How to fill out Georgia T-158

Hands a Georgia licence plate back, or reports what became of one. Read its own list of surrender reasons before you reach for it: court order or involuntary transfer, repossession, salvage, abandoned or derelict. An ordinary private sale is not among them, because in Georgia an ordinary seller keeps the plate.

Written against T-158 (Rev 6-2021), issued under O.C.G.A. § 40-2-20, as the form itself cites it. The commonest mistake with this form is filling it in at all. In Georgia the plate belongs to you and moves to your next vehicle through a county tag office; this form is for the plate that has nowhere left to go.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank T-158 from the dor.georgia.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Section A, licence plate number

   The plate number, with the year it was issued and the current decal year beside it.

   Watch out: Year issued is stamped on the plate itself; decal year is on the sticker. They are frequently different and the form wants both.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Section A, vehicle identification number

   The VIN of the vehicle the plate was issued for, with year, make and model.

   Watch out: The plate is being detached from a specific vehicle record, so this is the number that identifies which one.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Section B, reason for report

   One of three: the plate was surrendered, no plate was on the vehicle, or the plate is unclaimed by the owner and surrendered for cancellation.

   Watch out: The left-hand column says what happened to the plate. The right-hand column says why. Both get an answer.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Section B, reason for surrender

   Court order or involuntary transfer, repossession, salvage, or abandoned or derelict.

   Watch out: Read the salvage box in full - if the vehicle owner retains the salvage vehicle, the owner must surrender the licence plate. That is the line that catches people who kept a written-off car.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Section B, date of surrender or report

   The date, under the three report boxes.

   Watch out: It sits on the left-hand side under the report column rather than beside the surrender reasons, which is why it gets missed.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Section C, who is surrendering it

   Full legal name, mailing address, city, state, zip and telephone number.

   Watch out: If an individual, the form asks for first name, middle initial, last name and suffix. A business adds a position or job title at the foot.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Section C, where it is going

   Tick a named county tag office, or the Motor Vehicle Division, and write the county name in the space provided.

   Watch out: The county name goes on the short rule beside the tick, where the printed words County Name already sit. Write across them, not after them.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Section C, the signature block

   The authorised agent's or individual's signature and date, then the full legal name printed below it.

   Watch out: The signature rule and its date carry no fillable field in the Department's PDF, which is why the sample shows the printed name completed and the signature line blank - that one is signed in ink.

What gets this one rejected

• •Sending the form without the plate. The required document line says the licence plate must be submitted with this form to the county tag office, or destroyed by the insurance company.
• •Surrendering a prestige or specialty plate on it. Section A says not to, in its own heading.
• •Using it after an ordinary sale. None of the four surrender reasons covers one, and the Department's advice to a seller is to keep the plate.
• •Expecting it to prove the tax is paid. The submission note says explicitly that submission of this form does not constitute proof that ad valorem taxes have been paid.
• •Expecting the Division to copy it for you. The general information line says the Motor Vehicle Division will not make copies of this completed form, and that copies should be retained by the business or agent for a subsequent title and tag application.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Blue or black ink, or typed. The completing instruction names both and rules out anything else.
• •Two destinations, and the form asks which. A local county tag office, or the Motor Vehicle Division - either in the drop box at Welcome All Road in Atlanta or by post to the surrendered licence plate address the form prints.
• •The salvage case is the one a seller meets. The parenthetical on the salvage box is the sentence to read twice: if the vehicle owner retains the salvage vehicle, the owner must surrender the licence plate. Keeping a written-off car does not mean keeping its tag.

Every line here was read off T-158 (Rev 6-2021) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all Georgia seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Georgia involves.