The DMV publishes its own bill of sale and lists it as a required document for a private-party sale, alongside the title rather than instead of it. On a car of model year 2000 or older that Rhode Island never titled, it stops being a supporting document and becomes the transfer itself - which is why it carries the same odometer disclosure the back of a certificate does, word for word.
Written against Bill of Sale (Rev 11-3-2023), issued under RI DMV, documents required for a private party sale.
The DMV's fillable copy has no widget behind the two signature rules or behind the odometer tick boxes, so those are completed in pen even when the rest is typed. Print the sheet before either party signs - a typed bill of sale with an unsigned signature line is the version that turns up at the counter.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Bill of Sale from the dmv.ri.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Bill of Sale guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual Bill of Sale, rendered from the PDF the Rhode Island Division 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
One sheet, four blocks and the odometer statement at the foot. The instruction across the bottom is the one to read first: all fields must be completed, and any alterations or erasures will void this bill of sale. The two signature rules carry no fillable box on the DMV's copy, so they are signed in ink after printing.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Date of sale and sale price
The two boxes across the top. The date is the day possession changes hands, not the day you agreed the price.
Watch out: That date starts the buyer's tax clock - sales tax is due by the 20th of the month following the month in which the sale took place, whether or not they have registered the car.
2
You fill this in
Print the seller's name, then sign
Two rows, and every owner named on the registration or the certificate appears on both.
Watch out: Print it the way the registration prints it. This sheet and the proof of ownership behind it have to name the same person, and on an untitled car there is nothing else to reconcile them against.
3
You fill this in
The seller's address, in full
Street, city, state and ZIP on one rule.
Watch out: Use the address the DMV holds for you rather than a forwarding one. If the town's excise office later queries the sale, this is the address it works from.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle block
Year, make, model, body type, cylinders, colour and the vehicle identification number.
Watch out: Copy the identification number off the car, not off an old insurance document, and read it back once. Seventeen characters written from memory is how a bill of sale and a registration stop matching.
5
The buyer fills this in
The buyer prints, signs and gives an address
The same three rules again, on the lower half of the sheet.
Watch out: Watch them write it and check it against the licence they showed you. An address that turns out to be wrong is a problem for the buyer at the counter and a problem for you if the town keeps billing.
6
You fill this in
The odometer reading
Whole miles in the box marked NO TENTHS, then leave both numbered alternatives alone unless one of them is true.
Watch out: The bracket after the first alternative is the DMV explaining itself - the odometer started at zero again. That is what it means, and it is not a general disclaimer for a high-mileage car.
7
You fill this in
Add the sentence the statute asks for
Section 31-23.2-6(a) requires a sales agreement to carry, conspicuously and prominently, that both buyer and seller have examined the title certificate of this motor vehicle and it correctly reflects the mileage as it appears on the odometer.
Watch out: The DMV's sheet does not print it. Writing it in is a line of your own handwriting and it is the only place in the transaction where Rhode Island asks for those words.
8
You fill this in
Two copies, one each
The buyer takes the original to the DMV. You keep the other.
Watch out: On a car Rhode Island never titled, the buyer's copy is the transfer document and your copy is your entire evidence that the sale happened at all.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Date of sale and sale price
Two boxes across the top of the sheet, and the price is the figure the Division of Taxation will read.
Seller(s) information
Printed name, signature and full address. Both entries carry the same instruction in capitals - if two owners, both must print, and if two owners, both must sign.
Vehicle information
Year, make, model, body type, cylinders, colour and the vehicle identification number.
Buyer(s) information
Printed name, signature and address, with the same two-owner rule as the seller's block.
Odometer disclosure
The reading in whole miles marked NO TENTHS, the sentence certifying it as actual mileage, and two numbered alternatives: mileage is in excess of its mechanical limits, with the DMV's own gloss in brackets - the odometer started at zero again - and odometer reading is NOT the actual mileage, WARNING - ODOMETER DISCREPANCY.
What gets this one rejected
•Anything left blank. The line across the foot of the sheet is unambiguous: ALL FIELDS MUST BE COMPLETED.
•A crossing-out or a rubbed-out figure. The same line finishes ANY ALTERATIONS OR ERASURES WILL VOID THIS BILL OF SALE - so a mistake means a fresh sheet.
•One signature where the registration or the certificate names two owners. The form asks twice, once under the printed names and once under the signatures.
•A mileage figure carried to a decimal place. The words NO TENTHS are printed inside the disclosure.
•A price written as a rounded-off approximation. The buyer's tax is worked from this figure or from book value depending on the car's age, and the Division of Taxation will ask to see the vehicle invoice.
•A photocopy where the vehicle was never titled. On a pre-2001 Rhode Island car this sheet is the evidence of the transfer, and the buyer needs the original.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It carries the sale price, and the price does not always decide the tax. Between eight and twenty-nine years old, the Division of Taxation works the buyer's bill from the sale price. Under eight years old it uses the NADA Clean Retail book value instead where book value is higher - so a low figure on this sheet lowers nothing and only makes the paperwork look odd.
•The statute wants one sentence on it that the DMV does not print. Section 31-23.2-6(a) requires any sales agreement for the transfer of a motor vehicle to carry, conspicuously and prominently, the words both buyer and seller have examined the title certificate of this motor vehicle and it correctly reflects the mileage as it appears on the odometer. It is not on the DMV's sheet. Adding it costs a line.
•Keep a copy, because nothing else records what you disclosed. The certificate leaves with the car and Rhode Island gives a private seller no receipt for the sale. A photograph of this sheet is the only record of the mileage you stated and the date you stated it on.
•A separate sheet exists for the plate. The plate is not part of the car in Rhode Island and does not travel with it. If you are handing a plate to a relative, that is a Plate Gift Letter and a different transaction entirely.
Every line here was read off Bill of Sale (Rev 11-3-2023) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Rhode Island 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.
