How to fill out South Dakota Form 1025

In South Dakota a bill of sale proves nothing about ownership - the Procedures Manual says flatly that a separate bill of sale will not be accepted in addition to or in place of a South Dakota certificate of title or a required assignment. What it decides is money. SDCL 32-5B-4(3) makes the purchaser and seller submit a bill of sale to the county treasurer, and provides that if a bill of sale is not submitted, the excise tax will be assessed on the retail value stated in a nationally recognised dealers' guide. Skip it and your buyer pays 4% of a book figure neither of you agreed to. The department lists a missing bill of sale with a purchase price among the five most common titling errors it sees.

Written against Form 1025 (no revision printed), issued under South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, supplied under SDCL 32-5B-4(3) and presented to the county treasurer with the title application. The condition box is the part to take seriously. A car sold for well under book because it needs an engine, has hail damage across the roof or has sat in a shelterbelt for two winters is a normal South Dakota transaction - but the treasurer sees only the number unless you write the reason down. Describe the fault plainly, in the box provided, on the same sheet as the price. And be accurate: this sheet is signed under penalty of perjury, and the department's separate refund route for an excise tax paid on the wrong basis requires the original title, a $10 correction fee and documentation.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1025 from the sddor.seamlessdocs.com copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Form 1025 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

   Vehicle, VIN and title number

   Copied from the face of the certificate so the three documents reaching the counter agree with each other.

   Watch out: A transposed character in the VIN here and a correct one on the title application is a stop at the counter, not a rounding error.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   The date inside the sworn sentence

   The form's statement is a single sentence with the date written into it: I (we) do hereby swear that on this date I (we) sold, transferred, and conveyed all rights, title and interest.

   Watch out: Same date as the assignment, same date as the report of sale. All three are read together and all three start the same forty-five-day clocks.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Who bought it, and for how much

   The purchaser's name and the amount in dollars, written into the same sentence. This figure is the base for the 4% motor vehicle excise tax.

   Watch out: Round numbers are fine; invented ones are perjury. The declaration at the foot of this form is signed under penalty of perjury under the law of South Dakota.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Condition of vehicle at time of sale

   The block that justifies a price below book. Describe the actual faults - mechanical, body, hail, mileage - in the seller's own words.

   Watch out: Empty is the wrong answer whenever the price is low. The form's own rule taxes retail value unless the condition listed here explains the purchase price.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Your name, address and signature

   The seller block and the unsworn declaration beneath it. One signature, no witness, no notary.

   Watch out: Sign as the certificate's face prints your name. This sheet travels with a title application that a county treasurer will compare against it.

What gets this one rejected

• •Leaving the price off. Without a stated amount the county has nothing to assess and falls back to the dealers' guide value, which is the outcome the form exists to prevent.
• •A dollar, or a gift, on a car worth thousands. The form reprints the rule against itself: if a vehicle is sold for a no or nominal consideration, the tax is based on the retail value stated in a nationally recognized dealer's guide approved by the department.
• •A low price with the condition box empty. The form's own sentence makes the explanation the escape route - tax is due on the retail value unless the condition of the vehicle listed above explains the reason for the purchase price.
• •Offering it instead of the assignment. It cannot carry ownership in South Dakota, and a buyer who arrives with a bill of sale and an unsigned title leaves without a title.
• •A price that disagrees with Form 1024 or with the title application. Three documents reach the same counter carrying the same number, and a mismatch stops all three.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The form is the state's own, and the statute anticipates that. SDCL 32-5B-4(3) speaks of a bill of sale approved and supplied by the secretary. This is that document, although the manual accepts other evidence of price where it is adequate.
• •Both halves of the transaction sign nothing here but you. Only the seller signs Form 1025. The buyer's signature belongs on the title application, where the Unsworn Declaration binds them to the price they reported.
• •Its sworn sentence is a warranty of title. I (we) further swear as seller(s) that I (we) am (are) the owner(s) of the above-described motor vehicle/boat and have full right and power to convey the same - which is a promise about liens as much as about ownership.
• •No notary anywhere on it. The word swear appears three times and the word notary not once. The signature block is an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which is South Dakota's standard substitute.
• •The buyer needs it in the folder, not in the glovebox. It goes to the county treasurer with the title application. The document that legally moves the car home is the seller's permit, not this.

Every line here was read off Form 1025 (no revision printed) itself — the PDF is here — and off the South Dakota 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 South Dakota seller paperwork, or what selling a car in South Dakota involves.