Printable Kansas Bill of Sale: TR-312, Notary, and 60-Day Deadline

Kansas offers a free printable bill of sale, Form TR-312, as a one-page PDF on the Kansas Department of Revenue website.¹ It’s a sworn statement of the price a buyer paid a seller for a vehicle, and the county treasurer uses it to calculate sales tax when the buyer titles the vehicle. Download it, fill in every field, both parties sign, and bring it with the signed title to the county treasurer within 60 days of the sale.

What Goes on the TR-312

The Department of Revenue lists the form as the “Affidavit of Purchase Price,” though the document itself is titled “Bill of Sale.”¹ Both the buyer and seller sign under penalty of perjury that the stated price is true.²

Every field has to be complete. The form instructions state that all information “MUST be complete for this to be a valid assignment of ownership.”² You’ll need:

Seller’s printed name and full address
Buyer’s printed name and full address
Vehicle year, make, and full VIN
Purchase price and date of sale
Both signatures with dates

Pull the VIN straight from the dashboard plate or the driver’s door jamb instead of copying it off old paperwork. One wrong digit will get the application rejected at the treasurer’s window, and fixing it means finding the seller again for a new signature.

Do You Need a Notary?

No, not for a standard private sale between Kansas residents. The Kansas Division of Vehicles does not require notarization on most title assignments, title applications, or bills of sale completed within the state.³ The TR-312 has no notary block at all. Both parties simply sign under penalty of perjury.

The Division reserves the right to require notarized documents in unusual circumstances. And a separate rule applies to lien releases: if there’s an outstanding loan on the vehicle, the Kansas lienholder’s release must be notarized even though your bill of sale and title assignment don’t need to be.⁴

The TR-312 Doesn’t Replace the Title

The bill of sale works alongside the title, not instead of it. The primary ownership transfer happens on the back of the title itself, where the seller completes the assignment section with the purchase price, date of sale, odometer reading, and both parties’ printed names and signatures.⁵ Kansas law makes it unlawful to buy or sell a vehicle required to be registered unless a certificate of title with an assignment passes between the parties within 60 days of delivery.⁶

The TR-312 adds a separately sworn record of what was paid. The treasurer uses it to compute sales tax, which is why the price on the bill of sale and the price on the title assignment should match exactly.

Odometer Disclosure Is a Separate Form

Alongside the bill of sale, Kansas requires an odometer disclosure using Form TR-59. Federal and state law both require the seller to state the vehicle’s mileage at transfer, and the form warns that a false statement can bring fines or imprisonment.⁷ The seller enters the current mileage and checks a box indicating whether it’s actual, exceeds the odometer’s mechanical limits, or isn’t actual due to a discrepancy.

The back of the title also has an odometer line, so the reading appears in two places.⁵ Vehicles 20 model years old or older and vehicles with a gross weight rating above 16,000 pounds are exempt from the federal odometer disclosure requirement.⁸

The 60-Day Deadline and What to Bring

The buyer has 60 days from the purchase date to apply for title and registration at the county treasurer’s motor vehicle office in the county where the vehicle will be kept. Weekends and holidays count. Missing the deadline adds a $2 penalty on top of the other fees, but the bigger risk is driving an unregistered vehicle and getting cited.⁶

Bring the following to the window:

The signed title with the assignment on the back fully completed
The TR-312 bill of sale with every field filled in
The TR-59 odometer disclosure signed by both parties
Proof of insurance on the vehicle
A lien release if the title shows an existing lienholder
A Motor Vehicle Examination (MVE-1) if the title was issued by another state

At the counter you’ll pay the $10 title fee set by statute, registration fees that vary by vehicle weight and county, sales tax, and property tax.⁵⁶ If you need to drive the vehicle before the title arrives, the office can issue a temporary permit.

Why Honest Pricing on the Bill of Sale Matters

Kansas collects sales tax on private vehicle sales at the county treasurer’s office, not at the point of sale. The tax is normally calculated on the purchase price stated on the TR-312. If the treasurer or the director of taxation decides the stated price bears no reasonable relationship to the vehicle’s fair market value, the tax gets computed on the NADA used car guide value instead.⁹

The rate includes local sales tax, not just the state rate. For a private sale, the treasurer collects the higher of the rate where the sale took place or the rate at the vehicle’s registration address.⁹ A rate-lookup tool at ksrevenue.gov lets you search by address.

Writing “$1” or leaving the price blank to help a buyer dodge tax is a bad idea on two counts. The treasurer can override a suspicious figure using NADA values, and both parties already signed the TR-312 under penalty of perjury.

Antique Vehicles Without a Title

For antique vehicles where no title exists, the TR-312 does more work. The form includes an antique vehicle transfer section where the seller certifies ownership, guarantees the vehicle is free of liens, and transfers it to the buyer. Any antique vehicle 60 years old or newer sold on a bill of sale also needs a Motor Vehicle Examination (MVE-1) from the Kansas Highway Patrol before the treasurer will process the title application.²

What the Seller Should Do After the Sale

Sign the title and bill of sale, then file a Seller’s Notice of Sale (Form TR-216) with the Division of Vehicles. The filing costs $10 and creates an official record that the vehicle changed hands on a specific date.¹⁰ It isn’t mandatory, but if the buyer never titles the vehicle and collects toll violations or parking tickets, the notice proves you no longer owned it.

Transfer your plate to another vehicle for $1.50 or surrender it. Don’t leave your plates on a vehicle you’ve sold.⁶

Mistakes That Cause Real Problems

The most common issue county offices see is incomplete paperwork. A missing signature, a blank VIN field, or an empty purchase price makes the TR-312 invalid and the title application gets rejected. The buyer then has to chase down the seller for corrections, which ranges from mildly annoying to impossible once weeks have gone by.

Title jumping is the other serious trap. If someone buys a vehicle and tries to resell it without ever titling it in their own name, Kansas law treats the sale as void.⁶ If the name on the title doesn’t match the person selling the vehicle to you, walk away. There’s no legal path to title it.

1
Kansas Department of Revenue. Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles – Vehicles Forms and Publications
2
Kansas Department of Revenue. Bill of Sale TR-312
3
Kansas Department of Revenue. Frequently Asked Questions – Titling a Vehicle
4
Kansas Department of Revenue. Frequently Asked Questions About Liens
5
Kansas Department of Revenue. Titling a Used Vehicle
6
Justia Law. Kansas Statutes 8-135 – Transfer of Ownership of Vehicles
7
Kansas Department of Revenue. Odometer Disclosure Statement TR-59
8
eCFR. Odometer Disclosure Requirements
9
Kansas Department of Revenue. Pub. KS-1526 Business Taxes for Motor Vehicle Transactions
10
PayIt (Kansas Government Services). Make a Kansas Seller’s Notice of Sale Payment