How to fill out Massachusetts TTLREG100

The one form the whole Massachusetts vehicle system runs on. Fourteen lettered sections across two sides cover registering, titling, transferring a plate, renewing, reinstating and amending, and the buyer's copy of it is what turns your assigned certificate into their title. A seller is named on it in Section L and nowhere else - but Section L is not optional, and neither is the insurance stamp in Section K that a private buyer cannot get without visiting an agent.

Written against TTLREG100 (TTLREG100_0923, September 2023), issued under M.G.L. c.90 s.2 and c.90D s.4. Section I3 is headed Gross Sale Price (Proof Required). If the assignment on the back of the certificate has no price written on it, that proof is a bill of sale the buyer has to produce - and the person who has to write it is you, after the car has already gone.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TTLREG100 from the mass.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TTLREG100 — Registration and Title Application PDF at mass.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual TTLREG100, 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

The Massachusetts Registration and Title Application filled in as an annotated sample. Page one carries the register and title a vehicle tick in Section A, a 2016 Subaru Outback with its vehicle identification number and body style in Section B, a used vehicle with a clear previous Massachusetts title in Section C, and the buyer Terrence O. Ballantyne of Chicopee as Owner 1 in Section D. Page two shows Section H empty, Section I3 completed as a casual sale at 11,750 dollars with 734 dollars 38 of Massachusetts tax, a purchase date in Section J, Section K greyed as the insurance agent's block, Section L naming Rosalind M. Kavanagh of New Bedford as the seller, and the applicant's signature and date in Section M. — Page 1 of 2. The vehicle and the owners. Everything on this side is the buyer's, and the only entry a seller has any stake in is the odometer figure in B9 - which has to match what was written on the back of the certificate.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
The buyer fills this in
Section A, pick the transaction
Tick register and title a vehicle for a car going on the road, or apply for a title only for one that is not.
Watch out: Title only is the answer for a car being stored, restored or shipped. It skips the insurance stamp entirely - proof of insurance is required on all transactions with the exception of salvage title and title only.
2
The buyer fills this in
Section B, the vehicle
Vehicle identification number, body style, registration type, colours, year, make, model, trim, transmission, cylinders, passengers, doors, fuel and the odometer.
Watch out: Copy the identification number off the certificate and then check it against the plate on the car. The Registry runs it through the national title database, and a single wrong character stops the title being printed until somebody resolves it.
3
The buyer fills this in
Section C, the previous title
New or used, the previous title's issue date, number, state and country, and any brands.
Watch out: The issue date is not the date of purchase. Both are on the front of the certificate in separate boxes and the Registry checks the one it asked for.
4
The buyer fills this in
Section D, the new owner
Identity document type and number, name, date of birth, where the document was issued, when it expires, and a residential address.
Watch out: The name here has to match the name written into the assignment on the back of the certificate. If the buyer goes by a shortened first name, the licence wins.
5
The buyer fills this in
Section G, the garaging address
Where the vehicle is physically kept overnight.
Watch out: This is the field that decides which town sends the excise bill, and it is collected as a full street address rather than a town name so the bill lands in the right place.
6
The buyer fills this in
Section I3, the casual sale box
Gross sale price, the Massachusetts tax on it, and anything already paid to another state.
Watch out: I1 and I2 are for dealers and auction houses. A private sale uses I3 and only I3 - the instruction is that number I3 must be completed for all casual and private sales.
7
The insurance agent fills this in
Section K, the insurance stamp
Completed, signed and stamped by a Massachusetts authorised insurance agent or company. Nobody else may touch it.
Watch out: It expires. The stamp is valid for thirty days, so the trip to the agent and the trip to the Service Center have to happen inside the same month.
8
You fill this in
Section L, the seller
Your printed name and your address, in two boxes near the foot of page two.
Watch out: Write it exactly as the front of the certificate prints it. This is the block the Registry uses to tie the application to the title record it already holds.
9
The buyer fills this in
Section M, sign and date
Every owner signs and dates. The certification above the line is about outstanding excise, not about the vehicle.
Watch out: Read what is being certified: that neither the applicant, nor anyone in their household, nor a business partner has unpaid excise on this vehicle. An old unpaid bill on the car can stop the registration.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
A, Service Type	A grid of fourteen transactions with a tick beside each. Register and title a vehicle is the one a private buyer uses; apply for a title only is the one for a car that will not be driven. Transactions printed in bold need an insurance stamp, italicised ones may, and anything marked with an asterisk needs the existing plate type and number written in the boxes underneath.
B, Vehicle Information	B1 the full vehicle identification number and B2 the body style, then registration type, up to two colours numbered 1 and 2, year, make, model, model number and trim, transmission, cylinders, passengers and doors, fuel type, and B9 the odometer in miles only.
C, Title Information	New or used, the previous title's issue date, number, state and country, then title type - clear, salvage, reconstructed, theft, prior owner retained or owner retained - and the primary and secondary salvage brands. These four fields are checked against the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, so they are copied off the certificate rather than remembered.
D, Owner Information	Up to two owners. For each: which identity document is being produced, the name as it appears on it, date of birth, the document number, where it was issued and when it expires, a residential address, a mailing address if different, and an email and phone.
E and F, Lessee and Business Owner	Left empty on an ordinary private purchase. E is for a leased vehicle or one in the custody of a Massachusetts resident; F is for a company, and needs an EIN and IRS proof of it.
G, Garaging Address	Where the vehicle actually sleeps. It is not a formality - this address decides which city or town issues the excise bill.
H, Lienholder Information	Three rows for a lender's code, name and address. On a cash sale all three stay blank.
I, Sales or Use Tax Schedule	Four boxes, and a private sale uses exactly one of them. I3, Sale By Other Than Motor Vehicle Dealer or Auction House, takes the gross sale price with proof required, the Massachusetts tax, any out-of-state tax already paid and which state it went to. I1 and I2 belong to dealers and auction houses; I4 is completed by the Registry when an exemption is claimed.
J, Purchase Information	The purchase date, then four questions that only matter if the vehicle is being converted from another state with the same owner.
K, Insurance Information	Insurance company, insurance code, effective date, a self-insured tick and a policy change date - all of it completed, signed and stamped by a Massachusetts authorised insurance agent or company. The applicant does not fill this in.
L, Seller Information	Two boxes: seller name printed, and seller address. This is the seller's whole appearance on the form.
M, Certification and Signature	Signed and dated by every owner. The printed certification is that there are no outstanding excise liabilities on the vehicle incurred by the applicant, a member of their household or a business partner.

What gets this one rejected

•No insurance stamp in Section K. Proof of insurance is required on every transaction except a salvage title and a title-only application, and the stamp is valid for 30 days - one taken in June will not register a car in August.
•A policy change date that is in the future, or an effective date more than thirty days old. The RMV's own checklist rules out both.
•White-out, an erasure or an alteration anywhere on the application or on the proof of ownership.
•Printed on coloured paper or card stock. The instruction is white 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper and nothing else.
•An application that does not match its supporting documents - a name spelled one way on the certificate and another way here.
•A missing Section L. The instruction guide gives it its own numbered callout: this section must be completed with the seller name and seller address.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•The buyer starts at an insurance agent, not at the Registry. The RMV's own instruction for a car bought from an individual is to go to a licensed Massachusetts insurance agent to obtain an active policy and have the agent complete, stamp and sign the application. The Service Center comes after that.
•Ten days for the title, the 20th of next month for the tax. Chapter 90D gives ten days from acquiring the vehicle to apply for a certificate of title. The sales or use tax is on a different clock and is due by the 20th day of the month following the purchase.
•Trim is collected on purpose. The instruction guide explains why the trim box exists: the trim level defines the features and options that decide the vehicle's value, and value is what the tax is calculated on.
•Book value, not the number on the certificate. For a casual sale the tax is charged on the greater of the sale price and the vehicle's clean trade-in value, adjusted at the counter for mileage. A low figure in I3 does not lower the bill.

Every line here was read off TTLREG100 (TTLREG100_0923, September 2023) 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.

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

How to fill out Massachusetts TTLREG100

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Section A, pick the transaction

Section B, the vehicle

Section C, the previous title

Section D, the new owner

Section G, the garaging address

Section I3, the casual sale box

Section K, the insurance stamp

Section L, the seller

Section M, sign and date

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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