Kentucky Private Party Car Tax Calculator

Yes. The Department of Revenue's 2025 usage tax guide taxes the total consideration on the notarized affidavit (Form TC 96-182) less the seller's trade-in allowance. The taxed amount cannot be less than 50% of the trade-in value of the vehicle you buy minus the trade-in value of the vehicle traded.

A title application is $9 under KRS 186A.130, which sets that fee until January 1, 2027; after that the fee is set by regulation. Recording a lien is $12 under KRS 64.012, effective July 15, 2026.

A car is $20.50 a year: the $11.50 fee in KRS 186.050, the $6 clerk fee, and $3 more under KRS 186.040 until January 1, 2027. Motorcycles are $18. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids also pay an ownership fee with a $120 statutory base that the Department of Revenue adjusts each year; regular hybrids pay none.

The Transportation Cabinet's new resident page says to title and register within 10 days of establishing residency, and elsewhere on the same page gives 15 days to apply for registration after bringing a vehicle in; plan on 10. The 6% usage tax is due, but you get credit for tax paid to another state with a substantially identical tax (KRS 138.460). An out-of-state title needs Form TC 96-182 and a sheriff's inspection.

Transfers between spouses, parents and children (including step-relations), and grandparents and grandchildren who are Kentucky residents are exempt from the usage tax (KRS 138.470, Form 71A101). Other gifts are taxed on the average trade-in value in the reference manual (KRS 138.450).

Transfer the title and registration within 15 days. Bring the notarized signed title, proof of Kentucky insurance, and a Kentucky license, ID, or Social Security card to your county clerk. The seller keeps the plates (KRS 186.190).