Purchasing a vehicle — Illinois Permit Test

A dealer selling a new or used vehicle must send the Application for Vehicle Transactions, the signed Certificate of Title or Certificate of Origin, and separate payments for title and license plate fees and sales tax to the Secretary of State within 20 days of the purchase.

The buyer is driving on paperwork the dealer has not filed yet. Twenty days is the window in which it has to arrive.

Within 20 days of purchase, a dealer must send the following to the Secretary of State’s office: • Application for Vehicle Transaction(s). • Properly signed Certificate of Title or Certificate of Origin. • Separate payments for title/license plate fees and sales tax on the vehicle. Sales tax varies depending on the city or county where the vehicle is purchased.

Somebody buying a vehicle from a private seller must get the Application for Vehicle Transactions, the properly signed Certificate of Title in the seller’s name and the fees and Vehicle Use Tax to the Secretary of State within 20 days of taking ownership.

In a private sale nobody else files anything for you. The title signed in the seller’s name is the part people forget to check.

If you purchase or obtain a vehicle from someone other than a dealer within 20 days of ownership, the Secretary of State’s office must receive the following: • Application for Vehicle Transaction(s). • Properly signed Certificate of Title in the seller’s name.

Where the selling price of a privately bought vehicle is less than $15,000 the Vehicle Use Tax is based on the model year, and where it is $15,000 or more the tax is based on the selling price.

The threshold decides which of two formulas applies. Below it, an old car is taxed on its age rather than what you paid.

Payment of Vehicle Use Tax. If the selling price is less than $15,000, the tax is based on the model year of the vehicle. If the selling price is $15,000 or more, the tax is based on the selling price of the vehicle.

Somebody buying a vehicle out of state must send the Secretary of State the Application for Vehicle Transactions, the title and plate fees, the Certificate of Origin or assigned Certificate of Title, a Bill of Sale, and payment of sales or Vehicle Use Tax.

The Bill of Sale is the extra document an out-of-state purchase needs, for new and used vehicles alike.

For both new and used vehicles, you must also have a Bill of Sale.

Within how many days must an Illinois dealer send the paperwork after a sale?

20 days. The buyer is driving on paperwork the dealer has not filed yet. Twenty days is the window in which it has to arrive. Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.95: “Within 20 days of purchase, a dealer must send the following to the Secretary of State’s office: • Application for Vehicle Transaction(s). • Properly signed Certificate of Title or Certificate of Origin. • Separate payments for title/license plate fees and sales tax on the vehicle. Sales tax varies depending on the city or county where the vehicle is purchased.”