How to fill out Idaho 3738

One page that does four jobs at once, which is why it is the sheet at the centre of an Idaho private sale. It is your receipt. It is the odometer certification. It is the document the county works the buyer's 6% sales tax from. And under section 49-504(6) it is a driving permit: a seller's bill of sale serves as a seventy-two hour permit, counted excluding weekends and Idaho legal holidays, so the buyer can get the car home before they own a plate. The seller's block is where Idaho puts its two warnings - that you must file a release of liability within five days, and that a false selling price is a felony.

Written against 3738 (Rev 10/23), issued under Idaho Code 49-504(6) and 49-518(5). There is no trade-in allowance in an Idaho private sale, so the number in True Selling Price is the number the buyer's 6% is worked from with nothing subtracted. If the two of you are swapping cars rather than exchanging money, the Tax Commission's position is that each of you owes tax on the full value of the vehicle you received and each vehicle needs its own bill of sale stating the value bartered.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 3738 from the itd.idaho.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 3738 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   The two numbers at the top

   The VIN and the title number, both copied off the certificate rather than from memory.

   Watch out: Copying from the title means this sheet and the assignment cannot disagree, which is the single most common reason a county counter sends a buyer home.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Year, make, model, description

   Four boxes on one rule. Description is where a trim or a body style goes.

   Watch out: Use the words the certificate uses. If the title says WAGON and you write ESTATE, somebody has to reconcile them later.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   The brand boxes

   Five ticks - Rebuilt Salvage, Previous Brand, Reconstruct, Repaired, Other. An untouched car leaves all five clear.

   Watch out: You are certifying you disclosed all known brands. Idaho carries brands forward for the life of the vehicle, so hiding one only delays the moment the buyer finds out.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   The odometer line

   Whole miles, then one status box. Exempt is the right box on a model year 2010 or older vehicle.

   Watch out: Write the same figure you wrote on the title. Two documents about one car with two mileages on them is how a clean sale becomes an odometer query.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Both columns of names and addresses

   You down the left, the buyer down the right, with the buyer's Idaho driver's licence number or SSN.

   Watch out: Spell the buyer from their licence, not from how they introduced themselves. That number and that spelling are what their title will be issued in.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   True Selling Price and Sale Date

   The money that actually changed hands, and the day it did.

   Watch out: Three clocks start on that date - your five days, their thirty days, and the 72-hour permit. Make it the day possession changed, not the day you agreed a price.

7. 7
   The buyer fills this in

   You sign, then they sign

   Your certification block first, then the buyer's acknowledgement underneath it.

   Watch out: Get both at the handover. A buyer chasing you for a signature next week is a buyer who is already inside their thirty days with nothing to show the county.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Copies, then the five-day clock

   One copy each, then go and file the release of liability - this form told you to, in its own certification.

   Watch out: The Tax Commission tells a private buyer to bring an original bill of sale as proof of the sales price, so give them the signed original and keep a copy for yourself.

What gets this one rejected

• •Only one signature. The Tax Commission's instruction to a private buyer is that both you and the seller must sign the bill of sale, and it is the buyer's proof of what they paid.
• •A price that does not match the title. The county reads both documents side by side and the felony warning printed on this form is about exactly that gap.
• •Tenths in the mileage. The box says No Tenths in its own label, and a decimal point turns a clean reading into a question.
• •Two odometer status boxes ticked at once. Exceeds Mechanical Limits and Not Actual contradict each other - one says the odometer rolled past its ceiling, the other says the number is simply wrong.
• •A brand left unticked on a vehicle that carries one. Idaho brands travel with the vehicle for its life, and the buyer's title will show them whether or not this sheet did.
• •The lienholder line left blank on a financed purchase, which is how a lien ends up unrecorded on the new title.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •It is a permit, so give it to them at the handover. Section 49-504(6) makes it a 72-hour permit, and those 72 hours exclude weekend days and legal holidays observed by the state of Idaho. Handing it over next week is handing over a used permit.
• •A fully completed title can replace it. ITD's own FAQs: a bill of sale is not necessary if the seller has entered the selling price in the space designated on the title, signed off and entered the date - then the title itself does all of this, permit included.

Every line here was read off 3738 (Rev 10/23) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Idaho Transportation Department, Division of Motor Vehicles 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 Idaho seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Idaho involves.