Sell your car in Georgia — sign the title, keep the plate, walk away clean
Georgia keeps car selling refreshingly simple: no notary, no tax out of the seller's pocket, and a transfer that lives on the back of the title you already own. The one trap is what happens after the handshake — cancel your registration before your insurance, or the state's lapse system will come looking for you. Here's the whole playbook, verified against the Department of Revenue.
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More Georgia sellers search from Atlanta than anywhere else, so selling a car in Atlanta has its own page. If your buyer registers in one of the 13 metro Atlanta counties that test, their tag office will ask them for an emissions certificate; that errand is theirs, not yours.
How to sell a car in Georgia
- 01Get the lien released in the title's lien spaces. Georgia releases a loan on the certificate itself, in the lien spaces printed on it, and the buyer's tag office needs every recorded lien released there. If your lender never signed it off, you need their notarized Form T-4 instead, and that takes weeks, so start before you list the car. Or skip the listing altogether with an instant cash offer from this page.
- 02Print the buyer's name on the back before you sign. The buyer prints and signs under Transferee; you print and sign under Transferor. If two owners are named on the title, both print and sign. Blue or black ink only, and no notary or witness. Handing over a title with the buyer's line blank is a misdemeanor under Georgia Code 40-3-91(c) for you and for the buyer: up to a $100 fine or 30 days in jail.
- 03Write whole miles, or the word “exempt”. The odometer space takes complete miles, no tenths. A model year 2006 or older car is 20 years old in 2026 and exempt in Georgia, but the title has no box to tick, so write the word exempt in the space. For a 2007 to 2010 model, write the mileage, because Georgia's rule and the federal one disagree on those years. Don't cross anything out or use red ink: any alteration voids a Georgia title. If a line goes wrong, stop and use a notarized Form T-11.
- 04Add a T-7 bill of sale and keep copies. On a titled car the Form T-7 bill of sale is optional, but the Department still recommends it, and it needs no notary. On a model year 1985 or older car, which Georgia doesn't title, the T-7 stands in for the title, plus a Form T-22B inspection if the car was never registered in Georgia. A low price on the bill of sale won't cut the buyer's tax, because Georgia values the car from the state assessment manual. Selling or giving the car to immediate family? An MV-16 affidavit gets them the reduced tax rate. Photograph both sides of the signed title; if the buyer never files, that copy is your only proof.
- 05Keep your tag; only a county tag office can move it. Georgia plates stay with the seller and don't transfer to the buyer, so take yours off before the car leaves. It can go on your next car only after a county tag office transfers it; moving it yourself is illegal. Form T-158 is for a plate with nowhere left to go, not for an ordinary sale.
- 06Cancel the registration on sale day, before the insurance. Georgia has no notice of sale and no release of liability. Cancelling is the only filing that takes the car off your record: online through DRIVES e-Services, or with Form MV-18J at the tag office in your county. Drop the insurance first and 10 straight days with no coverage on record brings a $25 fine; ignore that letter and the registration is suspended, with a $60 reinstatement fine.
- 07Send the buyer to their county tag office within 7 days. Georgia has no DMV for cars: titles are issued by the Department of Revenue, and the buyer files at the tag office in the county where they live. They bring the signed title, a Form MV-1 title application, a Georgia license or ID, proof of insurance, and an emissions certificate if their county is one of the 13 metro Atlanta counties that test. They pay $18 for the title, $20 for the plate and the 7% Title Ad Valorem Tax. There's no Georgia car sales tax, and you pay nothing. The 7 days is on the Department's casual-sale page; a $10 title penalty attaches after 30. That completes the Georgia title transfer.
Checked against the Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division in August 2026. Every Georgia seller form is on our Georgia forms page.
What Georgia requires when you sell
| Notary | None required. Georgia's assignment just needs the seller and buyer to print and sign on the back of the title in blue or black ink, with the buyer's full legal name exactly as it appears on their license. A notary shows up nowhere in the DOR's instructions. |
|---|---|
| The title form | The transfer happens on the back of the title itself; the buyer then files Form MV-1 (Title/Tag Application) and must title and register within 7 days of purchase. Never hand over a title with the buyer line empty — delivering or accepting a title assigned in blank is a misdemeanor in Georgia. The DOR's optional bill of sale is Form T-7. |
| Bill of sale | Optional on a titled car, and required only on an untitled one. A Georgia bill of sale is Form T-7, and Georgia skips the title only for a car of model year 1985 or older, where the T-7 stands in for it. It needs no notary. See our Form T-7 page; the rule is on the Department of Revenue's selling page. |
| Lost your title? | File Form MV-1 at your County Tag Office and pay the $8.00 replacement fee — that's the whole procedure. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | Georgia has no notice-of-transfer mailer. Your shield is cancelling the registration — online through DRIVES e-Services or with Form MV-18J at the County Tag Office. Our advice: do that before you drop the insurance, so a coverage gap never shows up on a car still registered in your name. |
| License plates | The plate is yours, not the car's. After the sale, keep it, transfer it to your next vehicle, or surrender it to the Department of Revenue for cancellation. |
| Sales tax | Georgia replaced sales tax on vehicles with the one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) — currently 7.0% of fair market value, paid by the buyer at titling, private-party sales included. The seller owes nothing at transfer. |
| Inspections | No periodic safety inspection, period. The only required test is an annual emissions check for gasoline cars and light trucks (8,500 lbs GVWR or less) registered in 13 metro Atlanta counties. The three most recent model years and vehicles 25 model years or older are exempt. |
Georgia's rules and fees are current as of August 2026 and verified against the Georgia Department of Revenue's buying-or-selling guidance — forms and fees do change, so check there before you sign anything.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $8 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; whether you need a bill of sale; or price the Georgia transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Georgia sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in Georgia?
No. Print and sign your name on the back of the title in blue or black ink, have the buyer do the same with their name exactly as their license shows it, and the assignment is done. The DOR's official instructions never mention a notary.
Do I pay any tax when I sell my car in Georgia?
No. Georgia's Title Ad Valorem Tax — 7.0% of fair market value — is the buyer's bill, collected when they title the vehicle. Private-party sales are included, and the seller owes nothing at transfer.
The buyer wants me to sign the title and leave their name blank. Should I?
Absolutely not. Delivering a title assigned in blank is a misdemeanor in Georgia, and until a real name goes on that line, the car's paper trail still points at you. Fill in the buyer before anything changes hands.
What happens to my license plate and registration after the sale?
The plate stays with you — keep it, move it to your next vehicle, or surrender it to the DOR. Then cancel the registration online through DRIVES e-Services or with Form MV-18J, and only after that cancel your insurance. Reverse the order and a car you no longer own can surface as an insurance lapse under your name.
How do I sell my car in Georgia without a title?
It depends on why there's no title. A car of model year 1985 or older doesn't need one in Georgia: a Form T-7 bill of sale is the chain of ownership, plus a Form T-22B inspection if the car was never registered in Georgia. Anything newer needs a title to sign over. If it's simply lost, apply for a replacement first; that's faster and cheaper than a bonded title. If the Motor Vehicle Division mailed you a title that never arrived, Form T-216 gets a replacement with the processing fee waived, but only within 60 days of the issue date. If the title can't be produced at all, the long way round is a bonded title, with Form MV-46A supporting a surety bond.