Moving a vehicle you already own into the LLC

A transfer to your LLC is a transfer to someone else

To the DMV, your LLC is not you. A vehicle moving from your name into the company's name is an ownership transfer on the same paperwork as a sale. It needs the same application, the same $15 title fee, and its own tax answer.

That surprises people most at the LLC's founding, when the first instinct is to move the existing truck over. West Virginia titles are issued in the owner of record's name, and the title must change hands properly to change that record.

The order in the setup guide puts the LLC first, then the title paperwork. This page covers the fork that appears at that step: what a transfer without payment means, and what it costs.

$15 title feeA certificate of title is the legal document establishing vehicle ownership in West Virginia, and a transfer to a new owner runs on the same application paperwork as a sale, with a $15.00 title fee. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

The gift route: Affidavit DMV-5-TR

When ownership of a vehicle transfers for no monetary or physical consideration, the seller must complete an Affidavit of Transfer of Ownership Without Consideration, form DMV-5-TR. It is signed by both parties and submitted with the title.

That is the affidavit route for a no-payment transfer into the LLC. Without the affidavit, sales tax is automatically assessed against the full book value of the vehicle.

The affidavit has teeth in both directions. Providing false information on gift transactions subjects both buyer and seller to severe administrative penalties, including revocation, suspension or cancellation of licenses, registrations and permits issued in their names. An application pairing a designated purchase price with a gift affidavit is rejected outright.

DMV-5-TRWhen a vehicle transfers for no consideration, the seller must complete the Affidavit of Transfer of Ownership Without Consideration, Form DMV-5-TR, or sales tax lands on the full book value. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

West Virginia imposes severe administrative penalties, including revocation of licenses, registrations and permits, for false information on gift transactions or tax values. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

The exemption that does not cover your LLC

Per WV Code 17A-3-4(2), a gift affidavit is not required only where a vehicle titled in West Virginia is transferred strictly between parent and child, child and parent, or spouse and spouse.

Every other relationship requires the affidavit. Your company is not your spouse, your parent or your child, so a transfer from you to your LLC falls on the affidavit side of that line, or the tax side.

A practical note belongs here rather than a promise. How the DMV values a no-consideration transfer to an entity is a question for the DMV regional office before filing, with the title and the approved Articles in hand. What the page establishes is the rule itself: outside the spouse-and-parent list, the affidavit or the tax applies, and a company is outside the list.

WV Code 17A-3-4(2)Per WV Code 17A-3-4(2), a gift affidavit is required unless the transfer is strictly between parent and child or between spouses; other relationships pay tax on the full book value. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

The lien trap on a financed vehicle

A vehicle with a loan on it is the case that costs real money. If a lien is recorded on the new owner's title, the transfer is not exempt from sales tax, and the tax is calculated at 6 percent of the recorded lien amount.

A $14,000 balance on a truck moved into the LLC with the lien attached means an $840 tax bill at that 6 percent. The $15 title fee and the $10 lien recording fee ride on top.

The lender has to agree to the transfer as well, and most personal auto lenders do not. The clean path for a financed vehicle is usually paying it off first and transferring the clear title. The other option is buying the next vehicle in the LLC's name from the start.

6% of the lienIn West Virginia, if a lien is recorded on the new owner's title, the transfer is not exempt from sales tax, and the tax is 6% of the lien amount. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

Book value, not what you think the truck is worth

The fallback valuation on a transfer without proper documentation is the vehicle's book value, not a friendly number. The DMV uses the current NADA Clean Loan Book value, the same reference it uses to price young vehicles bought privately.

A vehicle two model years old or newer, bought privately, is taxed directly on that book value regardless of the transaction price, and notarized bills of sale do not lower it. Older vehicles get the below-half-of-book scrutiny instead.

For the owner transferring a late-model truck into the LLC, the number to plan on is the book. The DMV's valuation of a no-consideration transfer is the question to ask at the regional office before the paperwork moves. Budget for the book and treat a better outcome as a bonus.

NADA Clean Loan BookFor a private purchase of a vehicle two years old or newer, the 6% titling tax is assessed on the current NADA Clean Loan Book value regardless of price. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

Trailers and UTVs move on the same rules

The gift mechanics apply to every titled vehicle, not just trucks. A landscaper's equipment trailer, a utility trailer and a mower hauler all move into the LLC through the same DMV-5-TR or tax fork, on the same DMV-1-TR.

West Virginia has titled all UTVs since December 28, 2010, so a UTV transferred into the company is a titled vehicle on this path too, not a piece of shop equipment. Its Special Purpose Vehicle plate, at a flat $16.00 a year, rides separately on the road-use question.

A trailer that stays under 2,000 pounds behind a Class A vehicle registers at $27.00 in Class T. The trailer page covers the class line, and the equipment page covers what needs no title at all.

$16.00 SPV plateAll UTVs have required a West Virginia title since December 28, 2010, and a Special Purpose Vehicle plate costs a flat $16.00 per year. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-29

What the transfer does and does not fix

Moving the title moves ownership, the plate, the insurance obligation and the tax position to the LLC. What it does not move is your trade license, your contracts or your operational history.

The plate class follows the vehicle, so a pickup stays Class A at $51.50 and a box truck stays Class B at its weight band. The insurance policy must be rewritten to the LLC as named insured, per the insurance page.

The tax basis story also changes hands. A transferred vehicle enters the company's books at its basis for depreciation. That basis is a different computation than the DMV's book value for tax on the transfer, and one to set up with the accountant at the same time as the DMV visit. The depreciation page covers the federal side of what the company now owns.

$51.50 plateA standard Class A plate for a vehicle of 10,000 pounds or less gross vehicle weight costs $51.50 in West Virginia, and the plate and insurance obligations follow the titled owner of record. — West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Registration Fees brochure (revised 05/2024), retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions