A South Dakota bill of sale is the page that records a vehicle handover as the title work still sits ahead of both parties. Form 1025 is the version the state provides, and a county treasurer expects to see it attached to a new title application. The document holds the price, the date, the names of both parties and the vehicle details in one place. Dealers print their own contract, but private sellers across the state rely on this form since it matches what the state record already expects to receive.
The form does more than record a number. It limits the seller’s exposure once the keys change hands, gives the buyer written proof of the deal and carries the odometer statement that protects both sides from a later argument. A missing signature or a date that does not line up can hold a title for weeks. Reading the sheet once before anyone picks up a pen prevents most of those delays. Each side keeps a copy, and either side may be asked to produce it months later.
How to Fill Out a South Dakota Bill of Sale
Form 1025 fits on one page and takes about ten minutes when both people sit in the same room. Use a pen rather than a pencil, print in block capitals and press firmly so the copy underneath stays readable. Both parties sign the same sheet at the same moment, and each one leaves with a copy. Photograph the signed page before you separate, since a phone image settles questions that a missing envelope cannot answer.
- Vehicle identification number: the seventeen-character code from the dashboard or the driver door jamb, copied exactly.
- Make, model and year: written as they appear on the title rather than as they appear in an advertisement.
- Odometer reading: the figure on the cluster at the moment of handover, with the unit marked beside it.
- Sale date and price: the day money changed hands and the full amount agreed, entered in figures.
- Seller details: legal name, street address and phone number for every name printed on the title.
- Buyer details: legal name and address exactly as they should appear on the new title.
- Signatures: both parties sign and date the same page, and the seller files a copy away.
A blank form is available from the state website and from every county treasurer‘s office. Print it on plain paper, since the state accepts a clear copy as readily as an original. Fill in the sections in order rather than jumping to the signature line, since each entry builds on the one before it. A completed form with a gap in the middle looks careless even when the missing detail is trivial.
Who Should Be Present at the Signing
When the vehicle belongs to two people, both names from the title belong on the bill of sale. A seller who signs for a spouse without written authority creates a gap that a county examiner will spot. The buyer should attend in person even when a parent or a friend supplies the money. A signature collected later, by post or by photograph, is one of the most common reasons a clerk returns an application.
What to Bring to the Meeting
Three items keep the session short. The current title proves who owns the vehicle and supplies the exact spelling of every name. Photo identification for each party confirms the details written on the form. The vehicle itself supplies the identification number and the odometer reading, both of which are easy to misremember. Bring a second pen as well, since a signature that runs dry halfway through the name causes more trouble than it should.
The Fields That Matter
Most of Form 1025 is self-evident, and a handful of boxes carry real weight. Those boxes decide whether the county accepts the transfer, whether the odometer statement holds up and whether the seller can still be reached months later. Filling them correctly the first time costs nothing. Correcting them afterwards usually means tracking down the other party, and that search is often the hardest part of a private sale.
Price and Payment Terms
The purchase price should reflect what the buyer actually handed over, including any amount settled by a trade or paid directly to a lender. Writing a low figure to soften the tax bill invites a review, since the county can compare the stated price against its own valuation table. When payment is staged, record the deposit and the balance on the same line instead of squeezing a note into the margin.
Names That Match the Title
The seller’s name on the bill of sale must match the name printed on the front of the title. A nickname, a maiden name or a trading name will not do. When a company sells a vehicle, the signer writes the company name and adds a personal signature with a job title beside it. The buyer’s name should be written exactly as it will appear on the new title, since a change later needs an amendment and a fresh signature from both sides.
Odometer Disclosure
Federal rules require an odometer statement for most vehicles of recent model years, and South Dakota collects that statement on Form 1021. The bill of sale repeats the reading, so the two documents should never disagree. A buyer who notices a mismatch between them holds a fair reason to walk away. A seller who leaves the box blank hands the buyer a reason to doubt every other entry on the page.
What Form 1021 Requires
Form 1021 asks for the vehicle identification number, the current reading, the transfer date and the names of both parties. The seller certifies that the figure is accurate to the best of their knowledge, and the buyer acknowledges receipt of that statement. Both signatures are required. The form asks whether the reading reflects actual distance, exceeds the mechanical limit of the cluster or is not the true figure, and that choice cannot be left empty.
When the Reading Is Exempt
A few transfers fall outside the odometer requirement. Vehicles of an older model year are excluded under federal rules, and so is some heavy equipment that never carried a street odometer. When an exemption applies, write a short note on the bill of sale stating the reason rather than leaving the space empty. That note tells a later reader why the box is blank and keeps the application moving at the counter.
A Reading That Looks Wrong
Five digits where six belong, or a figure that drops between the test drive and the signing, deserves a question before money moves. Odometer fraud is uncommon but expensive to unwind, and the bill of sale is the document a buyer points to when a reading turns out to be false. If the cluster was replaced or repaired, note that on the form as well. A rebuilt cluster is legal, as an unmentioned one looks like tampering.
The Seller’s Permit
A seller’s permit lets the buyer drive the vehicle home before the title work is finished. The permit is free and stays valid for 45 days from the date it is issued. The county treasurer issues it, and it is the paper a police officer wants to see if the buyer is stopped on the way home. Without it, the buyer is operating an unregistered vehicle with nothing to show for the purchase.
Who Applies for the Permit
The buyer applies, and the seller’s signature on the bill of sale is what supports the request. Bring the signed Form 1025 and the title to the county treasurer. The permit is tied to the vehicle and to the buyer, so it cannot be passed to a third person for a weekend trip. A licensed dealer usually supplies its own temporary tag instead, which is why the permit appears mostly in private sales.
The 45-Day Window
Forty-five days matches the window the state allows for a title application, and both deadlines run from the same date. Nothing extends the permit, so a buyer who waits until week seven is driving without cover. Count the days from the sale date printed on the bill of sale rather than the day the buyer first drove the car, since the county reads the earlier date. A calendar note on the day of sale is enough to keep the deadline in view, and a reminder set for day thirty leaves room for a second visit.
Some buyers skip the permit since the trip home is short. That decision carries more risk than the errand suggests. An officer who stops a vehicle with no registration and no permit can treat it as unregistered operation, and the buyer has no paper to prove a recent purchase. The permit costs nothing to obtain, which makes skipping it a poor trade for one saved trip to the counter.
Reporting the Sale
South Dakota asks the seller to report the sale so the state record stops linking that person to the vehicle. Form 1024 is the report of sale, and it takes less time to complete than the title work. Filing it protects the seller from tickets, toll notices and liability claims that arrive after the car is gone. Keep the confirmation with the signed copy of the bill of sale, since the two documents together prove the date of sale if a dispute starts months later. The buyer’s own title application is a separate transaction with its own timeline.
What Form 1024 Captures
The form asks for the vehicle identification number, South Dakota license plate number, the sale date, the buyer’s name and address and the seller’s contact details. It asks for the purchase price and the odometer reading. The county uses those entries to mark the record as sold. A seller who files the report quickly closes the loop that the bill of sale opened, and the vehicle leaves that person’s name in the state file.
What Happens if the Seller Skips It
The record keeps the seller’s name on the vehicle until a new title is issued or a report is filed. During that gap a parking ticket or a camera citation can land on the wrong person. Insurance companies read the same record, and an unresolved sale can complicate a policy review. The fix is a late filing plus a phone call to the county, which is more work than the original form would have been.
Timing matters as much as the filing itself. A report sent in the same week as the sale gives the county a clean window to update the record, as a report filed months later can overlap with a title the buyer has already requested. Keep the confirmation or a stamped copy with the bill of sale. If the county cannot locate a report later, that copy is the only proof that the seller did their part.
What to Keep After the Sale
The paperwork does not end when the keys change hands. Both sides need a paper trail for months afterwards, and the county can ask for it long after the vehicle is gone.
For the Seller:
- A signed copy of the bill of sale: it proves the price and the date if a dispute starts
- The report of sale confirmation: the state record stops linking the seller to the vehicle
- A copy of the seller’s permit: it shows the buyer was allowed to drive as title work finished
- The odometer figure recorded at the sale: it protects the seller from a later claim about mileage
Store the copies together rather than scattering them across a glovebox and a kitchen drawer. A photograph of the signed page in a phone album is a practical backup, since paper fades and envelopes get misplaced.
For the Buyer:
- The signed title: the assignment section must show the seller’s signature and the buyer’s name
- The bill of sale: the county asks for it at the counter and keeps a copy
- The odometer disclosure: a separate page in many transactions, and required with the title work
- The registration once it arrives: it belongs in the vehicle, as the title stays at home
A buyer who keeps all four in one folder can answer any question at the counter without calling the seller. That matters most in a private sale, where the seller may be hard to reach once the car is gone. A dealer sale produces a buyer’s order alongside the bill of sale, and the order should join the same folder since it shows the tax, the fees and the trade-in credit in one place. Lenders sometimes ask for the bill of sale when a vehicle is refinanced, and an insurance claim may need it to establish the price paid. None of these requests arrives on a convenient day, so the folder earns its place long after the sale ends.
Bill of Sale vs Title
The two documents serve different purposes, and a buyer needs both before the vehicle is fully in their name. The bill of sale records the transaction between two people. The title records ownership in the hands of the state. One can exist without the other for a short as, but a title application needs them together.
| Point | Bill of sale | Certificate of title |
|---|---|---|
| Completed by | Seller and buyer together | State, after the county processes the transfer |
| What it proves | That a sale took place at a stated price | Who legally owns the vehicle |
| Odometer reading | Repeated from Form 1021 | Carried onto the state record |
| Needed to title | Yes, for a private sale | Yes, in every case |
| If it is missing | The county may return the application | No transfer can proceed |
Where the Bill of Sale Stops
A bill of sale transfers an interest between two people, and it does not by itself place a new name on the state record. The county needs the title, the application and the tax before that happens. A buyer who keeps only the bill of sale holds proof of a deal but not proof of ownership. That distinction matters at a traffic stop, at a resale and in any insurance conversation about who owns the vehicle.
Buyers should treat the bill of sale as a record for resale. A future buyer will ask about the price paid, the mileage at purchase and whether the vehicle was ever damaged. The signed page answers all three without relying on memory. Store it flat and away from heat, since a faded copy of a form is hard to read and harder to defend in a disagreement.
Frequently Asked Questions
A short set of questions covers the rest of the ground. Each answer states the rule that applies to a private sale in South Dakota. The focus stays on the paperwork rather than the driving, since the bill of sale is where most private transfers go wrong. Where a county practice varies, call the treasurer before the meeting instead of after the signature.
Is a bill of sale required in South Dakota?
For a private sale, a county treasurer expects one, and Form 1025 is the version the state provides. A licensed dealer supplies its own contract instead. Without the form, a title application can stall as the buyer searches for the seller and asks for a signature that should have been collected on the day of sale.
Can I write my own bill of sale?
Form 1025 is the safer choice since every county recognises its layout and its boxes. A handwritten page carrying the same details can work, though a clerk may ask for the state version before accepting the application. Handwriting leaves more room for a missing identification number or an unclear price.
How long is a seller’s permit valid?
The permit is free and runs for 45 days from the date it is issued. It covers the buyer as the title application is pending and it cannot be extended. A buyer who has not finished the title work by then should park the vehicle rather than drive it on an expired permit.
Who reports the sale to the state?
The seller files Form 1024, the report of sale, so the record stops showing that person as the owner. The buyer files the title application separately. Both steps matter, and neither one replaces the other. A seller who relies on the buyer to report the sale is trusting a stranger with their own record.
What if the odometer reading is wrong on the form?
Correct it before anyone signs. A crossed-out figure with initials beside it is usually accepted, but a clean page is better. If the mistake is discovered after filing, contact the county treasurer and prepare a corrected statement for both parties to sign. Keep the correction with the original bill of sale.