Delaware Car Title Transfer Fees: $35 Title Fee, 30 Days to File and How the Document Fee Really Works

Updated October 30, 2026 · Figures checked against the official sources listed below

The short answer

How much does a title transfer cost in Delaware?

The title is the document that proves who owns the car. For a passenger car, the DMV fees are:

The Delaware calculator below starts from the same $1,638.00.

What is the Delaware document fee?

Delaware has no sales tax. The document fee is its tax on vehicles, paid when you title. The money goes to the state's Transportation Trust Fund.

Many websites call it a flat 5.25%. It isn't. It is worked out in steps:

On a $30,000 car: $13.75 + $5.25 × 295 = $1,562.50, rounded to $1,563. A flat 5.25% would give $1,575.

• What it's charged on: the greater of the price minus any trade-in, or the car's NADA average trade-in value (a standard used-car price guide).
• Trade-in credit: it's real, but the trade-in only counts if that vehicle is currently titled in Delaware.
• Proof of the price: a notarized bill of sale (a short written record of the sale: buyer, seller, car and price).

Sold your old car privately? You can still get the credit

If you sell your old vehicle privately within 60 days before or after the new vehicle is titled in Delaware, you get the same document-fee credit as a trade-in.

• Use Form MV347.
• Your name must be on both titles.
• If you sell the old car after titling the new one, claim the refund within 30 days of that sale.

How many days do you have to transfer a title in Delaware?

Apply right away, and in no case more than 30 days after the purchase. After 30 days, the $35 penalty applies.

The vehicle must also pass inspection and be registered before you drive it. You may not drive it before the transfer is complete.

What documents do you need?

• The Delaware title with the back filled in. The seller fills in the assignment (your name and address, the date, the price and the odometer reading) and signs. You fill in the purchaser's application and sign, plus the lien section if the car is financed.
• Proof of Delaware liability insurance.
• A Delaware driver's license, or two accepted proofs of residency.

Delaware titles don't need a notary. The bill of sale used for the document fee does. The DMV recommends that buyer and seller come in together.

Plates and registration

Delaware plates belong to the owner, not the car. Delaware uses a single rear plate.

• Keep your number: retain your plate before you sell, or you lose it. Retaining costs $35, or $55 when the vehicle has a lien (Form MV-35 lets the DMV get the title from the lender first).
• How long it's held: a retained plate is held for 365 days past its expiration. You can move it to another vehicle in your name, or give it to another person with the DMV's form.
• Taking it out of retention: $20.
• Narrow exception: if the seller hasn't moved their plates to another vehicle, you can take over the seller's remaining registration period for the $35 transfer fee, with no extra fee or inspection.

Registration for a passenger car is $40 a year.

Electric and hybrid cars

Since October 1, 2025, an alternative-fuel surcharge is added each year on top of the $40 registration:

Family and gift transfers

• Immediate family: a gift on a Delaware title between a spouse, parent, child, sibling or grandparent (step and in-law relations included) pays no document fee. You pay only the $35 title fee. Bring proof of the relationship if the names don't show it.
• Anyone else: a gift pays the document fee on the car's NADA value.

New residents

• Deadline: title and register within 60 days of becoming a Delaware resident.
• Inspection lane first: bring the title application (Form MV-212), the out-of-state title, an odometer statement, Delaware insurance, and a Delaware license or proof of residency. The inspection report is Form MV-210.
• Document fee: a car brought in from another state owes the document fee on its value, unless you prove you paid that state's sales or transfer tax and titled and registered it there within 90 days before Delaware.

Seller's steps

• Retain your plate first (see above) if you want to keep the number.
• Fill in the assignment on the back of the title.
• Fill in the Seller's Report of Sale at the bottom of the title and send it to the DMV. It releases you from liability, but it doesn't transfer ownership by itself.

Forms

• MV213: duplicate title.
• MV347: trade-in and private-sale credit.
• MV-35: title request from the lienholder.
• MV-212: title application.
• MV-210: inspection report.

What this guide doesn't cover

Trucks, motorcycles, multi-year registrations, vanity plates and dealer paperwork.

Frequently asked questions

See title transfer fees for all 50 states

General information, not tax or legal advice. Fees and tax rules change; confirm with the agency listed before you pay.