Yes, you can transfer license plates to another person in MA. Most standard Massachusetts passenger plates, including vanity plates, can be reassigned to someone else as long as you give that person a written letter authorizing the transfer and both of you complete the RMV’s paperwork.1Mass.gov. Passenger Plates Manual A handful of plate types are locked to the original registrant, and if the vehicle is going with the plates, whether it’s a sale or a gift changes what the recipient pays.
How the Reassignment Actually Works
Under state law, the plates on a vehicle belong to you, not to the vehicle. When you sell or otherwise transfer the car, the registration on that car expires automatically, and you’re required to remove the plates before handing the vehicle over.2General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 90, Section 23General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 90 – Section 2B From that point you have three choices: reassign them to another person, put them on a different vehicle you own, or destroy them.
To reassign, you complete a Request for License Plate Reassignment form. It carries your signature, the date of transfer, and the new owner’s information.4Mass.gov. Request for License Plate Reassignment The new owner submits that form together with a Registration and Title Application at an RMV Service Center. Before the RMV will process anything, the new owner’s insurance company must stamp and sign the application, so lining up insurance in the recipient’s name is a prerequisite, not an afterthought.
Plates That Can’t Be Reassigned
The RMV’s Passenger Plates Manual lists eight plate categories that cannot be transferred to another person because they’re tied to a specific position or credential: Foreign Organization, Governor’s Council, Ham Operator, Honorary Consular, House, Senate, U.S. Congress, and U.S. Senate plates.1Mass.gov. Passenger Plates Manual If your plate falls into one of those categories, the general reassignment process doesn’t apply.
Low-Number Lottery Plates
Plates awarded through the annual low-number lottery are registered only to the winning applicant and cannot be transferred to anyone else.5Massachusetts Department of Transportation. MA250 Low Number Plate Lottery Rules and Eligibility Lottery-style plates that have been circulating from earlier years are a different matter — those can be reassigned, but only through a more involved process: a notarized Application for Lottery Plate Re-Assignment, an appointment at an RMV Service Center, and forwarding to the Special Plates Department for processing.1Mass.gov. Passenger Plates Manual
When the Vehicle Comes With the Plates
Reassigning plates is often part of transferring a whole vehicle. If money changes hands, standard Massachusetts sales tax of 6.25% applies. If it’s a gift, the recipient owes no sales tax, and the paperwork depends on whether you’re related.
Gifts Within the Family
A vehicle received from a parent, child, spouse, or sibling is exempt from sales tax. The person giving the vehicle completes Form MVU-26 to claim the exemption.6Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Family/Gift Transfers7Mass.gov. Form MVU-26 Affidavit in Support of a Claim for Exemption From Sales or Use Tax for a Motor Vehicle Transferred Within a Family Grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles don’t qualify as family for this exemption; those transfers are handled as gifts to a non-family member instead.
The new owner brings the following to any RMV Service Center other than Natick:
- A signed Registration and Title Application with an insurance stamp
- The previous owner’s certificate of title, assigned on the back to the new owner, with the date, odometer reading, and “Gift” written as the purchase price, signed by both parties (older, title-exempt vehicles use the previous registration plus a bill of sale)
- Form MVU-26, signed by the previous owner
- A valid driver’s license
Fees are a $75 title fee and a $25 non-refundable gift transfer fee.8Mass.gov. RMV Schedule of Fees The registration certificate is issued at the counter; the Massachusetts certificate of title arrives by mail, generally within six to eight weeks.9Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Transfer Your Registration and Title From Out of State
Gifts to Anyone Else
The process is nearly identical when you’re gifting a vehicle to someone who isn’t a qualifying family member. The giver completes Form MVU-24 instead of MVU-26. The recipient still owes no sales tax and still pays the $25 gift transfer fee plus the $75 title fee, and the assigned title, insurance-stamped application, and in-person submission requirements are the same.6Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Family/Gift Transfers
Federal Gift Tax if the Vehicle Is Valuable
Massachusetts waives its sales tax on gifts, but the IRS still cares. For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.10Internal Revenue Service. What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax If the vehicle’s fair market value exceeds that number, the giver has to file IRS Form 709. Filing doesn’t automatically mean tax is owed — the excess reduces your lifetime exemption instead — but skipping the filing when it’s required creates a compliance problem you don’t want.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 A married couple can elect gift-splitting to double the exclusion to $38,000, though both spouses have to file a Form 709 to do it.
If You Decide Not to Transfer the Plates
Plates you don’t reassign and don’t want to keep should be canceled and destroyed. The RMV doesn’t ask you to return the physical plates — cut them in half or otherwise render them unusable, then recycle or discard them.12Mass.gov. Cancel Your Vehicle Registration (License Plates) There’s no fee to cancel a registration.
Cancel promptly. As long as plates tied to your name are still active out in the world, tolls, parking tickets, and other violations can come back to you as the registered owner. Keep a copy of the cancellation receipt, and tell your insurance company right away, because canceling the registration and surrendering or destroying the plates triggers a return of unearned premium under state regulation.13Cornell Law School. 211 CMR 97.05 – Return Premium Applicable to Cancelled Motor Vehicle Insurance Policies Leaving an unused registration active means paying premiums on a vehicle you no longer own.