Nebraska Boat Bill of Sale: Notarization, Fees, and Trailers

A Nebraska boat bill of sale is the written record of a motorboat transfer that the buyer takes to the county treasurer to pay sales tax, title the vessel, and register it. Nebraska requires a bill of sale at the time of transfer, but does not require you to use the DMV’s specific form.¹ Any written document that captures the transaction details works, though using the DMV form is the safest choice because it prompts you for every field the treasurer expects.

Every motorboat manufactured after November 1, 1972 must also have a Nebraska certificate of title, and the bill of sale is what links the seller’s title to the buyer’s new one.²

What to Put in the Bill of Sale

At a minimum, the document should show:

Full legal name, current address, and phone number for both buyer and seller
Year, make, model, and Hull Identification Number of the vessel
The exact sale price
The date of sale
Signatures of both buyer and seller

Copy the HIN directly from the stamp on the boat’s transom and check every character. A single transposed digit between the hull, the bill of sale, and the title will stall the registration.

The DMV form leaves out one thing the county treasurer will still ask for: the vessel’s length. Registration fees are set by length class, so measure the boat and bring that number to the counter.³

Does It Have to Be Notarized

The DMV’s official bill of sale form includes a notary acknowledgment section.¹ At least one county treasurer’s office has stated that notarization is not required to transfer a title in Nebraska.⁴ It is still worth doing. A Nebraska notary can charge up to $5 per acknowledgment, and the seal ends any later question about whether both parties actually signed.

Bring a driver’s license or state ID to the signing either way. The registration application requires each owner’s license or state ID number.⁵

What the Seller Also Has to Do

If the boat already has a Nebraska certificate of title, every person named on the face of that title must sign the seller’s section.⁶ Any lien has to be released by the lienholder and noted on the title before the buyer can take ownership.

Do not hand over a signed title with the buyer’s section blank. An “open title” is illegal in Nebraska and will be confiscated on sight by county officials, the DMV, or law enforcement.⁶ Fill in the buyer’s name, address, and signature at the same time the seller signs. If the seller signs in the wrong place or alters anything, the title counts as mutilated and the seller has to obtain a duplicate before the sale can go through.

As an alternative or supplement to the bill of sale, the seller can give the buyer a completed Nebraska Department of Revenue Form 6MB, the sales and use tax statement for motorboat transactions.⁶ Providing both gives the buyer the cleanest set of documents to hand the treasurer.

The DMV also offers an online Report Sale of Vehicle tool. Filing it creates a dated record that the seller no longer owns the boat, which protects the seller from liability for anything the buyer does with it afterward.

Taking It to the County Treasurer

The buyer registers and titles the boat at the county treasurer in the buyer’s county of residence. That is the only office that can process a new registration for a Nebraska resident.³ Bring:

The signed certificate of title from the seller, for any boat built after November 1, 1972
The bill of sale, the Form 6MB, or both
A completed registration application with your license or state ID number⁵
Payment for sales tax, registration fees, and the title fee

Sales Tax

Nebraska charges 5.5% state sales tax on motorboat purchases, and it applies to private-party sales, not just dealer sales.⁷ Local sales taxes may push the effective rate higher depending on jurisdiction. The treasurer collects the tax at registration based on the purchase price on the bill of sale.

Motorboats are specifically excluded from the “occasional sale” exemption that shields most private personal-property transfers from sales tax. Nebraska Department of Revenue Regulation 1-022.08C states that household goods and personal effects do not include motorboats.⁸ A typical sale between two individuals does not qualify for exemption; the narrow carve-outs cover things like corporate mergers and subsidiary transfers with at least 50% common ownership.

Registration and Title Fees

Registration runs for a three-year period and expires December 31 of the third year. Fees by length class:³

Class 1, under 16 feet plus all canoes regardless of length: $32
Class 2, 16 feet to under 26 feet: $55
Class 3, 26 feet to under 40 feet: $76.50
Class 4, 40 feet and over: $124

Add a $4 issuing fee to every registration. If you register partway through the three-year cycle, the fee is reduced by 1/36 for each full month that has already passed.³ The certificate of title carries its own fee of about $10.⁹

If the Sale Includes a Trailer

A boat trailer is titled and registered separately from the boat. If the trailer is part of the deal, the seller needs to provide a separate bill of sale for it or a completed Nebraska Department of Revenue Form 6, the sales/use tax and tire fee statement for motor vehicles and trailers.⁶ The trailer’s title transfer, sales tax, and registration happen at the same treasurer’s office but as a separate transaction from the boat.

1
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Bill of Sale
2
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Motorboat Certificate of Title
3
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Boat Registration and Licensing
4
Wayne County, NE. Frequently Asked Questions
5
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 37-1214
6
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Transfer of Ownership
7
Nebraska Department of Revenue. Local Sales and Use Tax Rates
8
Nebraska Department of Revenue. Occasional Sales
9
Dawson County. Motorboats