Selling a car in Tasmania: 7-day disposal and what buyers pay

When you sell a car in Tasmania, you must lodge a disposal with the Registrar of Motor Vehicles within seven days of the sale, through the online portal, on the MR116 form, by post or by email. Nothing confirms it automatically, so check with Service Tasmania after about a week that the car is no longer in your name.

Seven days is half what most states allow, so a “14 days” rule of thumb picked up elsewhere will catch you out here. The Tasmanian rules below come from Transport Tasmania, Service Tasmania and State Revenue Office Tasmania pages, checked in October 2026. If your car is registered in another state, our guide to selling a car in Australia covers each one.

A Tasmanian sale, step by step

How long do you have to tell the Registrar?

Seven days from the date of sale. Transport Tasmania’s selling page says the disposal “must be submitted within seven days of the sale”. WA is the only other state with a limit that short. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the NT allow 14 days, and Access Canberra doesn’t state a number of days for sellers.

The disposal is what protects you. Once it’s processed, your name comes off the registration and you’re no longer responsible for the vehicle for registration purposes. Until then, the car is still recorded as yours, and Transport Tasmania warns that you may be held liable for camera-detected offences until the new owner is recorded.

The buyer’s clock runs separately. They have 14 days to transfer the registration into their name, but their 14 days never extend your seven.

Four ways to lodge your disposal

Transport Tasmania accepts a disposal four ways:

The portal asks for the higher of the selling price or the market price. If you sold below market value, say to a relative, expect to enter the market figure rather than what you were paid.

If the portal won’t take your sale, for example because you’ve moved to the mainland and no longer hold a Tasmanian licence, choose email over post. Post takes days, and you only have seven.

Whichever way you lodge, keep a copy and note the date you sent it. Keep your receipt or sale paperwork too, showing the date and time of sale.

Why check with Service Tasmania after a week?

Because nobody will tell you it worked. Transport Tasmania says there’s no automatic confirmation of a disposal, and suggests allowing a week before checking with Service Tasmania. That’s unlike Victoria, where VicRoads emails sellers to confirm the car is out of their name.

When you check, have these ready:

• the plate number
• the date of sale
• your copy of the disposal (a screenshot, the form or the sent email)

If the car still shows in your name, ask Service Tasmania what’s missing and send your copy straight away, because until the disposal is recorded the car is still yours on paper. When you lodge, set a phone reminder for a week later.

Selling to a dealer: the CIN and dealer number

Dealers work with the Registrar through business identifiers, not a driver licence. When a Tasmanian dealer buys your car, Transport Tasmania’s online transfer accepts its Licensed Motor Vehicle Dealer number and CIN as the buyer, so the dealer can complete its side of the transfer online.

A CIN can matter on your side too if the car is registered to a business rather than to you personally. The disposal portal accepts a CIN for motor dealers and organisations, so a company car’s disposal can usually go in under the company’s CIN rather than a driver licence.

What doesn’t change is your part. You still lodge your disposal within seven days, and you still want the money cleared before the car leaves.

Our licence is from NSW (MD 077404), not Tasmania, so the Tasmanian dealer-number route may not apply when you sell to us. We’ll make sure your disposal is done correctly, and we’ll confirm how the sale is recorded for your car before we collect it.

Do you need a roadworthy to sell a car in Tasmania?

No, not for a registered car. Transport Tasmania lists no inspection for transferring a currently registered vehicle, and a Transport Tasmania document explains that the state chose random roadside inspections over inspections at change of ownership, a policy dating from 1995. So a registered car changing hands needs nothing like Victoria’s roadworthy certificate or Queensland’s safety certificate.

The exception is a car that’s been off the road. A vehicle unregistered for three months or more must be inspected before it can be registered to the buyer. If your rego has already lapsed, that three-month mark matters: once it passes, a private buyer has an inspection to arrange first, and some will walk away rather than do it.

Selling to us doesn’t add a certificate either. Usually no roadworthy or safety certificate is needed when you sell to us. Rules differ by state, and we confirm what applies to your car on the call.

No roadworthy doesn’t mean no questions. The ACCC says most of the consumer protections that cover dealer sales don’t apply to second-hand cars bought privately, so a private buyer is relying on what you tell them. Be upfront about faults you know of and any finance owing, and put it in writing.

TasPlates: transfer or swap before you sell

Personalised TasPlates need a decision before the sale, not after. If they’re on the car when it sells, ownership of the plates has to be transferred to the buyer. If you want to keep them, swap them for standard plates before you sell. Service Tasmania’s TasPlates transfer page explains the application.

Transport Tasmania’s selling page also asks you to check whether any number plates need returning or transferring, and it names bike rack plates. If you have a spare plate for a bike carrier, sort it out at the same time. Our guide to keeping personalised number plates covers the choices in every state.

What will a buyer check before paying?

A careful buyer, private or dealer, runs a few checks. Run them yourself first, so nothing surprises you on the day:

• Rego Check. Tasmania’s Rego Check can show whether a vehicle is listed as stolen or written off.
• PPSR search. For $2 online (as at October 2026), a search on the VIN shows any security interest recorded against the car, meaning money owing, and usually written-off and stolen status too.
• Registration status. Current rego means no inspection. Lapsed for three months or more means one.
• Plates. Whether TasPlates or bike rack plates are included in the sale.

If you still owe money on the car, the lender’s interest shows on the PPSR, and a private buyer will want it cleared before they pay. When you sell to us, we deal with your lender directly to pay out the loan, then pay any equity to you. Settlement usually takes 2 to 3 business days, and any negative equity has to be covered before settlement. Our page on selling a car under finance explains the steps.

What does the buyer pay in duty?

The buyer pays motor vehicle duty and the transfer fee, by card if they transfer online. The State Revenue Office charges duty on the dutiable value: the greater of the price paid or the car’s market value. These are the passenger vehicle rates as at October 2026:

That $35,000 to $40,000 band is where the maths gets steep. Here’s a worked example with hypothetical prices, each equal to market value:

Moving from $35,000 to $38,000 adds $330 of duty, or $110 for every extra $1,000. A private buyer near those numbers may build that into their offer.

The SRO lists a different rate for commercial vehicles of 4.5 tonnes GVM or less, including utilities: a flat $3 per $100 (minimum $20). How a particular ute is classed is something the buyer can confirm with the SRO.

If a buyer asks you to write a lower price to cut their duty, say no. Duty runs on market value when that’s higher, and the disposal portal asks you for the higher figure anyway.

The SRO exempts licensed motor vehicle traders from duty on used cars bought for resale, subject to conditions. Either way, duty and the transfer fee are the buyer’s costs, not yours. When you sell to us, no fees come out of the offer.

Selling across Bass Strait: what changes?

Your paperwork doesn’t. The seven days still run from the sale, wherever the buyer lives, and if the portal won’t take the sale, email your disposal instead. What changes is the car’s journey. Spirit of Tasmania sails between Devonport and Geelong, so a mainland buyer has to book a crossing or freight and plan around sailings.

That gap between payment and pickup is where interstate private sales go wrong. Scamwatch lists a buyer willing to buy without seeing the car in person as a warning sign. It also flags overpayments followed by a refund request, and payments split across several PayIDs. Never release the car to a carrier until the full amount has cleared in your account. An email saying the money is on its way isn’t the money.

Selling to us takes the crossing off your list. We arrange collection anywhere in Australia, Tasmania included, so there’s no ferry for you to book. The order never changes: a genuine offer, a deposit (often the same day), an inspection at a time and place that suits you, the balance into your bank account, then collection only after you confirm the funds have cleared. Our guide to car collection and key drop-off explains how collection day runs. As Spiros put it: “I was paid before Autohaus took possession of my car, which from my experience normally doesn’t happen.”

Moving to the mainland yourself? Our guide on whether to sell your car or take it interstate weighs shipping it against selling before you go.

Private buyer or dealer: what’s left for you?

Sell privately in Tasmania and every step above is yours: the plates, the buyer’s checks, safe payment, the seven-day disposal and the follow-up a week later. Sell to a licensed dealer and most of that shrinks to your disposal and your plates.

That’s how it works with us. Sell Your Car Australia is run by Autohaus Australia Pty Ltd, NSW licensed motor dealer MD 077404, and our valuer has priced cars since 1992. You get a genuine offer by phone from a licensed dealer, not an online estimate, and a deposit is often paid the same day. We prepare the sale paperwork and help with the transfer of ownership.

We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If yours is older or has more kilometres, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. The valuation is free, with no obligation. Start on our Tasmania page, or call 1800 73 55 73.