The affidavit for a car given away to somebody who is not close family. It works where MVU-26 does not - a friend, a neighbour, a grandchild - but it asks four questions that between them define what a gift is, and answering any of them the wrong way ends the exemption on the spot.
Written against MVU-24 (Rev 4/99), issued under 830 CMR 64H.25.1.
Massachusetts taxes gifts of vehicles between people who are not on the family list unless this affidavit is filed, and it taxes them on book value rather than on nothing. Giving a car away without the paperwork can cost the receiver several hundred dollars they did not expect.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MVU-24 from the mass.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual MVU-24, rendered from the PDF the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
Three noes and one yes is the only combination that works. The four questions are the definition of a gift for Massachusetts tax purposes, and they are answered under the pains and penalties of perjury by both people.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The vehicle
Year, make, model, vehicle identification number and title number.
Watch out: Copy all five off the front of the certificate rather than from memory - the title number in particular is not printed anywhere on the registration.
2
You fill this in
Donor
Your name and address as the person giving the vehicle away.
Watch out: The donor is the person named as owner on the certificate. If two people are named, both are giving it away and both have a stake in this affidavit.
3
The buyer fills this in
Donee and date
The receiver's name and address, and the date the vehicle changed hands.
Watch out: Match the date to the DATE OF SALE on the back of the certificate. The two documents describe one event.
4
You fill this in
The four questions
Payment, promise of payment, assumed debt, and intent.
Watch out: Answer them honestly rather than helpfully. A false statement here is punishable as a felony under chapter 62C section 73, and the form says so in its own instructions.
5
You fill this in
Both signatures
Donor signs and dates, then donee signs and dates.
Watch out: Neither signature can be added later by the other person. The Registry accepts the affidavit at the counter and the Department of Revenue is the office that may look at it afterwards.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Motor vehicle transferred
Year, make, model, vehicle identification number and title number.
Donor and donee
The giver's name and address, the receiver's name and address, and the date the vehicle changed hands.
Question 1
Did either party make or receive payment in any form in connection with the transfer?
Question 2
Did either party make a promise of payment for the vehicle, or does either party expect payment in the future?
Question 3
Did either party assume any debt in connection with the transfer?
Question 4
At the time of the transfer, did the donor intend to make a gift of the vehicle to the donee?
Declaration
Donor signs and dates, donee signs and dates.
What gets this one rejected
•A dollar changing hands to make it look like a sale. Question 1 asks about payment in any form, and a token payment answers it Yes.
•A car handed over in return for something - work done, rent forgiven, another vehicle. That is a promise of payment under question 2.
•A gift with a loan still on it that the receiver takes over. Question 3 covers assumed debt and closes the exemption.
•A transfer the donor did not intend as a gift when it happened. Question 4 asks about intent at the time, not about how it turned out.
•Anything handwritten except the two signatures.
Every line here was read off MVU-24 (Rev 4/99) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Massachusetts Registry 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.
