Virginia Temp Tags: Insurance, Duration, and Penalties

Virginia temporary tags give you up to 30 days of legal driving on a newly purchased vehicle while permanent registration is processed. Licensed dealers issue them at the point of sale; if you buy from a private seller, you get them from a DMV service center or an approved third-party title service. Whichever route applies, the vehicle must carry Virginia’s current minimum liability insurance the entire time the temp tag is on it.

How to Get Temporary Tags

The path depends on who you bought the vehicle from.

Buying From a Dealer

A licensed Virginia dealer issues temporary plates directly to the “bona fide purchaser or owner” at the time of sale, along with a certificate of temporary registration. This works whether you’re registering the car in Virginia or in another state. Dealers can also issue temp tags when they don’t yet have the certificate of title or certificate of origin in hand, even if you have plates from another vehicle that could technically be transferred.¹

The dealer is also on the hook for forwarding your titling and registration application to the DMV with the required fees. If you decline to have it forwarded promptly, the dealer must separately notify the DMV that a temporary tag was issued.¹ Dealers can’t lend temporary plates or issue them to anyone who isn’t the actual buyer.

Buying From a Private Seller

Private sellers have no authority to issue temporary tags. You’ll need to visit a DMV service center or an authorized third-party tag and title agency before you can legally drive the vehicle on public roads. Bring:

The title, properly assigned and signed over by the seller (or the manufacturer’s certificate of origin if the vehicle has never been titled)
A bill of sale
Proof of insurance meeting Virginia’s current minimums
Your Virginia driver’s license or ID card
Payment for titling fees and the motor vehicle sales tax

If the vehicle needs a Virginia safety inspection and hasn’t had one, you may be able to get a temporary authorization to drive it to an inspection station.

Insurance You Must Carry

Effective January 1, 2025, every vehicle operating on Virginia temporary tags must carry liability coverage of at least:²

$50,000 for bodily injury or death of one person
$100,000 for bodily injury or death of two or more people
$25,000 for property damage

These limits are higher than the older $30,000/$60,000/$20,000 minimums many drivers remember, so check that any policy you’re shopping meets the new numbers, not the old ones.

Virginia normally lets registered vehicle owners pay an uninsured motor vehicle fee in lieu of carrying liability coverage. That option is not available on temp tags. The temporary registration statute specifically gives the purchaser an insurable interest so that a real policy can be obtained during the temporary period.³ You need an actual insurance policy to drive on temp tags.

How Long They Last

A temporary tag expires on whichever of these three events happens first: your permanent plates arrive, the purchase contract is cancelled, or 30 days pass from the date of issuance.⁴ The expiration date is printed on the tag itself, so law enforcement can read it at a glance.

If 30 days isn’t enough, a second set can be issued. The statute allows this when the dealer fails to transfer ownership within the initial window, typically because the title or certificate of origin still hasn’t come through. A new temporary certificate of registration must accompany the second set.¹ This is not a routine renewal. It exists for cases where the paperwork genuinely hasn’t caught up to the sale.

What to Keep in the Vehicle

A copy of the temporary registration certificate and a genuine buyer’s order must stay in the vehicle at all times while you’re driving on temp tags.³ The plate alone isn’t the whole story. During a traffic stop, this is the paperwork officers will ask for. The certificate should show the date of issuance, your name and address, the vehicle identification number, the temporary registration number, and the state where the vehicle will be permanently registered.

Sales Tax at Titling

When you title the vehicle, you’ll owe Virginia’s motor vehicle sales and use tax at 4.15% of the sale price for standard passenger vehicles.⁵ Localities cannot stack additional sales or use taxes on top, so 4.15% is the rate statewide.⁶ On a $25,000 vehicle, that’s roughly $1,038 due at titling. Budget for it if your dealer didn’t collect it at the sale.

Penalties If the Tag Expires

Once your temp tag expires, you’re driving an unregistered vehicle. Virginia treats this as a traffic infraction under § 46.2-613, which prohibits operating on a highway without current registration, a certificate of title, and the proper plates or decals.⁷ The Virginia Uniform Fine Schedule sets the fine at $25 plus court costs, and courts have discretion to dismiss the charge if you show proof of compliance before your court date.

The bigger risk usually isn’t the fine. Your vehicle can be towed, storage fees add up quickly, and your insurer may take notice. If you already know your permanent plates are delayed, contact the dealer about a second set rather than driving on an expired tag.

Penalties for Fraud or Misuse

The stakes rise sharply when temporary tags are misused. Transferring tags between vehicles, lending them to someone who isn’t the buyer, making false statements to get them, altering them, or a dealer issuing them to someone other than the actual purchaser — any of these is a Class 1 misdemeanor.⁸ That carries up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁹

A summons for a temp tag violation can be served on the dealership that issued the plates, on anyone who expressly allowed the unlawful use, or on the driver if the plates are being used outside what the temporary registration certificate authorizes.⁸ Dealers cannot deflect responsibility onto the buyer, and buyers cannot deflect onto the dealer.

Driving Out of State

Virginia’s temporary plate statutes don’t directly address whether your temp tags are honored outside the Commonwealth. Most states recognize each other’s temporary registrations under general reciprocity, but this isn’t guaranteed. If you plan to drive through other states on Virginia temp tags, check with each state on your route. Some issue their own transit permits for vehicles that lack reciprocity, and those may be required even if your Virginia temp tag is valid.

The temporary registration certificate must list the state where the vehicle will be permanently registered.³ If you bought in Virginia for registration elsewhere, confirm the certificate is filled out correctly before you leave the lot. It’s the document that shows you’re in transit rather than evading another state’s registration requirements. Keep it and the buyer’s order in the vehicle the entire trip.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1561 – To Whom Temporary Plates Shall Not Be Issued; Dealer to Forward Application for Current Titling and Registration; Misstatements and False Information
2
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Insurance Requirements
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1542 – Temporary Registration
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1565 – When Plates to Expire; Refunds or Credit
5
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-613 – Infractions Relating to Registration, Licensing
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1565.1 – Penalties
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-11 – Punishment for Conviction of Misdemeanor