

The MVR-613 is filed as part of a title application package, not on its own.⁴ For a typical private-party transfer, the package includes:

The existing vehicle title, properly signed over by the seller or donor. Notarization is required on the title itself.
The Title Application, Form MVR-1, also notarized.
Odometer Disclosure Statement, Form MVR-180, if the vehicle is less than ten years old.
Damage Disclosure Statement, Form MVR-181, for private-party transfers.
The MVR-613, notarized.
A lien release, if the existing title shows a lienholder.

You can hand the complete package to any NCDMV license plate agency or mail it to the address on the title application instructions. Processing takes 10 to 15 business days after NCDMV receives a clean package.⁵ The new certificate of title is mailed to the owner, or to the lienholder if a lien is recorded on the new title.

Mistakes That Get the Form Rejected

Because the certification is signed under penalty of law, accuracy matters both practically and legally. Most rejections come from a small set of errors:

Checking a gift box for a transfer that was actually a sale. Any payment, even nominal, makes it a sale in the statute’s eyes.
Missing or defective notarization, including forms signed before you got to the notary.
A VIN that doesn’t match the existing title and the MVR-1 exactly.
An incomplete package. The MVR-613 only waives the tax; missing the MVR-1, the signed-over title, or the odometer disclosure sends the whole package back.
Skipping the Cherokee ID copy when claiming that specific exemption.

Keep a photocopy of the completed MVR-613 and every other document you submit. The 10-to-15-business-day window assumes a clean submission; errors add weeks.

1
North Carolina Department of Transportation. MVR-613 Highway Use Tax Exemption Certification
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-187.3 – Rate of Tax
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 105-187.6 – Exemptions From Highway Use Tax
4
North Carolina Department of Transportation. Vehicle Documents and Forms
5
North Carolina Department of Transportation. Vehicle Titles