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Gifting a Car in North Dakota: What It Really Costs

North Dakota is unusually generous about family car gifts: instead of charging a small flat tax the way some states do, a qualifying gift skips the 5% motor vehicle excise tax entirely. The only cost is the $5 title fee - meaning you can hand a $30,000 car to your child for five dollars instead of the $1,500 excise tax a sale would trigger. The exemption covers spouses, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, and siblings, plus transfers to a former spouse within one year of a divorce decree.

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Your numbers

$

NDDOT can tax a KBB/NADA figure if the declared price looks too low.

Official fees

North Dakota gift a car fee chart

Excise tax - qualifying family gift

$0.00

Certificate of title

$5.00

Non-qualifying 'gift' (friend, cousin, in-law)

5% of value

NDDOT may substitute KBB/NADA if underpriced

Divorce-related transfer

$0.00

within 1 year of the decree

Figures verified July 2026 against official sources (listed below). Always confirm the final amount with your county's NDDOT motor vehicle branch office - counties can add small local fees.

Official North Dakota forms you'll need

  • SFN 2872Application for Certificate of Title & Registration of a Vehicle

    The excise tax gift exemption is claimed on SFN 2872 itself via the purchaser's certification checkbox 'Gift to (specify relationship between all new owners)'.

Get the current version of each form from your county's NDDOT motor vehicle branch office before you file - agencies revise forms, and offices reject outdated ones.

Step by step

How to gift a car in North Dakota

  1. 1

    Confirm the relationship qualifies - spouse, parent/child, grandparent/grandchild, or sibling (or a former spouse within a year of divorce).

  2. 2

    Giver signs the title over to the recipient; note the relationship on the transfer.

  3. 3

    Recipient completes Form SFN 2872, indicating the exemption and relationship.

  4. 4

    Bring the signed title and SFN 2872 to your county's NDDOT motor vehicle branch office within 30 days.

  5. 5

    Pay only the $5 title fee - no excise tax is due on a qualifying gift.

Family gift tax
$0 - fully exempt
Title fee
$5
Eligible
Spouse, parent/child, grandparent/grandchild, sibling
Divorce transfers
Exempt within 1 year
Friends / cousins
Taxed on value, not exempt

Overview

Give the same car to a girlfriend, cousin, or best friend and North Dakota doesn't see a qualifying gift - it's treated as a sale, and if you write down $0 or a token price, NDDOT can substitute a Kelley Blue Book or NADA value and tax that instead. There's no special gift affidavit like Texas's Form 14-317; the relationship is simply declared on the title application (Form SFN 2872) at your county branch office. The calculator below compares both scenarios.

Same state, other costs

More North Dakota vehicle costs

Common questions

North Dakota gift a car FAQ

Who qualifies for the excise tax exemption on a gifted car in North Dakota?
Spouses, parents and children (including step- and adoptive relationships), grandparents and grandchildren, and siblings. A transfer to a former spouse also qualifies if it happens within one year of the divorce decree. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and unmarried partners do not qualify.
Is North Dakota's gift exemption better than a $10 flat gift tax like some states charge?
Yes - North Dakota charges nothing at all on a qualifying family gift, not a reduced flat rate. The only cost is the standard $5 title fee, the same as any other title transaction.
Can I just write '$1' as the sale price to a friend instead of calling it a gift?
It doesn't help. A token price to someone outside the exempt relationships is still a taxable transfer, and if the price looks far below the vehicle's real value, NDDOT can substitute a Kelley Blue Book or NADA figure and tax that instead.
Is there a special form for gifting a car in North Dakota?
No separate affidavit - the standard Application for Certificate of Title & Registration (Form SFN 2872) has a section to declare the exemption and the relationship between giver and recipient.
Does the recipient owe any other tax on a gifted vehicle?
No state income tax applies (gifts aren't income), and North Dakota has no separate state gift tax beyond the vehicle excise tax already being waived. Any federal gift-tax question is between the giver and the IRS, not the county branch office.
Can I gift a car that still has a loan on it?
Not until the lienholder releases it - the lender holds the title until the loan is paid off. Once the lien is released, the gift transfer proceeds normally with the exemption.

Receipts

Official sources

Every number on this page comes from these documents - check them yourself.

Everywhere else

Gifting a Car: Taxes & Fees by state

Fees and rules are different in every state. Pick yours for exact numbers.

each state hand-verified against its DMV before it goes live

Disclaimer

DMVCosts provides fee estimates for general informational purposes only - it is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and no calculator can account for every county surcharge, exemption, or mid-year rate change. Figures are verified against official sources on the date shown, but fees change over time.

The final, binding amount is always the one quoted by your county's NDDOT motor vehicle branch office. Confirm with them before making payment decisions. To the fullest extent permitted by law, DMVCosts disclaims all liability for decisions made based on these estimates.